Competition Company not only showed exclusive gameplay for Rennsport at the weekend, the racing simulation was also extensively tested by 100 sim racers – who expressed their confidence afterwards.
Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring – motorsport fans were busy last weekend. The Munich-based developer “Competition Company” placed the first closed alpha test phase of their racing simulation “Rennsport” precisely in this full programme.
Only presented to the public in mid-April, 100 sim racers were now invited to Munich to lend a hand themselves.
Sim-Racing Pros in the racing seat
With them were successful teams such as Williams eSport, G2 or Team Redline and drivers from all over the world.
McLaren Shadow driver Emily Jones, for example, travelled all the way from Australia. Enzo Bonito, an eROC champion, did his laps, as did F1 Pro Series runner-up Frederik Rasmussen. At least the latter was happy about the postponement of his flight on Sunday afternoon, so he could at least follow the Formula 1 race, as he said on Twitter.
Throughout the weekend, sim racers were not only able to get a picture of the current state of “Rennsport”, but also to pass on their feedback to the developers.
The Munich-based company’s promise that “Rennsport” is a simulation “by racers, for racers” is apparently being taken seriously at an early stage. The announcement already said that specialists from many areas of motorsport would be integrated into the development process.
At the hands-on event at the weekend, not only the driving behaviour was put through its paces: Since the simulation focuses on eSports, two races were run in the knock-out system at the Hockenheimring.
Both were won by the Italian Enzo Benito. On Sunday, there was a time trial on the legendary hill of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which was won by the Australian Josh Rogers, who lives in Germany.
No integration of NFTs
The early transparency went down well with sim racers and community alike. On social platforms, news bubbled up to the public every minute
“Other sims better step it up a gear, ‘Racing’ is serious,” Risto Kappet stated after the event. The basic tenor was the same for many, as it was for the pilot of Roman Grosjean’s team, R8G: there is still work to be done, but the new racing simulation is on a good path, was the unanimous opinion.
In a Q&A, many questions were answered by CEO Morris Hebecker and his team to those present at the event – this creates transparency. Following the announcement in April, the developers did not respond to questions about what digital property meant in the game. Over the weekend, however, Hebecker made it clear racing “is not a ******* NFT game.”
Rather, the aim is to find a technology that links the virtual history of a winning car with the respective drivers. Everyone should be able to own what they contribute in “Rennsport”. “We will find a technology that makes that possible,” the CEO continued.
VR support confirmed, roadshow launched
Earlier in the run-up to the event, Competition Company released the first gameplay footage. This shows clips of a driven lap on the Hockenheimring – graphics and driving behaviour make a promising impression.
The release of “Racing” is currently planned for the end of 2023. The first races with eSports event expert ESL and a beta phase are to be held as early as the beginning of next year. In addition, VR support, day and night cycles, ranked multiplayer, mod support and lots of racing cars away from the GT3 series are planned.
The “Rennsport” event was able to clear up some of the ambiguities of the announcement and not only spread hope among the sim racers present. On 31 May, the Munich developers will start their roadshow: Interested parties can see the current state of the simulation for themselves at the start in the BMW Welt in Munich and take a few laps through the racing alpha.
