Possible Virgin Australia Supercars Championship game?

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Uncle Ed

Uncle Ed

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http://www.supercars.com/news/championship/supercars-plans-virtual-racing-plunge/

An official virtual version of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship is in the works as part of the category’s efforts to reach a younger audience.

Supercars CEO James Warburton has revealed that plans to establish an official video game-based competition are being hatched in conjunction with partner Harvey Norman.

The strength of the burgeoning eSports industry was on show in Sydney last month, where an estimated 10,000 fans attended a tournament centred on the game Counter Strike.

Globally, the eSports scene is said to be worth $1.2 billion, with real-world football and NBA teams among those involved in leagues aligned with their respective sports.

While establishing a fully professional league is some way off, Warburton says Supercars is well placed to engage with the youth-dominated industry.

Supercars and the Bathurst circuit already feature in the popular Gran Turismo (Sony Playstation) and Forza Motorsport (Microsoft Xbox) games, which can be used as the basis for tournaments.

A virtual Supercars competition would likely involve fans racing against the category's current star drivers and may eventually see direct involvement from the championship's race teams
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Nissan’s well established global GT Academy program that turns Playstation gamers into professional racing drivers has also shown the potential for gaming to act as a starting point for careers.

“One of the strategies we’re driving as part of the 2025 vision is to engage with new fans,” Warburton told Supercars.com.

“I think we’re extremely well advanced in this area because the platforms already exist.

“We’ve got the games with our cars and teams already on them, as well as big events and the capacity to stream it online through our digital platforms.

“We’re working through an association with Harvey Norman to figure out exactly what it looks like.

“The ability to bring Bathurst to life through an eSports event and giving fans the ability to race against our Supercars drivers is certainly a logical option.

“It’s very much in the development phase, but it’s an area where a lot of sports are currently looking to get into and it’s a shared vision with Harvey Norman.”

Supercars’ association with Harvey Norman has seen the retail giant back Swiss driver Simona De Silvestro’s entry into the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship this season
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I think it's more likely that they'll licence the championship and use that in eSports than to try and build a game from scratch.
 
prisonermonkeys
I think it's more likely that they'll licence the championship and use that in eSports than to try and build a game from scratch.
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That is what I'm hoping.

For some reason, it was mentioned Gran Turismo features V8 Supercars. There is only one, the Falcon and an old Falcon at that.

At the least, Project Cars use the 2013 Falcon. That game has an excellent eSports program, with physics and immersion to boot. It'll be even better with PCars 2 arrival.
 
Annoyingly enough though, the article ignores that Bathurst and the 2013 spec Falcon is in game so I'd say it's unlikely.
 
Uncle Ed
I agree. That pesky Mark Skaife may dig his mittens into this one.
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Even though it's really the one that makes the most sense from an E-Sport dedicated platform for those interested and the series in game. And it's on all 3 platforms.
 
Erm... I think it's quite obvious which game they'll be using, remember those two from not too long ago?

fm5-falcon-blogjpg-e14f6f_1280w.jpg

XB1RFriday06.jpg


Potentially there could still be a partnership between Supercars and Xbox, and end up with something akin to what Ford, Audi and Porsche have done for their Forza Racing Championship series in the past 2 years, but to a bigger/more important extent.

Not only that, the game is a lot more accessible for a broad range of people than PC is.
 
I'm not surprised it's Forza. I'm just surprised that a group who is intending to bring VASC to a younger audience is essentially ignoring a massive part of the gaming population and that's why I'd have gone for Project CARS in a userbase aspect. Although, I'm not surprised that financial benefits would also be a reason.

It depends on what you mean by accessible. Yes, Forza is easier to play casually and accessible in that sense. That's one of the intentions of the series. However, if you want as large a player base as possible, you'd never go for either Forza or GT as both games are limited to one console so naturally, games on multiple consoles would be more accessible to multiple people. As an esports championship, what you'd want is the best drivers showcasing the VASC series and you can't really have that done as well as possible if you go for a game which isn't created for a console.

Although, we could be wrong. It's unlikely but we could be.

If I was at the head of a motorsport series that isn't officially licensed in a game, (Excluding WTCC, DTM etc) my series would have to be of a sufficient level of popularity that the money a company brings in wouldn't have as much an effect as other money coming in is already sufficient. I'd want to have my series available on as many platforms as possible basically excluding Forza and GT allowing my series to showcase the best drivers on each platform and have multiple championships running per platform increasing the air time of the series.

Another aspect what I'd look at is whether the game is suitable for what I'm intending and if the online championships come into fruition without major issues, Project CARS 2 would be my preferred choice. It's on multiple platforms, many units sold on the first iteration and it's a proven series. Of course, all these negotiations would have to have taken place months ago and it all sounds a bit utopian removing the aspect of money but that's got to be the key issues looked at.
 
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I mean, it's entirely possible it'll be based on Project CARS because of the broader population as you said, but I still think the recent publicity with FM and Xbox kinda nudge it their way. And Horizon 3 being set in Australia might play a part for recognition. Who knows.


I do wonder however, no matter which game they end up using, if it'll be restricted to Australia/New Zealand only or if they will cater to a worldwide audience.
 
-Fred-
I mean, it's entirely possible it'll be based on Project CARS because of the broader population as you said, but I still think the recent publicity with FM and Xbox kinda nudge it their way. And Horizon 3 being set in Australia might play a part for recognition. Who knows.


I do wonder however, no matter which game they end up using, if it'll be restricted to Australia/New Zealand only or if they will cater to a worldwide audience.
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As I said, it's a bit utopian considering I'm somebody interested in gaming and not running a Motorsport series and the omission of Project CARS from the article makes that seem less likely.
 
I keep seeing comments about IRacing. I can't see that happening.

Forza seems more likely because of recent history. The old PlayStation V8 games, were the best in showcasing the Championship. Does VASC want any track eSports or Australia specific content?

Does the FIA partnership with GT, sway in their favor? Also the Asia factor. Supercars want to reach that audience. Working with PDI can help that. Especially since they may have Simona in a Nissan , as the Harvey Norman driver.

Maybe T10's quickness in model releases, keeps things fresh with the new Red Bull Commodore.

Do VASC want the experience to be realistic and on multi platforms? Again with Simona, an ex-Indy racer, a pCars connection can be made.

Hopefully this is not just wind. It's an excellent concept to bring growth to the series.
 
I'm a lil late to the party, but
http://www.speedcafe.com/2017/06/27/supercars-eyeing-bathurst-esports-event/
This is similar to when GT Academy Australia had time trials at Bathurst. Then, GTA at Sydney Motorsport Park.

I guess the main concern would be, do people have to attend Bathurst.
Next, do VASC use iRacing or Forza6 as they are already available?

Do VASC use the launch of Forza7? Are Polyphony Digital or Nissan, for that matter, keen to promote this?

Can SMS jump in with PC2 and their ready to go, multi platform eSports feature?
 

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