Codies Racing Line – November 12, 2020

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November 12, 2020

“It’s the most wonderful time… of the year…”

No, we haven’t gone early on the festive vibes, and no, we haven’t found a time machine and travelled a thoroughly unimpressive amount of time. For all of us gamers, now probably feels like Christmas has come early, with new consoles, new games, new reasons to take shelter from the cold and lose yourself in a game or two.

The best bit? Codemasters is full speed ahead through this exciting time, with fresh Esports action, major updates, and the small matter of a brand new game launching with next-gen hardware. We told you it was exciting!

Let’s get started with a chance to finally redeem that invitation to LET LOOSE…

DIRT 5

We made it, people. Our long journey to launch has reached its destination, screaming over the finish line in style. It feels good to say this: DIRT 5 is out now!

Available right now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 (selected territories, out globally by November 19), PS4, Xbox One and PC, we are incredibly proud to be sharing DIRT 5 with you. The celebrations kicked off last week with the official launch trailer (below), and carried on with a special look at the game running on PS5, followed by this week’s Xbox Launch Celebration show, featuring yours truly.

With launch well underway, we’re already putting the spotlight on your in-game creations. We can’t help but share some of the best DIRT 5 photo mode shots on our social channels, but each Monday, we’re taking it one step further. One chosen photo mode shot will be chosen each Monday as the new banner for the DIRT social channels! Follow us and look out for posts each Monday to find out how to enter.

On Friday, meanwhile, it’s all about Playgrounds. In the game, the Featured area of Playgrounds is refreshed with a new slate of hand-picked custom arenas, that we think deserve your attention. From those Featured Playgrounds, every Friday we will choose one to be our ‘Playground of the Week’! The brilliant ‘X Games 2020’ by Merginator was our first POTW, and tomorrow we’ll reveal the second. There’s still time to show us your Playground and stake your claim – upload footage of your creation using #POTW!

Whilst we’re bringing you all that fun and games, the hard work is well underway behind the scenes on the usual patches and updates to further improve your experience. The DIRT 5 Discord is the best place to be to track all of this – here, you can speak directly with the DIRT 5 team, check out a dedicated channel for patch notes and other game updates, and use our feedback form to give us your thoughts on the game. The journey to this point may’ve been long, but we’re just getting started…

– Chris

 

F1® 2020

Hey all, and welcome to this week’s Racing Line. Here’s what’s going on in the world of F1® 2020!

F1® Esports Pro Series

Event Two of the F1® Esports Pro Series got underway last week with races four (Circuit Zandvoort), five (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve) and six (Red Bull Ring). If you didn’t watch it, you missed some fantastic racing action, including “the greatest example of teamwork ever seen in the F1® Esports Pro Series” (and that’s not us saying that either, that’s direct from F1 Esports commentator Matt Gallagher). We won’t spoil it for you, but you can watch a clip of the action below, and if that whets your appetite, you can watch the whole race here.

We’re halfway through this year’s Pro Series, and there’s so much action still to come. Next week sees races seven (Silverstone), eight (Circuit Spa-Francorchamps) and nine (Autodromo Nazionale di Monza), and these are not ones you’ll want to miss! Head to f1esports.com for more information.

F1® Esports 2021 Challenger Series

You could be racing amongst the F1® Esports Pros next year! It all starts with the F1® Esports qualifying event that’s open right now – you can find it by heading to the ‘F1 Esports’ tab in F1® 2020. Find out more about the event here; the short version is that the eight players with the highest score will qualify for the 2021 Challenger Series. What’s the Challenger Series? Well, that’s your road to the next stage and the possibility of being signed by one of the official F1® Esports teams. You can find out more about the Challenger Series here.

Podium Pass

Podium Pass Series Two finished earlier this week, and it’s not long now until Series Three starts… we can’t wait to show you what new customisation items we have in store for you!

See you next time,

– Jenny

 

DIRT RALLY 2.0

Hey everyone, PJ here again.

DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series – Round 3 Underway

We’re into the final set of DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series Qualifiers, with only a few weeks of competition left before we whittle down the tens of thousands of players to a handful.

This week it’s R5 cars at Australia and RX2 cars in Sweden, and as always we have demonstration runs up on YouTube. This is also a perfect opportunity to try out the Ford Fiesta R5 MKII, and when you finish the Qualifier you’ll get the car yourself on Tuesday.

The top players from these Qualifiers will be invited to a playoff broadcast in early December. We recently capped off the Round 2 broadcast, and you can catch all of that on YouTube too.

That’s all for now, good luck out there on the road.

– PJ

 

PROJECT CARS 3

It’s been quite a busy week for us at Slightly Mad Studios with the release of the first add-on pack, the “Legends Pack”, along with a fresh update to Project CARS 3. Let’s take a drive and see what’s new, as well as what you can look forward to in the near future.

Legends Pack
This is the first in a series of downloadable content for Project CARS 3 and features three legends from Japan’s awesome car culture: the Acura NSX, Mazda RX-7 R2, and Toyota Supra MkIV Turbo, plus their respective racing conversions. Feast your eyes on the launch trailer to see them in action!

Along with new cars, dozens of customisation options, and achievements for you to unlock, there’s also a new race circuit for you to master, the Yas Marina Circuit, available for free to all Project CARS 3 drivers.

A new update is also available for all platforms, bridging support for the DLC pack and various other improvements. To find out what exactly, check out the update notes.

Rivals Challenge
Undoubtedly one of the most popular features in Project CARS 3 is our Rivals Challenge, that has the whole community challenging one another to post the fastest possible time around a specific circuit with a pre-selected car. To stay up to date on upcoming Rivals Mode challenges, and who has the fastest time, be sure to keep an eye on our dedicated Rivals Mode page. Plus, don’t forget to tune in to our social channels where we run a weekly track guide for that week’s Rivals Challenge.

Porsche 911
The Classic everyman sportscar from Porsche comes in many different flavours in Project CARS 3. From historic racing machines to track day weapons and the latest in road car innovation, we’ve got it all covered. With so many to choose from, it’s only natural that you’d want to learn which ones suit you best. Lucky for you, we’ve got just the thing: read our feature blog to find out more.

And that’s it from me this week. Come hang out with the rest of the community in our Discord server, and be sure to keep an eye out for the latest Project CARS 3 news by following us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and our website for regular updates.

– Fernando

 

F1® MOBILE RACING

Congratulations are in order for F1® Mobile Racing player ‘FALCO’ – the latest monthly winner of our F1® Mobile Racing Esports Leagues winner, with an incredible 4009 duels under their belt! That’s another player giving themselves every chance of success in our competitive mode, for which we revealed much more details on over the past fortnight. Check out our article on the Esports event to see how the Playoffs and Grand Final will work, and what’s at stake!

Make sure to keep an eye on the in-game store for flash offers, just like the 24-hour sale we recently ran for the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team pack at 50% off, following their title-clinching performance in Imola!

– Chris

RACING AHEAD

It’s been fantastic to see just how much Racing Ahead content creators have been enjoying DIRT 5 since its first of three launches last week. Whilst you might not have time to watch the 180+ videos they’ve created already, we’ve selected a handful of our favourites below.

BlackPanthaa dived into almost every mode available and even brought his wife Meadow in for a quick race in split-screen. Camodo got his first taste of ice racing on New York’s East River and TmarTn has been flying through Career mode, with three episodes under his belt already. Plus, he’s taken a look at DIRT 5 running on Xbox Series X – it’s not to be missed!

Want more? We’ve tailored a playlist of Racing Ahead coverage over on YouTube. You can find it by clicking here.

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About Chris Groves

Community Manager for Codemasters, primarily working on DIRT 5! Keen enthusiast of corners, kerbs and key lime pie.

View all posts by Chris Groves

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