Dear reader,
Spain has won the world cup; the United Kingdom has a new Prime Minister, UK-based gaming retailer, GAME, goes into administration and our very own John Munro got married! Congrats John!
Whilst driving to the Northern most tip of Scotland for John’s big day, Traxion’s Editor-In-Chief and I had seven hours (each way!) to fix all the problems in the racing game world today. We discussed industry gossip, super-secret embargoed information, our predictions for future games and I was treated to an in-depth historical analysis of most of the cars that we saw along the way.
It’s a busy week for racing games and we have two embargoes that have just lifted, hence the delayed publication of today’s newsletter!
Grab a coffee!
Tom Bunten, Traxion.gg
What's on this week
Gaming retail giant, GAME, enters administration
GAME, (think GameStop in the USA) has entered administration owing £16m.
GAME has fallen: The first domino?
Yesterday, Tom and I recorded tomorrow’s episode of the Traxion Control podcast. Towards the end, as ever, we responded to the many great community questions we’re sent each week to debate on the show.
This week, we were asked whether we’re already at the start of the third gaming crash.
Tom and I, optimistic as ever, were both of the opinion that “no, we aren’t already inside the crash”, just navigating a small speed bump.
And then this news broke, a matter of hours later.
To those not familiar with the UK brand, GAME has been a mecca for gaming fans since 1990, alongside sister brands, GameStation and Future Zone that were subsequently also branded GAME and merged with the franchise.
When I first wandered into a GAME shop as a young teenager, the place was filled with Nintendo cartridges, PlayStation dics, PC games and a few posters. I distinctly remember buying Harvest Moon, James Bond 007 : Nightfire, Theme Park Inc, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and plenty more physical discs from my local GAME.
At the beleaguered company’s height, there wasn’t a high street in the UK that didn’t host a GAME shop full of kids reading the backs of the cases, debating the famous top 10 wall and counting their pocket money before buying their own copy of Tony Hawk, Simpsons Hit & Run or Pokèmon Red.
Empty Boxes
And then, digital sales came along and stole GAME’s sandwiches. Something we discussed at length on the Traxion Control podcast recently.
GTA VI will not have a physical disc.
From 2028, no new PlayStation game will be sold with a disc. Albeit, you could buy a box with a code in it… if you wanted…
These are two major blows for a retailer that majors in selling physical discs.
Whilst GAME had pivoted to selling more merchandise, gaming hardware and collectibles, clearly that hasn’t been enough to reverse the tide for this once revered gaming retailer.
Layer this on an already squeezed retail industry in Britain’s high streets and you’re left with a not-so-surprising outcome.
First domino falling to trigger a global collapse in the gaming industry? Unlikely.
End of an era? Certainly.
Why Are You Still Slow? | You’re Late on the Throttle
Your braking is fine. Your line is decent.
But you’re still losing time.
The culprit is usually throttle application; hesitating a fraction of a second too long after the apex, which bleeds speed all the way down the straight.
Get on the throttle earlier and feel the difference down the straight.
Le Mans Ultimate Announced USA Track DLC
Three packs, each with two racing circuits are slated for the American Track Pass.
The first pack, costing $19.99, give you access to both Daytona and Laguna Seca.
Whilst this pricing clearly positions LMU as a premium esports title, it has undercut iRacing on price where an individual track typically costs $11.95 or $14.95 depending on the track, not withstanding bundle discounts.
Along with more content comes an improved protest system:
Currently, protests take roughly 5 minutes per protest and we have on average 700 protests per day - that’s not sustainable. Therefore we’ve made some big changes.
Protests now pair with the replay review system. When you want to file a protest, you do it from inside the replay itself - flagging the timestamp, the driver involved, and adding your notes with the video right there as context. Stewards then review the protest with the replay context already attached, which means decisions are faster and better-informed.
The team at Motorsport Games are also introducing new Practice+ servers for Pro and Pro+ members too. They’re a little area with dedicated practice servers that persist longer for the more dedicated esports teams and league racers out there.
I asked Editor-In-Chief Tom Harrison-Lord for his take on the update:
It’s easy to overlook the change within all the technical jargon, but there seems to be a significant change in Le Mans Ultimate’s V1.4 update. No, I’m not talking about an update on the console versions or career mode, as there isn’t one.
No, a switch from Transmission Control Protocol to (self-proclaimed) ‘reliable UDP’ for the multiplayer netcode.
Publisher Motorsport Games is a little trepidatious with this, warning “there may be some teething issues in the first weeks.”
When the sim already has a solid reputation for accurate car-to-car contact, a new ‘netcode’ system seems a risk, but it shows how committed the Studio 397 development team is. Continuing to work away on fundamentals, when it could simply pump out the DLC and run to the bank.
Wreckreation 2
Our resident arcade racing historian, Martin Bigg, has his spidey senses all aquiver with this one!
From (a lot of) the team that brought you Burnout - and obviously Wreckreation - comes Wreckreation 2.
Slated for a 2027 release, this PC, PlayStation and XBOX title promises denser traffic, a heavier more visceral feel to the cars and new game modes along with improvements to the novel track creation system.
This was a shock. That’s rare in this industry. The Traxion team caught wind of this surprise sequel recently and couldn’t quite believe it was true until we actually played it.
It’s still really early days, not all funding is yet secured and the 2027 window for release feels tentative, but the more detailed map, impactful crashes and tweaked handling are all popular community requests.
Wreckreation 2 is on the right track, and project lead Fiona Sperry seems in a confident mood. Let’s see how this progresses over the next 12 months.
News Highlights This Week from Traxion.gg
Like sim racing? Have ears? Then listen to the new, weekly format of the Traxion Control Podcast!
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Last week’s poll results
Last week we had the most votes we’ve ever had for a Traxion Control poll. Is iRacing too expensive was the question posed.
The answer is interesting. 63% of you said that yes, it was too expensive.
Given that iRacing is targeting the tip of the pyramid, I think the team there would be fairly content with that result.
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