Project CARS Will Be Featured At Sony's Booth At GamesCom

There are two big racing games on the way for both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4. The Xbox One has Forza Horizon 2 and Project CARS due out this fall, and the PlayStation 4 has Driveclub and Project CARS due for release this fall. Sony, however, wants a massive leg up on the competition when it comes to multiplatform support, and it has been revealed that the company opted to bring in Project CARS for exclusive display at their booth for this year's GamesCom event in Cologne, Germany.

VR Focus spotted the news, as Bandai Namco rolled out an official press sheet as to what they would be showcasing at this year's European trade show event, and interestingly enough while they will have The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on display (a game that they will be publishing in various territories) and Rise of the Incarnates joining CD Projekt's open-world RPG, the one game that would have seemed likely to be an exclusive part of their booth, is not.

For those who didn't know, Bandai Namco Games signed a deal with the indie outlet Slightly Mad Studios to distribute Project CARS at retail for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and the Wii U. And while the Wii U version has been delayed to 2015 for reasons of “polish”, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the game are still on for a fall 2014 release this November.

According to the article on VR Focus, it appears as if the game could be used for virtual reality head-mounted display purposes. As the site writes that...

“Project CARS, which is set to feature support for the Project Morpheus VR head-mounted display (HMD) on PlayStation 4 as well as the Oculus Rift HMD on PC, can be found at booth C020 in hall 5.2. The title was also shown at SCE’s booth during E3 2014. It’s not clear just what content Project CARS will be showing off at the event; could we perhaps see it running in VR for the first time?”

The game has been used before in VR apropos settings, only usually it's been done in the confines of a gaming enthusiast who decided to share the experience with the world via YouTube, as showcased with the video below.

The video above is based on build 689, and is using the Oculus Rift as a head-tracking display device, so that players are able to look around and survey the surroundings as if they were actually right there in the cockpit of a supercar.

Unfortunately, the video only showcases very little of the actual driving, and it doesn't happen until around the 1:57 mark. Also, YouTube's lack of 60fps compression means that you're only seeing it run at half the frame-rate in which it was intended to run.

Having the game at Sony's booth in GamesCom could be a huge deal for the company, as it would offer gamers an opportunity to see a real next-gen racer in action at 1080p and 60fps, as well as potentially showcase their very own head-mounted display technology.

Someone joked that Project CARS could get a much longer line than Evolution Studios' Driveclub. I wouldn't doubt it.

The game is set for release this fall. You can learn more about Project CARS by visiting the official website.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.