Straight4 Studios Joins Forces with Reiza Studios

Straight4 Studios Reiza Studios Partnership.jpg
After reassembling most of the team from the GTR and GTR2 days, Straight4 Studios is working on a successor to the popular series of sims under the working title of GTR Revival. Now, the developer has secured the support of a dedicated studio: Reiza and Straight4 confirmed a strategic partnership.

As Reiza is using the MADNESS Engine for Automobilista 2, the link to Straight4 CEO Ian Bell becomes clear: Bell was behind the Project CARS franchise for which the engine was created, establishing contact with Reiza CEO Renato Simioni - and the two studios have been talking for quite a while, as it turns out.

"Renato and I have been discussing this possibility for a long time, going back to when they were creating Automobilista 2", states Bell. "All of us at Straight4 were enormously impressed with what Renato and his studio were able to create in terms of feel and handling with Automobilista 2."

"Easy Decision for Reiza"​

Simioni explains why the two studios finally came together: "Our studios have always ended up on varying projects at varying times, delaying any kind of decision. Finally, with Ian and his team working hard on their upcoming game, the time was right for us to join forces." The Brazilian liked what he has seen so far for Straight4's effort. "Having seen inside the new project Straight4 is working made this an easy decision fo Reiza to sign up to a project we believe is going to be the next great sim racing title."

A promising alliance, especially considering Straight4's patented AI-based commentary and race engineer system that was first demoed using Automobilista 2 and Project CARS 2. "Combining our studio's talents is exciting news for all of us at Straight4, and I'm really confident this will also be fantastic news for the sim racing industry as a whole", says Bell.


What this means for the ongoing development of AMS2 is not yet clear. However, Simioni promises updates very soon: "We'll have further news on our portfolio of games for our fans in the next few days."

The upcoming title of the now joint effort is set to be released on PC as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X & S and will be published by PLAION.

Your Thoughts​

What do you think of the partnership between Straight4 and Reiza? Are you looking forward to what they are creating? Let us know in the comments below!
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About author
Yannik Haustein
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

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Comments

JPL083
I was actually just thinking last few days, that should i try AMS2. But this news did really ring the bell! Not going to touch it. I stick with ACC, Rfactor2. And wait what Rennsport has to give in the future. There are many unfinished sims out there, and never are going to be finished. So you have to choose well on what train to get on. They are there just to be let behind and move to the next one. People have allowed this with this early access thing etc. So developers can have these tryouts. Good/Bad? Sad at least. Games are released in total testing phase for the public, and take years when can start to enjoy, if project goes on. Long way are behind those days, where you just put disk in the machine and start to have fun.. :coffee:
 
Denis Betty
Staff
Premium
It would be nice if we could stay on topic and all play nicely together.
Just sayin.
 
Damage Inc
Denis Betty said:
It would be nice if we could stay on topic and all play nicely together.
Just sayin.
Click to expand...
to be fair has there ever been "play nicely" on this site regarding Ian Bell? (kudos for the piggy avatar! My missus is nuts for them and now me too!)
 
DC WOLF
i don't understand the negativity all around.
Joining forces, does not mean Simoni stops working on AMS2 and now pushes all his effort into GTRR.
Think of content creation.
Sharing assets, tracks and cars will speed up the output.
Scanning new tracks for 2 projects will lower the cost
Though many bugs were consistent over several Madness Engine versions, does not mean Straight4 doesn't have good developers and really needs the few guys from Reiza to compete.
But sharing knowledge, tricks and technology can always be the right step in a better future.
Do not forget. Madness Engine was announced as gift to Reiza. No cost. Bell pulled it out of the access of codemasters and EA b4 he sold it and now having no rights on it anymore.
It was a bit of a greek gift, that cost Simoni about 2 years, but slowly they nailed it.;)
 
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M
aolas said:
And again some zero important news, REIZA need to fix they crap (MP, Physics) I am still angry with them for bringing out AMS2 in that crap stat and they crap DLC policy. REIZA lost they relevance long time ago. And the whole Racing SIM market is in stagnation Covid is over people have better to do, than spending money on SIMS's (maybe the iRacing b. fanboys still spend money)
Click to expand...
Yeah, like bitching about a game on a sim forum I suppose. This may come as a surprise to you but your opinion about DLC, MP, physics, covid,... is also irrelevant to others.

I would even go further and say that what you wrote is not even an opinion but just vitriol and bitterness, devoid of correct spelling and arguments.
 
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pz666
Kurupt CDN said:
Considering Slightly mad has been working on the Madness Engine for over 10ys and has yet to solve the bugs/quirks that have persisted over 4 titles now using the engine.

Not sure how one of his "smart guys" is gonna help solve the quirks in AMS2?

Ya, they might have better knowledge of the engine than Reiza....but than the question arises....why wasn't it sorted in past Project car titles or when Reiza took hold of the engine?

Personally, with little details at this point, the only benefits I see....
For Reiza, Ian's money
For Ian, slightly better physics and a hard working team with a good reputation.
Click to expand...

Just because Ian Bell's decisions led to those bugs being left in the titles does not mean that the people who are working with him now, some who were working elsewhere during the Madness era, can't fix something within the Madness engine...

All it takes is a little bit of time and inspiration...

Ian Bell didn't afford them the time during the Madness era, he was all about pushing those titles out the door and moving on to the next cash cow... Renato did allow his developers that time and we have seen the benefits of that in both AMS1 and AMS2...

It's just that simple approach from the top down that makes all the difference... Bell wanted more of a EA sports release schedule and the titles were released as quick cash grabs...
 
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Alexandre
I think it makes sense (I even thought it would happen sooner or later) and will give the project a new level of credibility from the community that Ian doesn't look to have right now.
Renato knows by now what they need to improve from the Madness Engine to make some things possible.
Great news.
 
Copef1
This thread is hilarious. The guys that made GTR, GTR2, and Automobilista are getting together to make a sim and half the comments are basically "Ian Bell BAD!!!, Madness Engine BAD!!!!". It's kind of pathetic at this point.
 
S
This is great for Reiza in terms of funding / backing. This is great for Simbin or Straight4 (or whatever they're called) as it means having the fantastic talents of Reiza onboard with them (too bad Niels also wasn't part of that). However, I just hope this doesn't mean Straight4's game (GTR 3, Project Cars 4, or whatever) is going to use the Project Cars 2 physics engine. I was thinking they were going to be using a new physics engine / tyre model rather than Project Cars 2.
 
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D
jonelsorel said:
Fingers crossed for this partenership to get Reiza whatever they were missing in terms of engine understanding in order to make AMS2 the best it can be. Bell can stay home on this one and focus on AI commentary.
Click to expand...
Isn't GTR Revival UE5 based? Little Reiza can use actually to learn more about Madness Engine.
Probably also means kiss good VR goodbye.
 
RGerke
1.st Sorry for this goolge translation ;)

Oh oh, what am I to think of this?

I was among the first pCars and pCars2 bakers.

First of all, we should all help in the pCars forum, with alpha and beta versions, to define and constantly improve the demands of the sim community.

When many of the passionate PC sim drivers from all over Europe noticed that the multiplayer area is absolutely unsuitable for leagues, we tried to point everything in the right direction in daily postings and discussions, over 3 Years.

No chance. Even after 3 years, Ian was completely resistant to everything we sim users who came from GTR, iRacing, LFS, rFactor, Assetto Corsa.

The multiplayer was very poor, lacking in love, not thought through in detail and immature, so useless for leagues.

It even went as far as that, Ian and the pCars forum banned all those who continued to try Slightly Mad to make it clear that the title is completely useless for league racing and online, simply banned from the forum!

Unfortunately, we still feel the result here in AMS2 - unfortunately still unsuitable for the league and no simple professional TV stream possible. No TV Cams and
The cars move completely unnaturally in replay MP.

Renato, I just hope you know what you're doing and don't make the same mistake again of neglecting the MP League and e-sports community so much.

I keep my fingers crossed for you to unite a symbiosis of pCars2, iRacing ACC, and AC modding with Ian. The only thing I really lack is faith.

Much luck.
 
M
JPL083 said:
I was actually just thinking last few days, that should i try AMS2. But this news did really ring the bell! Not going to touch it. I stick with ACC, Rfactor2. And wait what Rennsport has to give in the future. There are many unfinished sims out there, and never are going to be finished. So you have to choose well on what train to get on. They are there just to be let behind and move to the next one. People have allowed this with this early access thing etc. So developers can have these tryouts. Good/Bad? Sad at least. Games are released in total testing phase for the public, and take years when can start to enjoy, if project goes on. Long way are behind those days, where you just put disk in the machine and start to have fun.. :coffee:
Click to expand...
Did this news actually change AMS2 quality overnight? A bit of a laughable statement honestly :D
 
M
Spinelli said:
This is great for Reiza in terms of funding / backing. This is great for Simbin or Straight4 (or whatever they're called) as it means having the fantastic talents of Reiza onboard with them (too bad Niels also wasn't part of that). However, I just hope this doesn't mean Straight4's game (GTR 3, Project Cars 4, or whatever) is going to use the Project Cars 2 physics engine. I was thinking they were going to be using a new physics engine / tyre model rather than Project Cars 2.
Click to expand...
S4 already lost ownership to ME to the point where they moved to UE5. Also why would you want to use the PC2 version that is now outdated and surpassed by AMS2's version anyway?
IMHO what the partnership means is that Reiza could have access to S4 personnel knowledge of the ME since they built it, which is key knowledge of how things were built.
Both studios could definitely streamline assets data acquisition and in-game creation/modeling.
Wondering if S4 may have come to the decision to use the current AMS2 ME version, who knows? Sometimes reading contracts better can lead to finding loopholes that could open up opportunities?
I think the partnership could have potential if implemented correctly: I doubt Renato is thinking to relinquish his company overall independency.
 
Sonny Mastrangioli
Premium
Mekonrider said:
What's unfinished about it? Do sims games ever get finished these days? Everything current is still getting updates. Rfactor2 isn't finished, same with ACC, iRacing, Raceroom. AC is an ongoing modders labour of love.
Click to expand...
AC has literally gotten the Bethesda game treatment, where modders have kept the game alive and still relevant all these years through multiple disciplines being modded into it like Formula, Drift, Stock, Nascar, and even porting things like Initial D Arcades (Touge drifing) and places like Rockport and Bayview from the Need for Speed games.

Then there is SOL which acted as a base to allow a proper 24hr day/night cycle and weather system when the devs said they "couldn't do it due to limitations"
 
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S
MadDriver11 said:
Also why would you want to use the PC2 version that is now outdated and surpassed by AMS2's version anyway?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't want them to use the PC2 engine. That's exactly what I'm saying. I thought their next game was going to using a new core physics engine (including core tyre model) rather than the PC2/AMS2 one. As far as I know, the AMS2 version isn't much different from the PC2 version. I don't think Reiza made lots of fundamental core-coding changes to the physics engine and core tyre model of the PC2 engine. I think they made some minor touch-ups but it's still 99% PC2. Reiza are very good at bringing the best out of a given physics engine / tyre model with their content though (content meaning vehicle creation, tyre creation, etc.).
 
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