Project CARS 1 and 2 To Be Delisted

Project CARS 1 and 2 Delisted.jpg
Project CARS and Project CARS 2 will soon be unavailable for purchase due to expiring car and track licenses.

Players who have yet to add Project CARS 1 or 2 to their collection now have a limited time to do so.

The Slightly Mad development team have announced that some licenses associated with the title will be expiring soon. Project CARS 2 will no longer be available for purchase as of September 21st, and the first Project CARS will be removed from sale as of October 3rd.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1561730018966904832

Current owners, or players who purchase either title before the dates listed previously, will still be able to play the games.

Slightly Mad also made vague reference to "the next Slightly Mad project", though no details have yet been shared on what that project may entail.

Project CARS 1 was initially released in 2015, and was the title most true to the acronym nested in its name (Community Assisted Racing Simulator). PC2 was released two years later, and divided fans of the previous title as its development placed less emphasis on community interaction.

Both games featured large car and track selections spanning many auto racing series and world locations.

What are your best memories of these titles? Would you look forward to another Slightly Mad racing project? Let us know in the comments below.
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

FinFan
I like both, PC1 and PC2. Never played PC3. I race on PC2 with my buddies as we can do private sessions. Just did a couple hours yesterday and had lots of fun. Graphics are really good and you don't need a 2000 € computer to play it.
It's sad to see those titles removed and I would recommend to get those while you can. At a sale both are around 10 € for the complete editions and at that price they are a steal.
 
Peter Kerényi
I just want to say that the way PC2 was handled was really a shame, that game has so much potential as we see from AMS2 and recent FFB files for PC2. Imagine all the QoL and handling improvements AMS2 now enjoys with no stopping ahead, with all the licenses PC2 has and could have had in the form of additional DLC. Sad.
 
Richard Wilks
I think people still don't understand one simple thing. Either PC2 was going to be what it was, an installment on a series of games, using their own tech, or it would be like ACC, which was actively beta tested by the costumers until it was "ready" (i dont think it still is, but ok), and then milked with DLC, while using a third party engine.

I see comparisons with Reiza all the time. Reiza has a single digits staff (well maybe not now that they hired all the biggest fanboys) and basically only does minute upgrades and content for the game. SMS did a whole engine for the game, with a staff 10 times the size. Do you really think you could maintain a studio with that business model? ACC took the "easy" route and used UE. SMS has it's own graphics engine, it's own (yes ISI legacy) physics engine.... People think this is sustainable by selling just some cheap DLC now and then? You can see that even the licenses alone are a big money thing!

There is no way you will ever get a new engine by just selling DLC, and "improving" an existing one with a small dev team. This is just not possible. Unless you want to wait years for simple features. And the only reason why Reiza is still around, it's because SMS was kind enough to strike a deal with them for the madness engine.
 
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BorisK
Peter Kerényi said:
I just want to say that the way PC2 was handled was really a shame, that game has so much potential as we see from AMS2 and recent FFB files for PC2. Imagine all the QoL and handling improvements AMS2 now enjoys with no stopping ahead, with all the licenses PC2 has and could have had in the form of additional DLC. Sad.
Click to expand...
Totally agree. I think the main mistake is selling the studio to a publisher that has nothing to do with racing games. If SMS had stayed independent or at one time become part of, for example, Codemasters, things might have gone a different way. Let's hope that PC4 will rehabilitate the studio after the failure of PC3.
 
Damage Inc
so much potential, not all of it fully realised which is a shame. loved every minuted testing PC1. Loved playing PC1 and still fire up PC2. Didn't bother with PC3.

Worst thing about it all was the horrific and toxic partisan bullshit that flared up around it....sadly that bullshit is clearly alive and well.
 
Kurupt CDN
I enjoyed being part of Project Cars 1 development , the title was what switched me from console to PC racing.
Tho I was extremely disappointed when they announced PC2 shortly after the release of PC1 and only gave a 1yr of support post release for both titles.
At that point it became pretty clear that it was gonna be a money grab franchise and not about creating a long-term community assisted racing sim which many hoped for.

The games possessed alot of potential and had excellent content but SMS never dug deep to give it the love it needed.

After seeing how SMS handled the first 2 titles I passed on PC3 and I doubt I'll support any future titles.
 
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ATSSHD
melanieuk said:
Please note that you will still be able to purchase both titles on third party CD Key sites and activate them on steam after the delisted deadline.
Click to expand...
The prices will probably go much higher. When rocket league was removed from the steam store, some sites still sold 500€ keys for steam lol
 
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C
I still loved Pcars 1 and 2. The WMD was fun and a really good way to have a peak into game development which I am more appreciative of games. Both games are great fun too with a lot of content while they did try to deliver some interesting features.

It is a shame how Pcars 3 turn out, I guess the Pcars legacy is now being continued by Reiza.

I do miss another Pcars with a wide variety of tracks and cars because the game is a great showcase of the past and present automotives. At the same time, I am grateful that it isn't a sterile game with limited content because it is tied to some license.

Another Pcars game with a good amount of content and strong driving mechanics would be great at this pivoting point of the change between loud, fire-breathing race cars and appliances that have wheels sprouted.
 
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Jason Chamberlain
Premium
I enjoyed PC1 and PC2 on my XBox and played a fair amount of PC2 when I switched to PC. Its performance in VR was excellent and when everything was right, it was wonderful. Of course, there were some combinations that didn't work well and the AI was pretty much unbeatable in the rain.

But I really enjoyed the career mode. And I also really liked the Le Mans pack that included the classic Le Mans. I can tell you what I played when I got home from seeing Ford v Ferrari.
 
Ryan Soucy
Some people will never change their tune and will always think of Ian in the worst light, but I still think PC2 was one of the best purchases I've made in sim racing, right after rF1 and GTR2. My Steam playlist shows PC2 and PC1 as my #1 played sims. (mostly b/c since having kids I don't race online anymore)

Buy the deluxe pack before it goes away! The DLC was some of the best I've purchased. Particularly the Spirit of Le Mans pack that includes 1970 La Sarthe and plenty of historic prototypes. But there are some true gems in the Porsche and Ferrari packs, like the 924 and the 961, as well as the older Ferrari Challenge cars. Not the same recycled GT3s that we're stuck with. The content has always been my favorite thing. A Full slate of Grp.C/GTPs, 90's GTO cars, late 90's LMPs. There's almost no era left out.

I just played this again last night (I created two Career modes that you can d/l here) and it still looks phenomenal and, some refuse to believe it, feels excellent on my TX base. There's not much between AMS2 and PC2 how I have it set up. Sounds are underrated too, cars sound raw and angry.

Sad that it will disappear on PCs soon.
 
Gevatter
Premium
Ah the memories... like the one time I used PC2 to configure my triple screen setup for AMS2 when it first released to beta since that functionality wasn't in the first beta version but of course the files were compatible. I still use that config file today. Good times.
 
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