Everything You Need to Know About Racing Game Development, Challenges, and Marketing

April 2021

There are so many racing video games in the world but these are some of the best ones around. Racing video games are becoming more popular day by day because they have become more realistic with each passing year. It’s not about how fast you drive anymore; it’s about how perfect your braking skills are and much concentration as possible when going through a tricky turn or an obstacle course.


Developing racing games


The racing game genre has existed for decades, spanning countless different companies, titles and platforms. In that time it’s gone from something of a niche entertainment to one of the most popular series on the market. There are many components that go into making a great video game but the most important part of any game is the graphics. The graphics are what will make your video game stand out from all the rest. There is another factor that is just as important as graphics and that’s gameplay mechanics. Graphics give your game a polished, professional look while mechanics keep people coming back time and time again to play your latest creation.


Challenges and approaches


When it comes to racing games, you're never going to find a realistic track that is completely flat. However, some developers choose to compensate for this by using a layered approach. For instance, rather than building a single racing course consisting of different roads and heights throughout the track, they build several tracks that can be mixed and matched. With each track or area being interspersed into each other with other terrain, characters, obstacles or other elements added in between them.


This kind of layered approach was used in the PSP title Wipeout Pure (shown below). In this game, you have a single track that is made up of multiple segments. Each segment has their own design and difficulty level with different elements that add to the mix. If you're able to overcome all of these different parts, then you'll be able to get to the end and finish the race.


But don't let this small example fool you into believing that it's easy to create layers like these. It's hard work, but if done correctly it can provide players with challenges they wouldn't have found on a simple flat racing course. Another way you can add to the realism of your game is by having a track that changes and adapts to the situation. For example, if you're racing in a vehicle and come up to a turn, you might want to slow down or increase your speed accordingly. Likewise, if you're racing in an extreme situation like driving on ice, then you'll have to take different actions like braking more often or not coming out of sharp turns at such high speeds. Each time this happens, your experience as a player is further immersed into the game because these kinds of changes occur just as they would in the real world.


Marketing - Challenges and Strengths


Since racing games are huge in the video game market, marketing a racing game is one of the most complex, difficult tasks that can be done. All racing games have a huge fan base and many players. Some of the impressions that video game developers have when creating a new racing game is including its difficulty and graphics to attract players. Even though some people might assume that only children play them, adults also enjoy playing these games too. There are three different types of marketing strategies for race games, they are: high-budget advertising, viral social media campaigns and exclusive content for partnered gaming platforms such as Xbox or PlayStation consoles.

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