A recent private build of F1 2021 has been given to select players of the game, separating esports racing from the public build.
A group of F1 2021’s top supporters has been left feeling alienated from the title. A video posted by a commentator for the Premier Sim Gaming League has caught the eye of many in the sim racing community, as the impassioned monologue expressed the frustrations associated with the potential division of the esports racing from league racing participants.
The basis of the controversy is a build of the F1 2021 game that was only released to a select group of players. The build supposedly changes the driving and tire physics of the game, which potentially creates two tiers of capabilities of the cars. One primary secondary effect of this split is that those with the updated build be more experienced with it when it becomes public, which will be a major factor in those already at the top levels of esports staying on top.
The frustration some in the community are feeling stems from not only some racers feeling that others may have an advantage on track, but also feelings that developer Codemasters had prioritized some players over others.
The corresponding lap time effects of the changes aren’t known, but at the esports level where tiny fractions of seconds count, any change has potentially large consequences for participants. In their public response statement, F1 2021 alluded to the changes being minor and intended to bring the game experience closer to what the real Formula One drivers have been achieving on track.
Codemasters’ response statement avoided directly addressing the root cause of the frustration, specifically the two tiers of physics. “... we made some minor tweaks to the handling model to remove an unrealistic element with low-speed cornering. The update provided to esports teams will be launched to all players as soon as the patch is optimized for the F1 2021 game.”
So, it seems those in need of a level playing field for the handling in F1 2021 will simply need to wait. Rather than promise any immediate action, Codemasters is relying on the patience of those affected. Hopefully the uproar within their player base is enough to motivate F1 2021 to publish the updates sooner.
Give us your thoughts in the comments below on this controversy. Are the changes to the handling model to bring F1 2021 closer to the real world something that should be reserved for the top competitors to test, or something that all players should have had access to right away?
A group of F1 2021’s top supporters has been left feeling alienated from the title. A video posted by a commentator for the Premier Sim Gaming League has caught the eye of many in the sim racing community, as the impassioned monologue expressed the frustrations associated with the potential division of the esports racing from league racing participants.
The basis of the controversy is a build of the F1 2021 game that was only released to a select group of players. The build supposedly changes the driving and tire physics of the game, which potentially creates two tiers of capabilities of the cars. One primary secondary effect of this split is that those with the updated build be more experienced with it when it becomes public, which will be a major factor in those already at the top levels of esports staying on top.
The frustration some in the community are feeling stems from not only some racers feeling that others may have an advantage on track, but also feelings that developer Codemasters had prioritized some players over others.
The corresponding lap time effects of the changes aren’t known, but at the esports level where tiny fractions of seconds count, any change has potentially large consequences for participants. In their public response statement, F1 2021 alluded to the changes being minor and intended to bring the game experience closer to what the real Formula One drivers have been achieving on track.
Codemasters’ response statement avoided directly addressing the root cause of the frustration, specifically the two tiers of physics. “... we made some minor tweaks to the handling model to remove an unrealistic element with low-speed cornering. The update provided to esports teams will be launched to all players as soon as the patch is optimized for the F1 2021 game.”
So, it seems those in need of a level playing field for the handling in F1 2021 will simply need to wait. Rather than promise any immediate action, Codemasters is relying on the patience of those affected. Hopefully the uproar within their player base is enough to motivate F1 2021 to publish the updates sooner.
Give us your thoughts in the comments below on this controversy. Are the changes to the handling model to bring F1 2021 closer to the real world something that should be reserved for the top competitors to test, or something that all players should have had access to right away?
