The new edition of the official Formula 1 game will allow real-world drivers to change teams for the first time.
Codemasters have confirmed F1 2019, which will be released next week, allows current drivers to move between teams at the end of seasons and even during championships.F1 2019 chief game designer Gavin Cooper confirmed that “for the first time, the player and official drivers will now be capable of signing contracts with different teams.”
“[The] majority of drivers move at the end of the season,” he explained, “but there is a rare chance of mid-season change.”
“Drivers move up or down depending on success of previous season,” he added, and the player is notified of the changes through the in-game messaging system.
Driver moves have not been permitted in previous editions of the official Formula 1 game due to licensing restrictions. Cooper says the 10-season career mode means “players can expect to see the dominance of the current mainstays of the sport challenged by a field of young, up-and-coming drivers”.
The contracts offered to players in the career mode can also be influenced by how they perform in the Formula 2 feeder series, which is modelled in the game for the first time, if they choose to play it.
F1 2019 will be released on June 28th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
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Ben Needham (@ben-n)
21st June 2019, 11:25
Well, call me a child, but this has just pushed me into pre-ordering a copy!
I struggle to justify buying it every year as I rarely get the chance to play, but there seems to be enough different this year to justify a purchase. Formula 2, drivers moving around and a couple of decent sounding arcade sidelines sounds great to me.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
21st June 2019, 12:00
@ben-n
I’m in the same boat Ben. I’ve already stated 3 times on 3 separate articles that I won’t buy the game 2 years running, but I just might have to now…
Hugh (@hugh11)
21st June 2019, 12:53
I’ve bought the last 3 installations (and 2014) but I dunno. I’m just not excited for this game right now. I’m sure I’ll probably get it later in the year, but right now I just don’t care which is pretty weird. After F2 etc was announced I thought I’d be really hyped but just. Eh.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
21st June 2019, 13:45
Whoaahh! This is amazing news! Hats off to Codies and Liberty for actually making it happen. This really changes career mode, no more Pascal Wehrlein driving a Sauber for 8 straight seasons
Imre (@f1mre)
21st June 2019, 16:18
Normally I wouldn’t consider buying an arcade F1 game but this sounds interesting.
Raymond Setyadi Umbara
21st June 2019, 16:35
Anyone know if it will come out for Mac OS?
NoName (@noname)
21st June 2019, 17:35
Everybody gonna swap Lewis and Vettel 😂😂