High level competitive sim racing events have popped up everywhere across all sorts of titles, and Luca is our resident fanatic. However, even he realises that these events are not providing any real incentive for viewers to tune in. So he has a few ideas.
When I joined OverTake back in April 2021, it was primarily because of my love of competitive sim racing events over actually doing sim racing myself. Over time, I was eventually converted and absolutely love competing, but that does not mean I have abandoned what got me into sim racing.
I know I am in the minority because I do get the criticism. Why would many people choose to watch someone else playing a racing game when they can either play it themselves or watch the real thing? That is the point made by many who are against watching high-level competitive events, but interestingly never when someone like Jimmy Broadbent is streaming their races.
But I digress.
Speaking of Jimmy, he - along with our own @Michel Wolk - was in Tokyo on 28 September to commentate on the third round of the Gran Turismo World Series. For those who do not play Gran Turismo 7, there may have been little reason to tune in.
But for those who did, there is something that may have been of interest that other developers could adopt to encourage more people to follow their own events.
Viewers Gift is even easier. For briefly tuning in to each broadcast in-game, whether live or afterwards, players can earn items such as roulette tickets, credits or cars. Right now, players can pick up a Mazda 787B and a Nissan GT-R GT500 by simply opening up the streams in-game for the Tokyo live event.
Want to get two racecars on GT7 for free? You can do so this weekend through the Viewers Gift Campaign. Image: Gran-Turismo.com
This is a brilliant way to potentially drive up viewership since many people who would not have much cared or even known about the Gran Turismo World Series would have a reason to tune in. Even if the majority of them do the bare minimum to get the items, some may decide to stay and check out the action, which is what Polyphony wants.
They have invested heavily in these events, and sponsors are paying for airtime as well, so they will want to get as many people watching as possible. Just like real-world motorsport, competitive sim racing events are essentially advertisements - they are not making it happen out of the goodness of their heart.
With all this in mind, what more can teams behind games and their respective championships do to get more viewers tuning in?
So if they want people to watch their races, why not provide an incentive to earn iRacing credits? Whether it be by linking their account to Twitch or watching it through the iRacing UI itself, it is something many would consider doing, considering how expensive iRacing can get.
Then there are the F1 games. I have been pretty critical of EA and Codemasters' frankly feeble attempts to create additional content for monetisation since the majority of players only play it for the official cars and teams. Despite a vocal portion of players wanting them back, the classic cars have been gone since F1 2021 as apparently next to nobody was actually driving them.
Such examples of attempts to entice the players included having apartments you could customise and non-racewear clothing, which nobody took an interest in. Anyone who did only did so briefly after buying the game. Not many players seem to care about the Podium Emote Celebrations and Victory Radio Calls either.
The only avenue where they had success was the My Team career mode with the spec F1 car used in both that and ranked online multiplayer. Players can equip the spec cars with custom liveries, and players often have a lot of desire to unlock special liveries that the F1 teams have run in recent Grands Prix.
Red Bull's Honda tribute livery from 2021 and McLaren's triple crown and chrome liveries were added and made available for the spec car, allowing players to race it in My Team and Ranked Online Multiplayer. These are traditionally unlocked after participating in an in-game event, but if people really want it and they miss their chance, maybe getting it from following a stream by F1 could also be a good way to get more viewers.
Getting additional content from engaging with streams is of course one good way of getting people to tune in, but there is another.
The inclusion of Spa in two onsite events before its addition to the game was a great way to build hype. People were tuning in to these events to see Spa. That is what these events should be about: showcasing new content and building hype ahead of its release.
Nowadays, Polyphony shows a lot of new upcoming Gran Turismo content in these onsite events through advertisements but they are not going the step further like they did with Spa. They revealed the contents of the GT7 July 2024 update during the GTWS season opener in Montreal. This update saw the return of the Eiger Nordwand track along with several new cars, including the Genesis X Gran Racer.
If I was in charge of running the GTWS, I would have taken that opportunity to run one of the races at Eiger Nordwand and have the Nations Cup Grand Final utilise the new Genesis - assuming all content had been approved for public release by that point.
In the World Finals last year, the Bvlgari VGT concept car was used in qualifying for the Nations Cup but never raced. Again, this was before it was released to the public - at least before it was made available to everyone without spending 5k on a watch.
It honestly baffles me why this is not a more common practice. iRacing could host an invitational event showcasing new content ahead of the following season in action. Inviting a few well-known iRacing-centric content creators and prominent figures would be great for marketing.
If the F1 series added historic tracks and featured them in an F1 Sim Racing esports round ahead of its release, viewers would surely flock to see a track that will soon be available in the game. Of course, there is a case where this method went way too far, with Rennsport not being publicly accessible for well over a year while the ESL R1 sim racing series took place.
There is a world of difference between putting out a fancy video briefly showing new content in a stylised manner, and actually showing it in action where people can quantify it.
Whether you like it or not, these events with dedicated pros are not going anywhere. Nobody has to watch it, but more people may be tempted to give it a chance if they get something out of it - whether that be witnessing future additions early or getting some sort of in-game benefit.
What would you want in return for engaging with a competitive sim racing event? Let us know in the comments down below!
When I joined OverTake back in April 2021, it was primarily because of my love of competitive sim racing events over actually doing sim racing myself. Over time, I was eventually converted and absolutely love competing, but that does not mean I have abandoned what got me into sim racing.
I know I am in the minority because I do get the criticism. Why would many people choose to watch someone else playing a racing game when they can either play it themselves or watch the real thing? That is the point made by many who are against watching high-level competitive events, but interestingly never when someone like Jimmy Broadbent is streaming their races.
But I digress.
Speaking of Jimmy, he - along with our own @Michel Wolk - was in Tokyo on 28 September to commentate on the third round of the Gran Turismo World Series. For those who do not play Gran Turismo 7, there may have been little reason to tune in.
But for those who did, there is something that may have been of interest that other developers could adopt to encourage more people to follow their own events.
Providing Incentive
After GT7's release, a couple of tabs opened up on the home screen in the lead-up to GTWS events labelled 'Predict The Winners' and 'Viewers Gift'. The former is quite self-explanatory: players could predict who would win each event, and for every correct prediction, they would be rewarded 1,000,000 credits.Viewers Gift is even easier. For briefly tuning in to each broadcast in-game, whether live or afterwards, players can earn items such as roulette tickets, credits or cars. Right now, players can pick up a Mazda 787B and a Nissan GT-R GT500 by simply opening up the streams in-game for the Tokyo live event.
Want to get two racecars on GT7 for free? You can do so this weekend through the Viewers Gift Campaign. Image: Gran-Turismo.com
This is a brilliant way to potentially drive up viewership since many people who would not have much cared or even known about the Gran Turismo World Series would have a reason to tune in. Even if the majority of them do the bare minimum to get the items, some may decide to stay and check out the action, which is what Polyphony wants.
They have invested heavily in these events, and sponsors are paying for airtime as well, so they will want to get as many people watching as possible. Just like real-world motorsport, competitive sim racing events are essentially advertisements - they are not making it happen out of the goodness of their heart.
With all this in mind, what more can teams behind games and their respective championships do to get more viewers tuning in?
In-Game Bonuses
Like Gran Turismo, many games can provide viewers with in-game items for watching their broadcasts. iRacing, for example, has a wide range of broadcasted events like their Special Events and plenty of organised championships such as eNASCAR, Porsche Esports Supercup, IndyCar Pro Series, FIA F4 Esports Global Championship and the IMSA Esports Global Championship.So if they want people to watch their races, why not provide an incentive to earn iRacing credits? Whether it be by linking their account to Twitch or watching it through the iRacing UI itself, it is something many would consider doing, considering how expensive iRacing can get.
Then there are the F1 games. I have been pretty critical of EA and Codemasters' frankly feeble attempts to create additional content for monetisation since the majority of players only play it for the official cars and teams. Despite a vocal portion of players wanting them back, the classic cars have been gone since F1 2021 as apparently next to nobody was actually driving them.
Such examples of attempts to entice the players included having apartments you could customise and non-racewear clothing, which nobody took an interest in. Anyone who did only did so briefly after buying the game. Not many players seem to care about the Podium Emote Celebrations and Victory Radio Calls either.
The only avenue where they had success was the My Team career mode with the spec F1 car used in both that and ranked online multiplayer. Players can equip the spec cars with custom liveries, and players often have a lot of desire to unlock special liveries that the F1 teams have run in recent Grands Prix.
Red Bull's Honda tribute livery from 2021 and McLaren's triple crown and chrome liveries were added and made available for the spec car, allowing players to race it in My Team and Ranked Online Multiplayer. These are traditionally unlocked after participating in an in-game event, but if people really want it and they miss their chance, maybe getting it from following a stream by F1 could also be a good way to get more viewers.
Getting additional content from engaging with streams is of course one good way of getting people to tune in, but there is another.
Showcasing Future Additions
When Gran Turismo Sport released in 2017, one glaring absence in terms of tracks was Spa-Francorchamps. For a year and a half, fans were pleading for Spa to be added to GT Sport, and in August 2019 their prayers were answered. For the New York onsite event, Spa-Francorchamps made its GT Sport debut and two months later, it was released to the public.The inclusion of Spa in two onsite events before its addition to the game was a great way to build hype. People were tuning in to these events to see Spa. That is what these events should be about: showcasing new content and building hype ahead of its release.
Nowadays, Polyphony shows a lot of new upcoming Gran Turismo content in these onsite events through advertisements but they are not going the step further like they did with Spa. They revealed the contents of the GT7 July 2024 update during the GTWS season opener in Montreal. This update saw the return of the Eiger Nordwand track along with several new cars, including the Genesis X Gran Racer.
If I was in charge of running the GTWS, I would have taken that opportunity to run one of the races at Eiger Nordwand and have the Nations Cup Grand Final utilise the new Genesis - assuming all content had been approved for public release by that point.
In the World Finals last year, the Bvlgari VGT concept car was used in qualifying for the Nations Cup but never raced. Again, this was before it was released to the public - at least before it was made available to everyone without spending 5k on a watch.
It honestly baffles me why this is not a more common practice. iRacing could host an invitational event showcasing new content ahead of the following season in action. Inviting a few well-known iRacing-centric content creators and prominent figures would be great for marketing.
If the F1 series added historic tracks and featured them in an F1 Sim Racing esports round ahead of its release, viewers would surely flock to see a track that will soon be available in the game. Of course, there is a case where this method went way too far, with Rennsport not being publicly accessible for well over a year while the ESL R1 sim racing series took place.
There is a world of difference between putting out a fancy video briefly showing new content in a stylised manner, and actually showing it in action where people can quantify it.
A Reason To Engage
Ultimately, watching competitive sim racing events is not something that many people are choosing to do, as many do not have a reason to. The people behind the scenes of each title and their respective events should incentivise viewers in any way possible.Whether you like it or not, these events with dedicated pros are not going anywhere. Nobody has to watch it, but more people may be tempted to give it a chance if they get something out of it - whether that be witnessing future additions early or getting some sort of in-game benefit.
What would you want in return for engaging with a competitive sim racing event? Let us know in the comments down below!
![Luca [OT]](https://overtake-data.community.forum/avatars/s/3235/3235113.jpg?1697196734){kind=avatar}
