FIA World Endurance Championship cars and tracks from the 2024 season will arrive, with other ACO-run series an option for Le Mans Ultimate, but the focus is elsewhere initially according to the company’s CEO.
When Le Mans Ultimate launches on 20th February, as an early access simulation platform it arrives with seven tracks and 12 cars.
These are all from last year’s season in the FIA World Endurance Championship and there will be ‘over 100’ liveries from that year.
However, the initial release date is just four days ahead of the real-world Prologue test event and 11 days before the opening 2024 round in Qatar. This will see the GTE field replaced by LMGT3, LMP2 removed and four new cars in the top Hypercar category from the likes of Alpine, BMW, Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini.
To perhaps rub salt into the wounds, the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans entry list is released this coming Monday.
The tracks are at least laser-scanned, featuring dynamic time of day and wet weather. While there is a solid quantity of cars, liveries and tracks from day one, you could argue that it is hardly a proliferation.
Perhaps the most pertinent quandary is if there is enough content to sustain interest in the ranked multiplayer mode – a judgment on which will arrive through the fullness of time.
However, according to developers Studio 397 and Motorsport Games, the focus first and foremost is quality over quantity.
“Right now, we are not trying to compete with Gran Turismo or Forza,” asserts the recently appointed Motorsport Games CEO Stephen Hood to RaceDepartment when quizzed about future content additions.
“I don’t care if they have 1,000 cars. It doesn’t matter if [we have] 1,000 cars that are ‘shoddily’ made.
“If we have one beautiful car, it would be an amazing experience. But what we are delivering is all the 2023 season. All the tracks, all the cars.
“We are not stretching anything out, we are not drip feeding, it is there from the get-go and that will be further refined as well.
“Once Le Mans Ultimate is out in the wild, you have got all manner of different drivers and players enjoying this content. I think there is going to be a bunch of feedback about the cars and more balancing to be done – the hypercars are incredibly complex.”
According to Hood, further content will be on the way, naturally, but only when the development team has worked on and improved upon the basics first.
Lamborghini SC63. Image, Lamborghini
“Yes, of course, the 2024-season content is going to come into the game,” he continues.
“Production has started on some of that content as well. It’s not just going to be dropped as one kind of ‘2024 Pack’, especially while we’re in Early Access.
“But I also look at; if we just throw a whole bunch of cars in there, and some new tracks as per this season, what does that really bring to the experience right now?
“I think what will be provided is incredibly deep. It has taken an incredible amount of time and expertise to deliver.
“I first want to make sure that it works, with a feature set and the driving experience around [it] that works.
“Then everything that we add content-wise on top is just going to expand the opportunity to play.”
European Le Mans Series, Barcelona. Image, ELMS
The licencing agreement for Le Mans Ultimate is with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest – the organisation responsible for the main 24-hour race, and with the FIA, WEC.
The European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series are also under the stewardship of the ACO, so, in theory, like the world championship, these could be included in future updates or DLC sets.
On paper, venues such as Catalunya, Circuit Paul Ricard, Mugello, Sepang, Dubai and Yas Marina plus LMP3 machinery could be part of the Le Mans Ultimate roster.
Provided, of course, that option is pursued, something that is not yet set in stone.
“It is something that has been discussed internally, something that I am aware of and have pushed for,” Hood tells RaceDepartment when asked about ELMS Asian-LMS.
“When we started out on this [title], people just looked at it and said, ‘well, it’s just the Le Mans game, it is a 24-hour race around a really long track’. Look behind the curtain and it is actually the World Endurance Championship.”
“There are all these other kinds of opportunities and I’m very excited about that. I know the [development] team is as well. For us, it’s a no-brainer, to expand the breadth of content.
“But again, I’m trying to walk before we run. I want to make sure this experience is really good and then people will be saying ‘can’t wait for them to add a, b and c’ – we’ll get there.”
Discussing potential additional content down the road is like eating dessert before a main course.
When Le Mans Ultimate releases next week, it will be bereft of features such as virtual reality support, online replays, server rental, single-player championships and the much-vaunted asynchronous cooperative mode.
This, according to the industry veteran – who has worked on prior Formula 1 games for both Sony Liverpool/Psygnosis and Codemasters – is where the focus lies for now.
A roadmap of when to expect features will be published ‘soon’, although Hood would not be drawn on specifics:
“There is a priority list and there is a roadmap in terms of those priorities that will be communicated to the public.
“One thing that we won’t do is necessarily attribute dates to those features because what we did previously, in terms of talking about it being a December [‘23] release, and then we moved it.
“I want to have the freedom to move things around. If [new features] are not ready, they don’t need to go out.
“I want to make clear that we’re not oblivious to things that we expect people will want as well, we have a plan for these things. Some are in development, some are only in the planning stage.
“But I want to make sure that the online and single-player offline experience are in a really good place before we add other big-ticket features, like co-op.
VR specifically is said to be on the roadmap but will be “incorporated at the right time.”
“I think we’ve done a great job out of the gate,” summarises Hood.
“But there’s more to be done and then we’ll get into a rhythm of delivering the features, ‘24 content and beyond.”
Time will tell – RaceDepartment hopes to go hands-on with Le Mans Ultimate upon release. In the meantime, let us know in the comments below which of the expected features and content you’d like to see added first.
When Le Mans Ultimate launches on 20th February, as an early access simulation platform it arrives with seven tracks and 12 cars.
These are all from last year’s season in the FIA World Endurance Championship and there will be ‘over 100’ liveries from that year.
However, the initial release date is just four days ahead of the real-world Prologue test event and 11 days before the opening 2024 round in Qatar. This will see the GTE field replaced by LMGT3, LMP2 removed and four new cars in the top Hypercar category from the likes of Alpine, BMW, Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini.
To perhaps rub salt into the wounds, the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans entry list is released this coming Monday.
The tracks are at least laser-scanned, featuring dynamic time of day and wet weather. While there is a solid quantity of cars, liveries and tracks from day one, you could argue that it is hardly a proliferation.
Perhaps the most pertinent quandary is if there is enough content to sustain interest in the ranked multiplayer mode – a judgment on which will arrive through the fullness of time.
However, according to developers Studio 397 and Motorsport Games, the focus first and foremost is quality over quantity.
“Right now, we are not trying to compete with Gran Turismo or Forza,” asserts the recently appointed Motorsport Games CEO Stephen Hood to RaceDepartment when quizzed about future content additions.
“I don’t care if they have 1,000 cars. It doesn’t matter if [we have] 1,000 cars that are ‘shoddily’ made.
“If we have one beautiful car, it would be an amazing experience. But what we are delivering is all the 2023 season. All the tracks, all the cars.
“We are not stretching anything out, we are not drip feeding, it is there from the get-go and that will be further refined as well.
“Once Le Mans Ultimate is out in the wild, you have got all manner of different drivers and players enjoying this content. I think there is going to be a bunch of feedback about the cars and more balancing to be done – the hypercars are incredibly complex.”
According to Hood, further content will be on the way, naturally, but only when the development team has worked on and improved upon the basics first.
2024 Le Mans and WEC content confirmed
Lamborghini SC63. Image, Lamborghini
“Yes, of course, the 2024-season content is going to come into the game,” he continues.
“Production has started on some of that content as well. It’s not just going to be dropped as one kind of ‘2024 Pack’, especially while we’re in Early Access.
“But I also look at; if we just throw a whole bunch of cars in there, and some new tracks as per this season, what does that really bring to the experience right now?
“I think what will be provided is incredibly deep. It has taken an incredible amount of time and expertise to deliver.
“I first want to make sure that it works, with a feature set and the driving experience around [it] that works.
“Then everything that we add content-wise on top is just going to expand the opportunity to play.”
ELMS and Asian-LMS Content Possible
European Le Mans Series, Barcelona. Image, ELMS
The licencing agreement for Le Mans Ultimate is with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest – the organisation responsible for the main 24-hour race, and with the FIA, WEC.
The European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series are also under the stewardship of the ACO, so, in theory, like the world championship, these could be included in future updates or DLC sets.
On paper, venues such as Catalunya, Circuit Paul Ricard, Mugello, Sepang, Dubai and Yas Marina plus LMP3 machinery could be part of the Le Mans Ultimate roster.
Provided, of course, that option is pursued, something that is not yet set in stone.
“It is something that has been discussed internally, something that I am aware of and have pushed for,” Hood tells RaceDepartment when asked about ELMS Asian-LMS.
“When we started out on this [title], people just looked at it and said, ‘well, it’s just the Le Mans game, it is a 24-hour race around a really long track’. Look behind the curtain and it is actually the World Endurance Championship.”
“There are all these other kinds of opportunities and I’m very excited about that. I know the [development] team is as well. For us, it’s a no-brainer, to expand the breadth of content.
“But again, I’m trying to walk before we run. I want to make sure this experience is really good and then people will be saying ‘can’t wait for them to add a, b and c’ – we’ll get there.”
Features Roadmap
Discussing potential additional content down the road is like eating dessert before a main course.
When Le Mans Ultimate releases next week, it will be bereft of features such as virtual reality support, online replays, server rental, single-player championships and the much-vaunted asynchronous cooperative mode.
This, according to the industry veteran – who has worked on prior Formula 1 games for both Sony Liverpool/Psygnosis and Codemasters – is where the focus lies for now.
A roadmap of when to expect features will be published ‘soon’, although Hood would not be drawn on specifics:
“There is a priority list and there is a roadmap in terms of those priorities that will be communicated to the public.
“One thing that we won’t do is necessarily attribute dates to those features because what we did previously, in terms of talking about it being a December [‘23] release, and then we moved it.
“I want to have the freedom to move things around. If [new features] are not ready, they don’t need to go out.
“I want to make clear that we’re not oblivious to things that we expect people will want as well, we have a plan for these things. Some are in development, some are only in the planning stage.
“But I want to make sure that the online and single-player offline experience are in a really good place before we add other big-ticket features, like co-op.
VR specifically is said to be on the roadmap but will be “incorporated at the right time.”
“I think we’ve done a great job out of the gate,” summarises Hood.
“But there’s more to be done and then we’ll get into a rhythm of delivering the features, ‘24 content and beyond.”
Time will tell – RaceDepartment hopes to go hands-on with Le Mans Ultimate upon release. In the meantime, let us know in the comments below which of the expected features and content you’d like to see added first.
