Formula E

Earlier this month, Formula E announced a competition which would ultimately have its pros taking on 10 of the world’s fastest virtual drivers in an eRace worth $1 million in cash.

As the engine of eSports fires on all cylinders with the likes of GT Academy qualifiers, the Forza Racing Championship, and iRacing’s NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series, Cloud Sport and Formula E are looking to add a significant spark with the recently announced ‘Road to Vegas Challenge.’

Of course Polyphony has been programming AI for the Gran Turismo series for almost 20 years and in recent iterations of the game you’ve been able to train and micromanage your own versions of the AI in a game mode called “B-Spec” – so players have taken to calling the driver “B-Spec Bob”. With two decades of experience creating AI that can deal with high-speed racing, Polyphony should be confident.

The world of eSports has seen exponential growth as of late, becoming the de facto standard in representing the fierce competition available in some of the most popular gaming franchises currently available. That environment now has to contend with the first virtual championship of the FIA Formula E — the Race Off Pro Series, and it’s coming to Forza Motorsport 6.