After departing Kunos Simulazioni, Aris Vasilakos now joins Wilder World, a metaworld-type project that will feature racing as one of its pillars. Former SimBin dev Marcus Reynolds is also on board.
Image credit: Wilder World
2024 started off with a bang in the sim racing scene, as news broke that Aris Vasilakos would leave Kunos Simulazioni. As the studio’s Head Of Vehicle & Handling R&D, Aris had been instrumental in the development of both Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizione.
On January 12, after a period of silence, he uploaded a video to his YouTube channel announcing his departure, stating he would go on to work on a “much bigger project which will hopefully make me grow professionally”. At the time, it was unclear what this project might be.
Now, it is clear what this project is. Metaverse MMO Wilder World has hired Aris alongside Marcus Reynolds, who had been with SimBin and later contributed to titles of the WRC series, among others. The duo will drive forward Wilder World‘s racing portion.
“With Aris I [have] collected the some of the best memories, professional memories and personal memories, through almost 20 years.
“I guess that when you prove to yourself, talking about Aris, that you are very good in the job you do, possibly you arrive at some point where you want to see if you are also good in something else.
“That’s actually the same thing I did when I was a taxi driver and it’s something that sometimes you want to know. So I guess he wanted to get a very different challenge.
“I wish him the very best, he did a great job with us and I was sad when he told me he was going to leave Kunos after all these years. He leaves us with good memories, and I’m very proud about what we did together.”
Wilder World looks to build upon the pillars of “Race, Explore, Battle, Earn”. Set in the fictional megacity of Wiami (yes, really), the metaverse’s lore goes back to an nuclear explosion in 1945, which created “The Great Fork”, connection “Our Base Reality with another”, as the official website states. “Wilder World became the bridge between these two worlds.” Wiami is just the first city of the project, however, and appears to be quite futuristic.
The same applies to the car concepts, which seem to mix real-life designs with fictional futuristic elements, as can be seen below.
Image credit (2): Wilder World
It seems that the aim of the Simulation, as Wilder World is called on the website, is to offer something for everyone interested in any of the aforementioned types of games. Whether or not the project can pull this off in a satisfactory manner for everyone interested in these genres should be interesting to see – and the same holds true for whether or not players might see NFTs and crypto as an incentive or a deal breaker.
Image credit: Wilder World
What do you make of Wilder World and Vasilakos’ and Reynolds’ involvement? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
Image credit: Wilder World
2024 started off with a bang in the sim racing scene, as news broke that Aris Vasilakos would leave Kunos Simulazioni. As the studio’s Head Of Vehicle & Handling R&D, Aris had been instrumental in the development of both Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizione.
On January 12, after a period of silence, he uploaded a video to his YouTube channel announcing his departure, stating he would go on to work on a “much bigger project which will hopefully make me grow professionally”. At the time, it was unclear what this project might be.
Now, it is clear what this project is. Metaverse MMO Wilder World has hired Aris alongside Marcus Reynolds, who had been with SimBin and later contributed to titles of the WRC series, among others. The duo will drive forward Wilder World‘s racing portion.
Kunos’ Massarutto: “Proud about what we did together”
While Vasilakos has given his reasons for moving on in detail in the aforementioned YouTube video, Kunos had been quiet regarding his departure. However, Executive Manager Marco Massarutto recently opened up to OverTake/RaceDepartment about Vasilakos resigning from the company.“With Aris I [have] collected the some of the best memories, professional memories and personal memories, through almost 20 years.
“I guess that when you prove to yourself, talking about Aris, that you are very good in the job you do, possibly you arrive at some point where you want to see if you are also good in something else.
“That’s actually the same thing I did when I was a taxi driver and it’s something that sometimes you want to know. So I guess he wanted to get a very different challenge.
“I wish him the very best, he did a great job with us and I was sad when he told me he was going to leave Kunos after all these years. He leaves us with good memories, and I’m very proud about what we did together.”
Wilder World: Racing, Combat, RPG In A “Bridge Reality”
With Vasilakos’ and Reynolds’ expertise on board, is Wilder World‘s racing portion going to be a hardcore sim then? At this point, this is not known, but a quote (by the “Wilder Wheels”, so no one in particular) in the official announcement suggests that that might not be the case: “We are aware that we cannot succeed by focusing on just one solution. It’s not about having the best drift simulation, or the best track races, or the best pit stops. We need to take care of all the small details and make the sum of them better than any kind of single focused gameplay.“Wilder World looks to build upon the pillars of “Race, Explore, Battle, Earn”. Set in the fictional megacity of Wiami (yes, really), the metaverse’s lore goes back to an nuclear explosion in 1945, which created “The Great Fork”, connection “Our Base Reality with another”, as the official website states. “Wilder World became the bridge between these two worlds.” Wiami is just the first city of the project, however, and appears to be quite futuristic.
The same applies to the car concepts, which seem to mix real-life designs with fictional futuristic elements, as can be seen below.
Image credit (2): Wilder World
Crypto, NFTs & Own Economy
The metaverse title will also feature its own economy via a dedicated crypto currency (WILD) that will allow buying and selling NFTs, hence the “Earn” pillar. Wilder World does not hide the inspiration behind its pillars, naming Need For Speed, Forza Motorsport and iRacing for the Racing portion, Halo, Fortnite and Apex Legends for Combat, and finally, Cyberpunk, Grand Theft Auto and Star Citizen for RPG.It seems that the aim of the Simulation, as Wilder World is called on the website, is to offer something for everyone interested in any of the aforementioned types of games. Whether or not the project can pull this off in a satisfactory manner for everyone interested in these genres should be interesting to see – and the same holds true for whether or not players might see NFTs and crypto as an incentive or a deal breaker.
Image credit: Wilder World
What do you make of Wilder World and Vasilakos’ and Reynolds’ involvement? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
