Project Motor Racing suffers further spate of job losses, including COO

• Straight4 Studios beset by a sequence of job losses
• COO Ryan Hoey leaves the business as he and Ian Bell resign as Directors from parent company and subsidiaries
• Kevin Boland assumes control and is ‘firmly focused on PMR’s continued development’

Beleaguered title Project Motor Racing is facing further job losses and uncertainty, with Straight4 Studios’ Chief Operating Officer, Ryan Hoey, the most high-profile departee.

Hoey held the position since January 2023, when he and Ian Bell co-founded the developer to work on its then-upcoming title, Project Motor Racing. His departure comes after a recent flurry of job losses at the UK-registered developer.

The game experienced a troubled beginning, switching from Unreal Engine 5 to GIANTS Software’s proprietary technology relatively late in development. It was then released to near-universal criticism, with the sim racing community and media alike unimpressed by its dated visuals, unoptimised performance, and odd car handling.

A sequence of redemptive updates and DLC packs followed, however, going some way to restore the game’s and studio’s reputation, with the appointment of industry big-hitter and car physics specialist Aristotelis Vasilakos inspiring confidence in PMR’s future direction.

Ian Bell retirement

Then, in July this year, it was revealed that maverick industry figure Ian Bell had been replaced as CEO of Straight4 by Chief Development Officer Kevin Boland, though Bell apparently refuted this in a subsequent flurry of social media posts, in typically mischievous style.

As it stands, however, both Ian Bell and Ryan Hoey have resigned from Straight4 Studios Limited, Straight4 Development Limited and the overarching Straight4 parent company, with Boland taking up the mantle in all three cases.

Bell has made no secret of his plans to retire, although a recent comment about a sequel to his and SimBin’s 2005 GT Legends title playfully suggested he still wants to remain in the industry. 

The Northern Irishman retains a lot of credibility due to the undoubted success of GT Legends, GTR 2 and the first two Project CARS games, but given he most recently spearheaded the poorly received PMR, Fast & Furious Crossroads and Project CARS 3 (the latter two as CEO of Slightly Mad Studios), the sim racing community’s goodwill has perhaps diminished.

Further Straight4 job losses

The manoeuvrings at the top of Straight4 have somewhat distracted from the wider scope of further job losses within the company. In addition to a whole host of redundancies post-release, several key employees have left the developer in the last few weeks, either through redundancy or resignation. 

These include Scrum Master/Producer Steven Lloyd-Jones, Principal Artist Gustavo Olivera, Senior Vehicle Artist Martín Olivera, Principal Audio Engineer Adam Paul and Head of Marketing, Content Creation, and PR Alex Martini, among others, according to LinkedIn posts.

“We are restructuring the business, and that does mean some colleagues are leaving,” stated Boland in a statement to Traxion.

“These are difficult decisions, and I’m grateful for the work and commitment of those moving on. The restructure is about putting the right organisation in place for the long term.” 

Project Motor Racing development continues

Despite the job losses, Boland has reassured PMR’s fanbase that development on the game will continue.

“We remain firmly focused on PMR’s continued development, building on the improvements we’ve been delivering and moving the game forward,” stated Boland. 

“Our commitment to PMR and its players hasn’t changed”, he concluded.