''Project CARS'' is a

sim racing Sim racing is the collective term for racing games that attempt to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a dr ...

video game series This is a list of video game franchises, organized alphabetically. All entries include multiple video games, not counting ports or altered re-releases. 0–9 *''1080° Snowboarding'' *''1942'' *'' 3D Ultra Minigolf'' *'' 3-D Ultra Pinball'' *'' ...

developed by

Slightly Mad Studios Slightly Mad Studios Ltd. was a British video game developer based in London. Founded in 2009, it was best known for the '' Project CARS'' series of racing games that it developed from 2015 until the series' discontinuation in 2022. Codemaster ...

and published by

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

. The franchise was introduced in 2015 and received a sequel in 2017, followed by ''

Project CARS 3 ''Project CARS 3'' is a racing video game developed by Codemasters subsidiary Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was released on 28 August 2020 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The game marks a departure ...

'' in 2020. Following the acquisition of

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer and former publisher based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts and managed under the EA Sports ...

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

, development on the ''Project CARS'' series ended in November 2022.

Games

''Project CARS'' (2015)

The first video game of the series was initially released on 6 May 2015. It was available on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

, and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

. A complete edition, titled ''Project CARS Game of the Year Edition'', was launched on 6 May 2016. The game was generally well received upon release, and had sold 2 million copies as of October 2016.

''Project CARS 2'' (2017)

''Project CARS 2'' was announced as the sequel after the success of ''

Project CARS ''Project CARS'' is a sim racing video game series developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The franchise was introduced in 2015 and received Project CARS 2, a sequel in 2017, followed by ''Project CARS 3'' ...

''. It features 140 track layouts at 60 different spots and 189 cars ranging from

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performanc ...

s to

Supercar A supercar, also known as an exotic car, is a street-legal sports car with race track-like power, speed, and handling, plus a certain subjective ''cachet'' linked to pedigree and/or exclusivity. The term 'supercar' is frequently used for th ...

s, including

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. ( , ), usually referred to as Lamborghini or colloquially Lambo, is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its su ...

, etc. It was available worldwide on 22 September 2017 for

, and

platforms. The game received positive reviews, and won the Best Simulation Game award of Gamescom 2017.

''Project CARS 3'' (2020)

''Project CARS 3'' was announced in December 2018. In November 2019,

, the developer of the franchise, was acquired by

, British video game developer and publisher known for ''

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

'' series, ''Colin McRae Rally'' and ''Dirt'', ''

TOCA TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The company organises and administers the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the support series to the BTCC, sometimes known as the ...

'' and ''

Grid Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to: Space partitioning * Regular grid, a tessellation of space with translational symmetry, typically formed from parallelograms or higher-dimensional analogs ** Grid graph, a graph structure with nodes connec ...

'' series, which means Codemasters now holds the rights to the ''Project CARS'' titles. Unlike previous games, it features arcade style gameplay and was created as a spiritual successor to '' Need for Speed: Shift''. The game was released on 28 August 2020.

''Project CARS GO'' (2021)

In May 2018, Slightly Mad Studios announced the spin-off title ''Project CARS GO'' for mobile devices, which is being co-developed by

Gamevil Com2uS Holdings (formerly as ''Gamevil Inc.'') ((주)게임빌) is a public company based in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and Torrance, California, which develops and publishes video games for mobile devices. As of May 2017, the company's market ...

. Like the main series, it would feature licensed cars and vehicle customisation. It was not until February 2021 when Gamevil confirms they would launch the game for Android and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

devices on 23 March 2021. Prior to launch, the game had an open beta period for Android users in Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands from 26 January until 11 March.

Future

The series was set for a fourth title sometime in 2024 but this was eventually cancelled by its owner

in November 2022. The Project Cars engine was used in

Automobilista 2 ''Automobilista 2'' is a motorsport racing simulator game created by Reiza Studios, under the lead of Renato Simioni. The game was initially released as an Early Access title on March 31, 2020, via Steam, with the official V1.0 release taking pl ...

References

External links

* * {{Electronic Arts Electronic Arts franchises Racing video games Video game franchises introduced in 2015