Why Ian Bell is back in the sim racing game with Project Motor Racing

• Talismanic sim racing linchpin Ian Bell is back again, this time with Project Motor Racing
• Here, he explains why he invested in a new racing title and the long-term vision

GTR, Need for Speed: Shift and Project CARS – these are just some of the sim racing titles that Ian Bell has graced his presence with as the preeminent force.

Project Motor Racing is another, this time published by GIANTS Software and created by a new Bell-founded team, Straight4 Studios – although many of the individuals have worked with the outspoken industry veteran on prior releases.

Having sold Slightly Mad Studios to Codemasters in 2019 ahead of the release of Project CARS 3 and Fast & Furious: Crossroads – a period that Bell labels as “hell” – the British company was then sold to Electronic Arts for $1.2 billion in 2021, who in turn shut down development of a Project CARS 4 in 2022.

By then, Bell had already departed the Redwood City-based gaming mega-corp with a timed non-compete clause to match.

Yet, when that expired, far from riding off into the sunset, he didn’t stop. Instead, Straight4 was formed and soon, images were shared via his Twitter (now X) account of its first game, a sim racing game originally entitled GTR Revival/GT Revival to be published by PLAION.

So, just why did he return to the sim racing industry?

“All the noble motives, basically, you know, the money, fame and kudos,” jokes Bell to Traxion.

“No, the reality is, I’ve never reached the level that I wanted to reach with any of the games.

“I never will, I’ve come to that conclusion, but I’m getting closer each time if I get to control it completely – we won’t mention Project CARS 3…

“It’s just nibbling [away at] those bits where we want to get to.

“So, reaching the level of physics, which I think is the core of every racing sim, getting that and the force feedback correct. They were never at the level that I was absolutely proud of [in previous titles].

“I was very proud of what we did, given the constraints and the circumstances. But this [Project Motor Racing] is better. This is much, much better. Not going to say it’s the best, but it’s better than we’ve ever done.”

Financial risk

According to Bell, he fronted his own money to kick-start development. When a change of publisher from PLAION to Farming Simulator doyens GIANTS came about, financial stability arrived as part of the deal.

“I had no guarantee anyone would come along,” he explains.

“But at least at that point we would have had a good demo and I would have gone around pitching it like I’ve done in the past.

“I feel that we would have got plenty of bites there; it wasn’t that we were sitting with nothing, we had a drivable game.

“But GIANTS did come along and they wanted in on the project. We had a good negotiation. I’m happy with it and they’re happy with it.”

When that deal was signed, the name changed to Project Motor Racing, and so did the graphics technology – moving forward with the GIANTS Engine 10. This is a proprietary engine and, until this point, has been used only for the Farming Simulator games.

Long-term vision

Project Motor Racing releases for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on 25th November, so it seems premature to discuss potential sequels.

What we do know, however, is the existence of a season pass, which will add new paid-for cars and tracks across 12 months, up until at least this time next year. During that time, support outside of the DLC is also expected.

As a new franchise, with a publisher fresh to sim racing, however, Bell seems to have sales expectations in check:

“The thing with a sim, it’s normally a slow burner. You don’t get that massive upfront spike or huge pre-sales, like with a first-person shooter, for example.

“I don’t have any specific expectations. I’d like to make a profit, but this is one game and it’s very hard to recoup on one game.

“For this game [Project Motor Racing], we want to spend a lot of time supporting it, looking after it.

“The mods, I think, will carry it beautifully as well, as we’re the only sim in history that has mods on consoles. So there will be console and PC mods. The mod hub is integrated into the game, available for free and real prestigious sports cars are waiting in there for you.”

Time will tell if Project Motor Racing is indeed a slow burn, or the single-player career and native ranked multiplayer racing with cross-platform support will capture the minds of the sim racing fanbase from the off. Either way, we’ll find out in just under a month from now.