Sector3 Studios is moving to Gothia Science Park

[Ryan Ogurek]

Sector 3 Studios has announced that they are moving the location of their offices to Gothia Science Park in Sweden.

Sector 3 Studios is the creator of the free-to-play racing simulator, RaceRoom Racing Experience. Their developers are many of those from the former SimBin Studios.

“We couldn't be more excited,” said Chris Speed, CEO of Sector3 Studios.
“Gothia Science Park provides a unique and innovative habitat for nurturing game development. It’s an informatics icon for Sweden and Europe alike. Many talented students and game developers call Gothia Science Park their home. We're proud that Sector3 will soon thrive among them.”

Chris Speed also said that "Sector3 Studios is expanding its operations and will soon hire more employees especially programmers".

If you would like to apply you can send your CV to careers[at]sector3studios.com

 

[Ernie]

The R3E business model is based on micro-transactions. The vast majority of gamers hate micro-transactions because it feels like we're being ripped off. Perceived value perhaps, but that's how it feels.

If the vast majority of gamers hate micro-transactions, then i wonder why iRacing has such a big user base.

 

[Connor Caple]

If the vast majority of gamers hate micro-transactions, then i wonder why iRacing has such a big user base.

iRacing's userbase is tiny in Gaming terms ("over 50,000 users WorldWide") when the basis for comparison is games with Millions of users.

EDIT: Highest selling video games (Includes Need For Speed at 150 Million. I know it's not a Sim, but it is Racing)

Polls and articles show typical results when Gamers are queried about micro transactions. Facts speak for themselves.

PSXE Poll - Users hate microtransactions
Micro-transaction typical poll result
EA backtracks on putting micro-transactions in all future games
Another typical Poll on Microtransactions

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

iRacing userbase may be tiny in terms of gamers, but it's quite large in terms of simracers.

 

[Jay Ekkel]

the way we plan to do thins is not really micro-transctions, yes the option is there for those that want it, but we are shifting the focus to packs which are more interesting and much better valued. It will always be a balancing act, there are plenty of games out there that proof F2P with micro transactions can be very successful.

 

[Ernie]

@Connor Caple: Ok, Gamers in general .....for sure. But i was actually thinking of Simracers only.

 

[Connor Caple]

iRacing userbase may be tiny in terms of gamers, but it's quite large in terms of simracers.

I'm not normally dismissive of the opinions of others, but in iRacing's case I'll make an exception. It's a bad sim, with a bad transaction model that has a miniscule following compared to other racing games.

Even TOCA sold 5 million copies. Gran Turismo has shipped 60 Million - what percentage of racers count as sim racers? What percentage of iRacing's claimed 50,000 users are active and buying things?

Are people trying to claim that only iRacing users are 'Sim Racers'?

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

I'm not normally dismissive of the opinions of others, but in iRacing's case I'll make an exception. It's a bad sim, with a bad transaction model that has a miniscule following compared to other racing games.

Even TOCA sold 5 million copies. Gran Turismo has shipped 60 Million - what percentage of racers count as sim racers? What percentage of iRacing's claimed 50,000 users are active and buying things?

Are people trying to claim that only iRacing users are 'Sim Racers'?

Uhm, yes? As it's a simulator, every user qualifies as a sim racer...................
Edit: I reread your post, my answer above was based on me misunderstanding your last sentence. No I don't consider only iRacers to be sim racers, but I sure don't consider 60 million Forza owners to be simracers, I was one of them who bought it, and I didn't then and still don't consider me a simracer back then.

Whether or not it's a bad sim is up to you and each of us to judge, I think it's one of the best if not THE best sim on the market today.
Tell me one other sim that currently has more than 3000 people logged in right now ready to race online? I don't know about you, but compared to that, every other sims multiplayer server room looks like a barren wasteland to me.

 

[Sean Kenney]

the way we plan to do thins is not really micro-transctions, yes the option is there for those that want it, but we are shifting the focus to packs which are more interesting and much better valued. It will always be a balancing act, there are plenty of games out there that proof F2P with micro transactions can be very successful.

@Jay Ekkel to me R3e is a more a modular game with a demo than F2P - semantics. You can only buy what you want, I like that. At first I didn't like it and was a bit bothered since I dislike a lot of F2P models, but I realized it was financially working in my favor...it usually doesn't happen that way with a lot of F2P models. Now I am hooked so it doesn't much matter. I had never played a sim racer before and being able to dabble with a few bucks here and there got me hooked.

 

[Heppsan]

I'm not taking anyone's side here in the discussion, but participation is a big problem in iRacing..
3000 logged in, but not ready to race.
Most of them just dwell around on the forum!

 

[James Cook]

That's the point though, isn't it @Jay Ekkel ? They have to, for example, BUY the WTCC pack if we want to have a WTCC race because it does not come with the game. Then, they have to buy the track we will use that week too.

I'm not sure what you are getting at here. The 'game' (R3E) is free, very little comes with it - it's just a base - so of course you have to pay at some point. I appreciate that the R3E sales model makes things a little more complicated in this regard, but not by much.

For what it's worth I'm not a fan of free-to-play, micro-transactions and so forth, and I would prefer a more traditional sales model as per Race 07, but R3E's approach isn't completely without merit. The player can solely buy content of interest and I think the linked discount system works well (with the exception of the DTM Experience issue).

Maybe also consider how many years of entertainment Race 07 provided and ask yourself if R3E really is poor value if it can deliver the same. I've already had well over 200 hours out of R3E and own the majority of the content, so whatever I've spent is peanuts really for what I'm getting out of it.

 

[Connor Caple]

Yes, but that does not negate the fact that Club Racers would have to all own the same tracks and same viable cars as the 'base game' contains very little.

I can only assume that some people have so much more money than others that it's not a big deal to them because they don't have to think carefully about what they'll spend it on.

 

[James Cook]

Yes, but that does not negate the fact that Club Racers would have to all own the same tracks and same viable cars as the 'base game' contains very little.

I can only assume that some people have so much more money than others that it's not a big deal to them because they don't have to think carefully about what they'll spend it on.

I wish money was no object and I didn't have to think before spending it! Sadly that's not the case for me but spending money on R3E and sim racing in general is by far the cheapest and best value of my hobbies and pastimes.

I've probably spent no more than the RRP of a console game on R3E and DTM-E and am approaching 250 hours game time. I really don't understand the moaning from some people.

Good sim-racing content requires increasingly greater resources to create and is being sold to a niche audience. These guys (S3) have to make money for our hobby to survive.

It seems some sim-racers want everything for (almost) nothing. Those days are gone.

 

[Connor Caple]

I don't want everything for nothing, but I do assign value to what I spend based on the usage time I get from it. Steam, unfortunately, doesn't seem to keep accurate gaming records any more as It seems to claim I've spent less than 100 hours on Race07 over 5 years *chuckles*

I expect to get at least an hour of fun out of every pound I spend on gaming, which includes Wheels, Pedals, extra monitors, etc., or (to me) it's not VFM. Race 07 and all its add-ons probably cost me about £70 total and I've played it for 5 years, so it's a win.

R3E, I am still looking at sceptically, particularly (as I keep mentioning) the lack of Club Racing at the moment and how that can work. If I spend £60 (less than the currently available packs/tracks/cars add up to) on it and get about 20 hours of fiddling about with settings and little fun, it won't be VFM.

I bought a PS4 - it has yet to break even , after a year of sitting there. Not even an hour a day of fun and the racing games have been utter tripe on it, with no legacy wheel support which was originally promised by Sony. I feel it was a bad purchase and have been close to selling it several times.

My PC upgrade will, by the time I'm done, have cost me about £400. I have AC, Race 07+, R3E, FSX (Flight), Train Simulator 2014, The Golf Club and many more games which will easily get my my 400 hours over the next year.

In my book, you've got your money's worth out of R3E, I'm still at the "Why does this FFB feel so bad?" stage with my Logitech G25. Similarly with RF2.

Maybe next year I'll save up for a new wheel to replace my ageing sim workhorse, but for now it has to do the job.

 

[Blkout]

iRacing's userbase is tiny in Gaming terms ("over 50,000 users WorldWide") when the basis for comparison is games with Millions of users.

EDIT: Highest selling video games (Includes Need For Speed at 150 Million. I know it's not a Sim, but it is Racing)

Polls and articles show typical results when Gamers are queried about micro transactions. Facts speak for themselves.

PSXE Poll - Users hate microtransactions
Micro-transaction typical poll result
EA backtracks on putting micro-transactions in all future games
Another typical Poll on Microtransactions

People used to hate any form of DRM too about 5-6 years ago and now Steam, Origin and Uplay are all widely accepted. It takes time for people to adjust to change. Maybe micro-transactions will catch on, maybe they won't, it just depends on how its implemented I suppose.

 

[James Nance]

I wish money was no object and I didn't have to think before spending it! Sadly that's not the case for me but spending money on R3E and sim racing in general is by far the cheapest and best value of my hobbies and pastimes.

I've probably spent no more than the RRP of a console game on R3E and DTM-E and am approaching 250 hours game time. I really don't understand the moaning from some people.

Good sim-racing content requires increasingly greater resources to create and is being sold to a niche audience. These guys (S3) have to make money for our hobby to survive.

It seems some sim-racers want everything for (almost) nothing. Those days are gone.

Thank you

 

[RallyRacer43]

Any update on Race 07 server??