14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Codemasters have said that they are hoping to add the GP2 competitions to their Formula 1 simulations, but they cannot do so at the moment because of the licensing situation, although that could change in the near future.
[ADMARk=1]Stephen Hood, who is the chief game designer working on the Formula 1 titles, has stated, “At the moment this is not possible because the license does not allow us to include GP2 even if we wanted to (plus we would need a much bigger team).”
He added, “Maybe in the future this is something that will change. I can’t see it becoming a standalone game but it would certainly make for interesting downloadable content one day.”
Formula 1 is an elite outlet for drivers and these days most of them arrive in the sport via feeder teams that perform in GP2, where races are often close fought affairs where the skill and the flair of the man behind the wheel matters more than the hardware of the car that he uses.
Lewis Hamilton, media darling and one of the youngest pilots to succeed in F1, has arrived via GP2.
Another route into F1 was via the Formula 300 circuit, but that competition has closed down.
Adding the GP2 competitions will likely mean doing quite a bit of extra work for the developers of the racing series, which is why Hood is talking about launching it via downloadable content, with a price tag that reflects the resources put into it.
F1 2011 is set to launch during September and will be available on the PlayStation 3 from Sony, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PC.
Codemasters are also planning to launch handheld versions of the game at a later date with development on both the Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation Vita done by Sumo Digital.