Project CARS 1 and 2 To Be Delisted

Project CARS 1 and 2 Delisted.jpg
Project CARS and Project CARS 2 will soon be unavailable for purchase due to expiring car and track licenses.

Players who have yet to add Project CARS 1 or 2 to their collection now have a limited time to do so.

The Slightly Mad development team have announced that some licenses associated with the title will be expiring soon. Project CARS 2 will no longer be available for purchase as of September 21st, and the first Project CARS will be removed from sale as of October 3rd.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1561730018966904832

Current owners, or players who purchase either title before the dates listed previously, will still be able to play the games.

Slightly Mad also made vague reference to "the next Slightly Mad project", though no details have yet been shared on what that project may entail.

Project CARS 1 was initially released in 2015, and was the title most true to the acronym nested in its name (Community Assisted Racing Simulator). PC2 was released two years later, and divided fans of the previous title as its development placed less emphasis on community interaction.

Both games featured large car and track selections spanning many auto racing series and world locations.

What are your best memories of these titles? Would you look forward to another Slightly Mad racing project? Let us know in the comments below.
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

M
Honestly, while they were inconsistent quality wise and abandoned far too early into their dev cycle to achieve their full potential (something even AMS2 is only starting to do after 2 years in the oven) I still have a big soft spot for PC1/2 for being my gateway into sims back when I was stuck to consoles and controllers
Shame to see them go
 
Nitro McClean
Premium
Having already enough other sims running on my pc and after hearing stories about how it drivers not what you are used to from a serieus sim, I did not buy Project Cars and Project Cars 2. I don't know what I have missed, I probably will never know. But, that Project Cars trailer, for me it still is the best trailer I have ever seen from a video game:

 
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autobot9919
gianlucaP said:
Am I wrong or this is the first time that a game such this is removed from the stores because of this reason?
I mean, wtf is going on? Pcars 1 was released in 2015 and Pcars 2 in 2017, but their licenses expired at the same time? How is that even possible if the sequel has different tracks and cars?
They paid for a 7 years license for the first title and for a five years license for the sequel?
I guess that Pcars 3 will be removed from the stores pretty soon then. Not that this would be a bad thing, but you guys have to admit that it's kinda ridiculous.
Come on, GTR2 was released a century ago and it's still on sale. And was done by the same developers.
The games are gonna be delisted for some other reason.
Click to expand...
"Licenses" is a loose term from a loose tweet by SM it's probably more to do with the publishers Namco/EA not wanting the titles... Who knows? They are getting zapped. The only REAL THING I can moan about is lack of Session saves having to complete a full event which idiot thought that was a good idea. The rest was really good for me to this day - shame.
 
T
MJQT said:
Inconsistent experiences. Not something we ever see in other sim racing titles, eh? No, nada, never, not at all, I'm sure... :p

I'm sure PC2 has its frustrating issues. I wouldn't know – I don't own it! :laugh: But I doubt it deserves the outright hate I see heaped upon it here whenever it comes up. And I, for one, am sad to see it delisted.

I always thought I'd pick it up on sale one day for cheap. So I could enjoy a few of the better experiences in the game. Most likely I now won't. That's a shame.
Click to expand...
I think inconsitency is pretty common these days as products are published with ongoing development in mind. The important difference between PC1/2 and the other insonsistent products is, that support for the Project Cars games stopped relatively short after release eventhough it got released after them and was marketed quite agressively with tons of issues not fixed. And I don't mean the usual marketing BS like it's the most awesome game, but it will blow all the other sims out of the water. And to be quite honest, the comments like "nothing of value" has been lost are in some way or another what I think aswell, eventhough I have quite a bit over 50 hours and taken part in a PC2 league.

And nope, the Madness Engine wasn't developed for PC1 and PC2 as some people commented here, but for the Need For Speed Shift games. So what's left now? Games that are all over the place, with huge amounts of content, poor AI, poor sound, poor physics, poor FFB and ship load of bugs that are far more severe than "AI doesn't slip stream". There isn't that much good to say about the games, especialy in relation to their marketing. So I would say, better safe your money and get the AC Ultimate Edition in one of the sales. Player numbers have dropped like a bomb and I wouldn't be suprised if this is one way of making room for PC4.
 
Tom Blackett
The best thing that happened is when I got some money back for investing in PC1, played it a handful of times and that was enough for me.
 
M
tr1v1um said:
I think inconsitency is pretty common these days as products are published with ongoing development in mind. The important difference between PC1/2 and the other insonsistent products is, that support for the Project Cars games stopped relatively short after release eventhough it got released after them and was marketed quite agressively with tons of issues not fixed. And I don't mean the usual marketing BS like it's the most awesome game, but it will blow all the other sims out of the water. And to be quite honest, the comments like "nothing of value" has been lost are in some way or another what I think aswell, eventhough I have quite a bit over 50 hours and taken part in a PC2 league.

And nope, the Madness Engine wasn't developed for PC1 and PC2 as some people commented here, but for the Need For Speed Shift games. So what's left now? Games that are all over the place, with huge amounts of content, poor AI, poor sound, poor physics, poor FFB and ship load of bugs that are far more severe than "AI doesn't slip stream". There isn't that much good to say about the games, especialy in relation to their marketing. So I would say, better safe your money and get the AC Ultimate Edition in one of the sales. Player numbers have dropped like a bomb and I wouldn't be suprised if this is one way of making room for PC4.
Click to expand...
LOL.. In case you missed it ME was developed for PC1 and PC2 starting from a fundraising and some of the early backers made money out of that. Need for Speed Shift was a precedent experience and the changes going into PC1 and PC2 were deep. ME always was far ahead of their times in many respects and the potential of ME still is at front of the sim world today.
However bad SMS may have managed the franchise of PC1/PC2 that came with ME, it doesn't detract from its capabilities. AMS2 is there to demonstrate it every day more...
https://twitter.com/x/status/1562186104014606336

1661293263011.png
 
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Richard Wilks
tr1v1um said:
I think inconsitency is pretty common these days as products are published with ongoing development in mind. The important difference between PC1/2 and the other insonsistent products is, that support for the Project Cars games stopped relatively short after release eventhough it got released after them and was marketed quite agressively with tons of issues not fixed. And I don't mean the usual marketing BS like it's the most awesome game, but it will blow all the other sims out of the water. And to be quite honest, the comments like "nothing of value" has been lost are in some way or another what I think aswell, eventhough I have quite a bit over 50 hours and taken part in a PC2 league.

And nope, the Madness Engine wasn't developed for PC1 and PC2 as some people commented here, but for the Need For Speed Shift games. So what's left now? Games that are all over the place, with huge amounts of content, poor AI, poor sound, poor physics, poor FFB and ship load of bugs that are far more severe than "AI doesn't slip stream". There isn't that much good to say about the games, especialy in relation to their marketing. So I would say, better safe your money and get the AC Ultimate Edition in one of the sales. Player numbers have dropped like a bomb and I wouldn't be suprised if this is one way of making room for PC4.
Click to expand...
..and yet, despite all the "ongoing support", PCars2 is still a much more complete and feature rich game than both the "long supported" AC and ACC...

But i guess you can't complain about bugs, if you have almost no features, or rules, or even rolling starts, right? :rolleyes:

And you are wrong, the current iteration of the Madness engine was developed for PC1, there are many features in it that werent present in the NFS shift series. Of course, it came from the development done on that title, but still, that only fuels my argument that only big studios with deep pockets and big franchise sales can afford to do such a thing, not "long supporting" devs who soldier on by selling DLC.
 
Ryan Soucy
F_B said:
PCars 2 had its moments.
One day all those million sliders for ffb alingned and I had a fantastic experience with the Clio Cup car at Oulton Park. And I thought „Holy shiat, that feels excellent.« And then, one car and track later I felt lost again.

Consistency was missing in this title. A lot.

Content wise it is still one of the best sims available. Wish Reiza could take all those content and bring it for AMS2.
Click to expand...

I can tell you're trolling and that you didn't play PC2, it has 3 sliders for FFB. PC1 was the train wreck in terms of setting up FFB. But you know what? People made add-ons for GTR2 that had just as many sliders, and when modders do it, its hailed as "unlocking" the potential of the FFB model. Can't please them all.
 
Ryan Soucy

$6.34 - Best deal I've found so far.

Its probably harder to remove cars from the game when the content is actually integrated into more than a glorified hotlapping simulator. There were brand-centric career chapters, plus the championships, plus the "dialogue" from engineers. Boilerplate stuff, but still requiring resources that EA doesn't want to spend on a five year old title that isn't expected to be a revenue generator. They would not break even leaving it on sale. And tech companies are reducing headcounts and open postings in meaningful ways these days, I don't blame them for looking forward. So they BETTER be looking to make F1 2023 a much better product than the last few...
 
D
gianlucaP said:
I mean, wtf is going on? Pcars 1 was released in 2015 and Pcars 2 in 2017, but their licenses expired at the same time? How is that even possible if the sequel has different tracks and cars?
They paid for a 7 years license for the first title and for a five years license for the sequel?
Click to expand...
Or possibly they paid for a 7 year license that could migrate to follow-on products by the sim maker. Licensing all depends upon how it is worded. If IB was looking to the future, such a licensing agreement would have made sense. Prior to several titles still in the marketplace, 7 years was well beyond the lifespan of most sim titles.
 
mopro
wein said:
My experience is much the same with PC2, with a TX, an updated handling file (download at racedepartment) and tweaked in-game, and it feels fantastic. Yesterday I tried it with cars from different eras and it was great. On the other hand, the content is fabulous and it looks amazing (sun and shadow contrast, day, night, all kinds of weather, including snow...). In addition there are still people playing it online. I think it cannot be missing from the catalog of a simracing fan.
Click to expand...
Agreed, after some tweaks PC2 cars are quite enjoyable to drive. I'm still hoping somebody will be passionate enough to mod the sounds (Yes you, Reiza sounds staffs!), and it will become the PC2 that should have been, at least for me. At the moment, the horrible engine sounds are what still keeping me from playing PC2 regularly.
 
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Hawker77
I own PC1, PC2, and even PC3. Some people really liked PC3 and enjoyed the way the cars handled. I decided to try it based on those comments and ended up really enjoying it! I race all the other sims as well and I'm still glad I bought PC3. When I need a quick racing "fix" it fills that space well.
 
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D
All **** talking aside, PCars 2 is an amazing game. I just wish they had done the Codemaster route and made the game free for a day or two before delisting it. Although PCars will be remembered more as "the game everyone wanted to pirate" and "The failed AC killer", it still sucks that a game that wasn't really bad at all wont be able to be purchased anymore.

SO I GUESS A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME!
 
G
I bought it(PC2), never liked it, played it for not more then 10 hours and uninstalled it recently. It has great(one of the best) content and great VR support but the cars simply never drove good/terrible tbh.

But the good thing of PC2 was of course the engine, the engine that made AMS2 possible. The best sim racing game now in 2022.

So the good thing remains (PC2's engine in AMS2) and the unfinished thing gets removed from steam (PC1/2). Nothing will be missed imo.
 
C
I just noticed that EA have delisted all the F1 games from before the present decade, so just three of the 12 or was it 13 games made are for sale. I understand that 2020 is gone from console too. I am wondering if this is all just part of the same trimming the fat process.
 
S
What are your best memories of these titles? Would you look forward to another Slightly Mad racing project? Let us know in the comments below
Click to expand...

My memories goes back as far as 12 hours, VR keyboard offline racing last night from my laptop with Quest 2 and VD (hence, USB-C port used for constant charging while racing) the PC2 classic race cars round classic Le Mans, using full random weather and time accelleration, 1hr practice, 1hr qual and 2 hr race and all set to manual and no aids.
Quite a rewarding feeling taken into account all the minor and major flaws of the sim compared to more dedicated sims.

This can only mean one thing:
SMS are throwing the gloves taking the challenge with Reiza, i.e.
  • No more closed pit garages
  • Drop of cross-over platform, focus on dedicated simmers, blocking console gameboys.
  • Enhanced AI modelling
  • Enhanced tyre modelling, especially to weather conditions - on level with GTR2 or even better
  • Improved graphics engine suited for 3-flatscreen and VR and performance unlevelled by other sims.
  • etc.
Either as a revised PC3 or a sudden PC4 steam drop on the mentioned date.

I can't wait! :)
 
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F_B
Premium
Ryan Soucy said:
I can tell you're trolling and that you didn't play PC2, it has 3 sliders for FFB. PC1 was the train wreck in terms of setting up FFB. But you know what? People made add-ons for GTR2 that had just as many sliders, and when modders do it, its hailed as "unlocking" the potential of the FFB model. Can't please them all.
Click to expand...
As far as I remember PCars 2 still had too many options to set up the FFB. On the one hand that gives players the opportunity to customize as they like but on the other hand it's quite overwhelming at times. And you cannot deny that.

PCars 2 had so much potential but a horrendous AI and a ffb that setting up felt like playing lottery put me off after some time.

Each to their own, if you enjoyed it: fine. :)
 

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