With the news that there seems to be very little in the way of new additions coming to the next edition of the EA Sports and Codemasters F1 titles, Luca is asking what could they introduce to keep the game fresh.
It is that time of year again. The anticipation is building for the upcoming release of the new F1 game, but of course the same phrase is thrown around every year without fail: "Same game as last year". On paper, with no driver changes or all-new venues in the real world, there is potential for those claims to be somewhat more accurate for the upcoming F1 24.
Yes there were rebrands of Alfa Romeo to Stake and AlphaTauri to 'V-CARB', but all drivers remain the same. Therefore naturally - with Daniel Ricciardo being added into F1 23 after replacing Nyck de Vries - the driver line-up and the tracks available to drive will not change for F1 24.
In a year of little apparent change, would the new game perhaps have been the perfect opportunity for the developers to go all out?
To Codemasters and EA's credit, it would appear from the deep dive videos we got about the gameplay and career mode that there are many positive amendments. Of course, we have not seen everything or tried any of it but in any case, on the surface level it just looks like there is still so little change.
With additions in recent instalments like the Podium Pass, F1 World and road-going supercars seemingly failing to capture the interests of F1 game players, I have some ideas that could bring some life back into the series - let us know in the comments below your ideas too.
Such items range from custom helmets, gloves, driver suits and liveries to sue with the spec car in the My Team career mode and online ranked races. There are also podium celebration emotes and victory radio calls.
Over the past few seasons, many one-off liveries ran by F1 teams have been brought in to equip to the spec car. These included the likes of McLaren's Chrome and Triple Crown liveries, Red Bull's Honda tribute livery and even the concept livery that Audi displayed on a show car when they announced their entry into F1 for 2026.
In Series 4 of F1 22's Podium Pass, players could unlock the Audi showcase concept livery. Image credit: Codemasters / EA Sports
I think, however, if EA Sports and Codemasters really want to find a way to get players interested in the Podium Pass, how about introducing liveries, driver suits and helmets themed around past teams and drivers?
You need not look far to see how in demand those are on modding platforms (like ours!), and it would certainly generate great interest for the game by calling back to beloved past champions like Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.
One thing counting against this is potential licencing complications, which possibly may have contributed to why the classic cars were not present in the games from F1 2021 onwards.
But as it stands right now, I do not believe the very basic liveries available for the spec car are going to win many players over, so EA Sports could lean into nostalgia in some way to get more players to pick up these items. My Team career is perhaps one of the most played game mode and players may like to compete as Team Lotus, Benetton, Jordan etc.
When the classic cars returned for F1 2017, with them came shortened versions of Silverstone, Suzuka, COTA and the Bahrain circuit (albeit not the outer layout used in the 2020 season).
In the past few instalments, tracks that were introduced into the games that have not been on the following season's schedule have remained. These being Shanghai (absent from 2020-2023), Paul Ricard and Portimão (both absent since 2022).
So how about following MotoGP game developers Milestone by introducing a few past tracks?
Aragón, Brno and Laguna Seca can still be raced in the MotoGP games despite no longer being on the schedule. Image credit: Milestone
Immediately, two other tracks come to mind that would be relatively easy ports from previous games due to all being on the same game engine: Sepang (last seen in F1 2017) and Hockenheimring (last seen in F1 2019), both of which are fan favourites. Then following on from that, a whole bunch of circuits that were brought in for 2020 to complete a heavily restructured season.
The Nürburgring GP track and Istanbul Park were brought back and then for the 2020 season only, the introduction of the high-speed Mugello circuit and the aforementioned Sakhir Outer Layout. That totals six additional potential tracks.
I do not think they would even need to be in the game immediately. EA Sports could introduce them one-by-one post-release like what they did with Portimão, Imola and Jeddah in F1 2021 to prolong interest in the game.
In my experience, even with crossplay enabled, it is next to impossible to find a populated race in ranked. This is perhaps due to being a low division. Perhaps this is not much of an issue for an avid F1 game player who does it day after day, but that is a huge commitment.
In any case, could there be an automated system that allows players to compete in regularly scheduled races akin to iRacing or Low Fuel Motorsport?
One idea could be starting off with fixed setup five-lap races at licence Level D every 15 minutes, then 25% distance races for Level C every 30 minutes, 50% distance for Level B every hour and at Level A, 100% distance races only on the weekends with a few timeslots.
That could solve another issue in which drivers do try to race cleanly to access the longer races. But even if it did not do that, I believe narrowing down when races are taking place will drastically solve the matchmaking issue in the F1 game.
Get used to waiting around in F1 game lobbies, at most maybe three drivers will join. Image credit: Codemasters / EA Sports
Of course, that is a solution to the problem of 'quickplay' races. There is another aspect of online play and that is organised league racing, which is very strong in the F1 games with many communities providing platforms for drivers of all skill levels. Well much like with historical tracks, there are a few ideas from the MotoGP games that F1 could adopt.
In MotoGP 19, Milestone implemented heavily customisable private servers that can allow lobby hosts and moderators to manage sessions, decide cameras as a spectator, save replays and even assign/remove penalties during the race.
The online league racing experience has been a driving force for interest in the F1 game in recent years, and this tool would only enhance it for all players in my opinion.
This does make the inclusion of supercars from F1 22 even more interesting as according to the PlayStation 5 version of the game's trophy list, less than 1% of players had driven more than 25 laps in a supercar. The majority of people who race in the F1 game want to drive modern Formula 1 cars, so it would be difficult to think of more content to introduce into the game.
On F1 22, it would appear not that many people were overly keen on the supercars. Image credit: Sony
Let us know your ideas for future F1 game content and features on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below.
It is that time of year again. The anticipation is building for the upcoming release of the new F1 game, but of course the same phrase is thrown around every year without fail: "Same game as last year". On paper, with no driver changes or all-new venues in the real world, there is potential for those claims to be somewhat more accurate for the upcoming F1 24.
Yes there were rebrands of Alfa Romeo to Stake and AlphaTauri to 'V-CARB', but all drivers remain the same. Therefore naturally - with Daniel Ricciardo being added into F1 23 after replacing Nyck de Vries - the driver line-up and the tracks available to drive will not change for F1 24.
In a year of little apparent change, would the new game perhaps have been the perfect opportunity for the developers to go all out?
To Codemasters and EA's credit, it would appear from the deep dive videos we got about the gameplay and career mode that there are many positive amendments. Of course, we have not seen everything or tried any of it but in any case, on the surface level it just looks like there is still so little change.
With additions in recent instalments like the Podium Pass, F1 World and road-going supercars seemingly failing to capture the interests of F1 game players, I have some ideas that could bring some life back into the series - let us know in the comments below your ideas too.
Classic Liveries
When the Podium Pass was introduced in F1 2020, it was the F1 game's attempts to copy the battle pass-style system that has become commonplace in many popular video games such as Call of Duty, Fortnite, Rocket League etc. It became commonplace in all subsequent F1 releases and with it, you can earn experience points after completing races and level up to earn items.Such items range from custom helmets, gloves, driver suits and liveries to sue with the spec car in the My Team career mode and online ranked races. There are also podium celebration emotes and victory radio calls.
Over the past few seasons, many one-off liveries ran by F1 teams have been brought in to equip to the spec car. These included the likes of McLaren's Chrome and Triple Crown liveries, Red Bull's Honda tribute livery and even the concept livery that Audi displayed on a show car when they announced their entry into F1 for 2026.
In Series 4 of F1 22's Podium Pass, players could unlock the Audi showcase concept livery. Image credit: Codemasters / EA Sports
I think, however, if EA Sports and Codemasters really want to find a way to get players interested in the Podium Pass, how about introducing liveries, driver suits and helmets themed around past teams and drivers?
You need not look far to see how in demand those are on modding platforms (like ours!), and it would certainly generate great interest for the game by calling back to beloved past champions like Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.
One thing counting against this is potential licencing complications, which possibly may have contributed to why the classic cars were not present in the games from F1 2021 onwards.
But as it stands right now, I do not believe the very basic liveries available for the spec car are going to win many players over, so EA Sports could lean into nostalgia in some way to get more players to pick up these items. My Team career is perhaps one of the most played game mode and players may like to compete as Team Lotus, Benetton, Jordan etc.
Historical Tracks
All the way back on F1 2013, the classic cars were first introduced into a Codemasters-made game. Along with them were four new tracks, but not actually new as they were classic iterations of Brands Hatch, Estoril, Jerez and Imola.When the classic cars returned for F1 2017, with them came shortened versions of Silverstone, Suzuka, COTA and the Bahrain circuit (albeit not the outer layout used in the 2020 season).
In the past few instalments, tracks that were introduced into the games that have not been on the following season's schedule have remained. These being Shanghai (absent from 2020-2023), Paul Ricard and Portimão (both absent since 2022).
So how about following MotoGP game developers Milestone by introducing a few past tracks?
Aragón, Brno and Laguna Seca can still be raced in the MotoGP games despite no longer being on the schedule. Image credit: Milestone
Immediately, two other tracks come to mind that would be relatively easy ports from previous games due to all being on the same game engine: Sepang (last seen in F1 2017) and Hockenheimring (last seen in F1 2019), both of which are fan favourites. Then following on from that, a whole bunch of circuits that were brought in for 2020 to complete a heavily restructured season.
The Nürburgring GP track and Istanbul Park were brought back and then for the 2020 season only, the introduction of the high-speed Mugello circuit and the aforementioned Sakhir Outer Layout. That totals six additional potential tracks.
I do not think they would even need to be in the game immediately. EA Sports could introduce them one-by-one post-release like what they did with Portimão, Imola and Jeddah in F1 2021 to prolong interest in the game.
Race Control & Reworked Online
When it comes to where EA Sports and Codemasters' priorities have been over the years, it has predominantly been single-player focussed. But for F1 23 there were a slew of new features for online including a safety rating system and a division ranking system. This was a huge step in the right direction, but there is only one issue and that is getting into a ranked race in the first place.In my experience, even with crossplay enabled, it is next to impossible to find a populated race in ranked. This is perhaps due to being a low division. Perhaps this is not much of an issue for an avid F1 game player who does it day after day, but that is a huge commitment.
In any case, could there be an automated system that allows players to compete in regularly scheduled races akin to iRacing or Low Fuel Motorsport?
One idea could be starting off with fixed setup five-lap races at licence Level D every 15 minutes, then 25% distance races for Level C every 30 minutes, 50% distance for Level B every hour and at Level A, 100% distance races only on the weekends with a few timeslots.
That could solve another issue in which drivers do try to race cleanly to access the longer races. But even if it did not do that, I believe narrowing down when races are taking place will drastically solve the matchmaking issue in the F1 game.
Get used to waiting around in F1 game lobbies, at most maybe three drivers will join. Image credit: Codemasters / EA Sports
Of course, that is a solution to the problem of 'quickplay' races. There is another aspect of online play and that is organised league racing, which is very strong in the F1 games with many communities providing platforms for drivers of all skill levels. Well much like with historical tracks, there are a few ideas from the MotoGP games that F1 could adopt.
In MotoGP 19, Milestone implemented heavily customisable private servers that can allow lobby hosts and moderators to manage sessions, decide cameras as a spectator, save replays and even assign/remove penalties during the race.
The online league racing experience has been a driving force for interest in the F1 game in recent years, and this tool would only enhance it for all players in my opinion.
What Would You Like?
The return of classic cars and the addition of Formula 3 cars would be an easy answer, but I assume the whole reason that classic cars vanished from the F1 games after F1 2020 was that only a small portion of the player base actually raced them.This does make the inclusion of supercars from F1 22 even more interesting as according to the PlayStation 5 version of the game's trophy list, less than 1% of players had driven more than 25 laps in a supercar. The majority of people who race in the F1 game want to drive modern Formula 1 cars, so it would be difficult to think of more content to introduce into the game.
On F1 22, it would appear not that many people were overly keen on the supercars. Image credit: Sony
Let us know your ideas for future F1 game content and features on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below.