An interesting press release popped up in The RaceDepartment Mailbox this morning with the announcement that Vrombr is going to Kickstarter in an attempt to fund the further development of the Remote Reality Racing game for mobile.

In recent years we have seen a few attempts at setting up a Remote Reality Racing experience with drones but this time it's time to race cars. Please check out the PR below and lets us know your thoughts. Could this potentially be the future of sim racing?

Polyptik develops Vrombr, the first racing game for smartphones in which everything is real, the cars, the tracks, the scenery. Players take control of 1:10th scale cars to compete against other players from around the world, directly from their smartphone, in races from 2 to 30 players. With a 5G connection, latency is minimal and the experience is enhanced with additional options.

Vrombr is governed by the laws of physics and not by a pre-programmed computer and that changes everything. The game experience has never been seen through the screen of a smartphone and provides a new sensation. The objective: to cross the finish line while avoiding the opponents’ twisted moves.

In a 4 player race for example, one player is in Miami, another in Berlin, the third in Sydney and the last in Santiago de Chile. They are all connected to the same race, to a real car each, running on the same track which is located in France near Lyon, all thanks to the power of their 5G connection.

Accessible 24/7, 365 days a year, players compete on 5 types of tracks with 5 types of cars. They will be able to improve their vehicles by obtaining options to enhance their performance.
The best players will qualify for esports events through which they will try to win the cash prize. In addition, a PC version is also planned.

The facilities that will house the tracks will be connected to a 100% renewable energy supplier in order to limit the impact on the environment. The company aims to eventually equip the roof of its facilities with photovoltaic panels to generate at least 50% of the energy needed to operate the tracks.


What means Remote Reality?​

It is the principle of taking control of an object remotely and in real time thanks to a video stream and a stream of commands. Through the «eyes» of the object, the player is able to control it thanks to virtual buttons located on the screen of his smartphone (or PC). This principle will be widely democratized in the coming years thanks to 5G, and represents without any doubt one of the possible futures of gaming.

Remote Reality Racing League​

Vrombr will be accessible to all on a freemium model and will have its own esport section with a dedicated league, called Remote Reality Racing League (RRRL). At the end of each season of one month, the best drivers are automatically qualified to compete for a cash prize. Each year, the best drivers of the whole season are qualified to compete in a live event. Beyond the cash prize, the best drivers will compete for entry into the 1st division of the league where professional sim racers will compete.

World champion sim racing ambassadors​

Making the link between the virtual and the real is one of Vrombr’s missions. That’s why two world sim racing champions have decided to be Vrombr’s ambassadors. Alexandre ‘Asix’ Arnou, 2x world champion on Forza Motorsport and Rayan ‘Miura’ Derrouiche, world champion on Gran Turismo in 2019 are taking on this role and will give their time to face players on Vrombr and show that they are just as skilled with real cars. To confront them, nothing could be easier, participate in the crowdfunding campaign launched by Polyptik.

A crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter​

In November 2020, the company organized a first event that led about thirty professionals from Sydney to San Francisco, passing through Singapore, Bangkok, Monaco, Paris, Enstone and Miami, to drive in real time a car that was in Lyon, France, on a mini track built for the occasion. The technology developed has been validated by offering a low enough latency to allow such a first. The concept (driving cars remotely) and its interest, have also been validated by professionals from the world of gaming, esports, Formula 1 or Telecoms.

In order to finance further developments and to be able to set up the first tracks and release an alpha version of Vrombr, Polyptik is launching a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, which allows to involve the community in the creation process and to create a game with the players, for the players.

The Kickstarter campaign will run from April 20 to May 20 and you can back it here