14 DAY TRIAL // Racing games are quite popular, with many fans wanting to experience fast thrills and adrenaline rushes from taking high-powered vehicles and racing in them around virtual cities across the world.
But, even though there are quite a few fans out there, things aren't all that rosy for racing games, which aren't selling extremely well. Bizarre Creations, the studio behind the very popular Project Gotham Racing franchise, which is now working on action-racing title Blur, has revealed, through the voice of Ben Ward, that except for Mario Kart, it's hard for a racing title to be successful.
“I'm not going to mention numbers but not really, with the exception of Mario Kart, which has done very well because it's a Mario Kart game,” Ward says. “That is the exception rather than the rule. But generally titles, I won't name any names, more recent titles that were really good, critically acclaimed and we all played them, they didn't sell as well as can be expected. I know sales is one thing, but sales are reflective of people who are interested in the concept and interested in what they want to play. So if it's not selling then the developers are doing something wrong and pushing it in the wrong area. We totally rebooted with Blur. All of these things we think are wrong; we're trying to fix them.”
Let's not forget that Bizarre revealed a few weeks ago that it aimed at delivering an adult version of the action found in Mario Kart with Blur, so, hopefully, it will enjoy a few big sales when it will appear this year. While racing fans aren't that numerous like shooter or RPG admirers, there is still a market for them, so studios should focus on it and ensure that the final product will appeal to them.