Supercars Championship in video games

There have been numerous video games which have included the drivers, teams, cars and circuits from the Supercars Championship, the leading touring car category in Australia. Several of these games were officially licensed by Supercars. From 2011 to 2014, an online championship sanctioned by Supercars was contested on iRacing.[1] In 2017, Supercars launched an eSports competition, now known as the Supercars eSeries, using Forza Motorsport 6 and Forza Motorsport 7 until 2018 and iRacing from 2019.[2][3]

History

Early computer games

Touring Car Champions, released by Torus Games and Virtual Sports Interactive for Windows in June 1997,[4] was the first game to be based on Australian touring car racing. It featured real-life video from the Mount Panorama Circuit with the virtual cars superimposed over the top. The game was endorsed by the Holden Racing Team,[5] and its drivers from the 1995 Bathurst 1000—Peter Brock, Tomas Mezera, Craig Lowndes and Greg Murphy—were featured in the game, along with cut scenes from the race. The game included a Holden Commodore-based and a Ford Falcon-based car, with the Holden Racing Team's 1996 livery being used on one of the Commodore-based cars. Players took part in a series of races around the Mount Panorama Circuit, with prize money being used to upgrade the car or change the team manager and pit crew.[6]

This was followed by Dick Johnson V8 Challenge, released for Windows in December 1999.[4] It featured 25 drivers of what was then known as V8 Supercars as well as four tracks: Oran Park Raceway, Sandown Raceway, Queensland Raceway and Mount Panorama. The physics model of the game was created with input from Dick and Steven Johnson. The game featured multiple camera angles with which to race and supported the use of a force-feedback racing wheel.[7]

Codemasters

The third instalment of Codemasters' TOCA Touring Car series, TOCA World Touring Cars, released in 2000, was available for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance. It featured cars loosely based on the Ford AU Falcon and Holden VT Commodore that were used in V8 Supercars at the time.

In 2002, V8 Supercars: Race Driver, the fourth game in Codemasters' series, was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows. It was the first game to feature the name V8 Supercars in its title and was the first in a series of three games that would be released with such branding. The game featured 21 cars and seven tracks from the 2001 Shell Championship Series.

This was followed by V8 Supercars 2 in 2004, which featured content from the 2003 season and was also released for PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox and Windows. The final game in the series was V8 Supercars 3, which was released in 2006 for PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo DS, Xbox, Windows and Mac OS X and featured all cars and tracks from the 2005 season. It included the greatest depth of V8 Supercars content of all of the games released.[8]

This was the last full appearance of Supercars in the series, however selected cars have continued to appear in the series, most recently in 2019's Grid.[9]

Gran Turismo

In 2001, a Ford AU Falcon campaigned by Ford Tickford Racing in the 2000 Shell Championship Series appeared in Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, the first time an Australian car had been included in the series. The car since appeared in each game of the Gran Turismo series up to and including Gran Turismo 6.

Forza Motorsport
DJR Team Penske carried Xbox and Forza Motorsport signage at selected events in 2014 and 2015.

The V8 Supercars licence has featured in the Forza Motorsport series. The 2015 edition, Forza Motorsport 6, featured ten V8 Supercars including all five marques that competed in the 2015 season.[10] The series, a flagship series of Microsoft's Xbox series of consoles, has also featured as a sponsor on multiple real life V8 Supercars, including a wildcard entry from Triple Eight Race Engineering at the 2013 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and on DJR Team Penske cars in 2014 and 2015.

In 2016, two cars from the newly renamed Supercars Championship and one car from the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship appeared in Forza Horizon 3, their first appearance in the spin-off series to Forza Motorsport, as part of a wider focus on Australian content.[11] The two 2016 season cars came in the Forza Horizon 3 Motorsport All-Stars DLC. The other 2015 season car was attainable in game via a Forzathon Event. Forza Motorsport 7 featured a range of Supercars dating from 2015 to 2017.[12]

Electronic Arts

The 2002 game V8 Challenge was released by EA Sports. EA Sports also sponsored the Holden Young Lions entry through the 2001 and 2002 seasons and EA Sports also sponsored the Team Brock entry through the 2003 season.

EA made a return to Supercars with Real Racing 3 with annual Supercars updates from 2016 to 2018 featuring a select number of cars entered in their respective seasons. Since the 1st of January 2019, all existing Supercars models have been discontinued and are no longer available to be purchased in-game.

eSports

Forza Motorsport

In 2017, Supercars Australia launched an eSports competition using Forza Motorsport 6.[13] The inaugural event featured online competition with the winning entrants competing in a joint race against Supercars Championship drivers at the 2017 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, in a similar concept seen to Formula E, and then a series of races to determine the outright winner.[2] In 2018, the series, which became known as the Supercars eSeries, expanded to six events using Forza Motorsport 7 and received title sponsorship from Boost Mobile as part of a campaign to attract a younger demographic of fans to Supercars.[14]

iRacing

From 2011 to 2014, an online eSports championship sanctioned by Supercars was contested on iRacing.[1]

In 2019, the eSeries, with backing from Gfinity Australia, moved to iRacing with a combination of dedicated eSports teams and entries from Supercars teams including Triple Eight Race Engineering and Walkinshaw Andretti United, the latter finishing first and second in the championship.[3][15] The six round championship was also broadcast live on Fox Sports and streamed on Kayo Sports.[16] With iRacing in 2019 only featuring the older Ford FG Falcon and Holden VF Commodore models, superseded in the Supercars Championship in 2015 and 2018 respectively, plans were also launched to develop the contemporary Ford Mustang GT and Holden ZB Commodore into the game for 2020.[17]

With the 2020 Supercars Championship calendar disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries was announced to commence in April 2020, with all championship drivers competing using the new Mustang and Commodore models.[18] Various wildcards, including international drivers, former Supercars Championship drivers and Super2 Series drivers later made appearances in the series.[19]

Eseries winners
Year Series Name Driver Team Game
2018 Boost Mobile Supercars E-Series Matthew Bink Forza Motorsport 7
2019 Gfinity Supercars Eseries Josh Rogers Walkinshaw Andretti United iRacing
2020 BP Supercars All Stars Eseries Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering
Repco Supercars Pro Eseries Dayne Warren Walkinshaw Andretti United

List of licensed games

Fully licensed games have accurate cars (including liveries), drivers and or tracks from the Supercars Championship series. Several of these games only feature a limited selection of V8 Supercars rather than the entire field of cars and tracks.

Title Release date Platform(s) Developer Publisher Notes
Dick Johnson V8 Challenge 1999 Windows Torus Games Tru Blu Entertainment
V8 Supercars: Race Driver 2002 PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows Codemasters Codemasters Also known as:
TOCA Race Driver
DTM Race Driver (Germany)
Pro Race Driver (United States)
V8 Challenge 2002 Windows Digital Illusions CE EA Sports
V8 Supercars 2 2004 PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows, PSP Codemasters Codemasters Also known as:
TOCA Race Driver 2
DTM Race Driver 2 (Germany)
V8 Supercars 3 2006 PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows, PSP, OS X, Nintendo DS Codemasters Codemasters Also known as:
TOCA Race Driver 3
DTM Race Driver 3 (Germany)
Race Driver: Grid 2008 Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Arcade, OS X Codemasters, Firebrand Games Codemasters, Sega, Feral Interactive Select 2008 season cars concealed within DLC files.
Forza Motorsport 3 2009 Xbox 360 Turn 10 Studios Microsoft Studios
Forza Motorsport 4 2011 Xbox 360 Turn 10 Studios Microsoft Studios
Forza Motorsport 5 2013 Xbox One Turn 10 Studios Microsoft Studios
Real Racing 3 2013 iOS, Android, Shield Portable, Blackberry 10 Firemonkeys EA Games Added in update, September 2016
Removed since January 2019
Forza Motorsport 6 2015 Xbox One, Windows Turn 10 Studios Microsoft Studios
Forza Horizon 3 2016 Xbox One, Windows Playground Games Microsoft Studios
Forza Motorsport 7 2017 Xbox One, Windows Turn 10 Studios Microsoft Studios

Other appearances

Various games have also included a more limited selection of cars from the Supercars Championship series, without having a full series licence. This does not include several games which have received fan-made modifications to add V8 Supercars content, including rFactor, Assetto Corsa, NASCAR Racing 2003 Season and GTR 2. Other games, such as Project CARS, its sequel Project CARS 2 and Gran Turismo 6, have featured the V8 Supercars' most famous circuit, Mount Panorama, without featuring full series content.[20]

Title Release date Platform(s) Developer Publisher Notes
Touring Car Champions 1997 Windows Torus Games Virtual Sports Interactive Real-life video from the Mount Panorama Circuit with virtual cars superimposed over the top.
Need for Speed: High Stakes 1999 PlayStation, Windows EA Canada (PS)
EA Seattle (PC)		 Electronic Arts 1999 Holden Racing Team VT Commodore is an unlockable car
HSV Adventure Racing 1999 Nintendo 64 Paradigm Entertainment Electronic Arts 1999 Holden Racing Team VT Commodore is an unlockable car
TOCA World Touring Cars 2000 PlayStation, Game Boy Advance Codemasters Codemasters Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Also known as:
Jarrett & Labonte Stock Car Racing (United States)
WTC: World Touring Car Championship (Japan)
Gran Turismo series 2001–2013 PlayStation 2, PSP, PlayStation 3 Polyphony Digital Sony Computer Entertainment Includes only the 2000 Ford Tickford Racing Ford AU Falcon, which appeared in all games in the series from Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (2001) to Gran Turismo 6 (2013).
iRacing 2008 Windows, OS X, Linux iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations Includes the Ford FG Falcon (from 2009 and 2013), Mustang, Holden VF and ZB Commodore's with player-generated liveries.[21][22][23][24][25]
Game Stock Car Extreme 2013 Windows Reiza Studios Reiza Studios Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Grid 2 2013 Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, OS X Codemasters Codemasters, Feral Interactive Includes a Ford Falcon ute with a V8 Supercar-style bodykit.
Grid Autosport 2014 Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Linux, OS X, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Android Codemasters, Feral Interactive Codemasters, Feral Interactive Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis. Also includes Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore SuperUtes.
Project CARS 2015 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Slightly Mad Studios Bandai Namco Entertainment Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Includes the Ford FG Falcon as a free DLC.
Automobilista 2016 Windows Reiza Studios Reiza Studios Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Project CARS 2 2017 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Slightly Mad Studios Bandai Namco Entertainment Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Includes the Ford FG Falcon.
Grid 2019 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia Codemasters Codemasters Generic and real life liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Includes the Ford FG-X Falcon and Holden ZB Commodore.
Automobilista 2 2020 Windows Reiza Studios Reiza Studios Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.

See also

References
  1. B, Kevin (1 August 2011). "V8 Supercars to Sanction iRacing.com Series". iRacing.com. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  2. Howard, Tom (8 September 2017). "Supercars announces new e-Sports event". Speedcafe. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  3. Hodson, Joshua (18 April 2019). "Supercars Unveil 2019 Esports Competition". Ministry of Sport. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  4. "Torus Games" (PDF). Torus Games. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  5. "Touring Car Champions". Moby Games. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  6. "Touring Cars". Torus Games. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  7. "Dick Johnson V8 Challenge". Torus Games. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  8. Calvert, Justin (26 August 2005). "TOCA Race Driver 2006 Hands-On". GameSpot. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  9. Evans, Andrew (30 August 2019). "Codemasters Reveals Almost All The Cars in GRID". GTPlanet. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  10. Reilly, Luke (23 August 2015). "Forza 6 Gets All 5 V8 Supercars Australia Manufacturers". IGN. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  11. Patrick, Kyle (19 July 2016). "First 150 Cars Revealed For Forza Horizon 3: Ute Better Believe It". GT Planet. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  12. Rorrison, Brendan (29 August 2017). "Forza Motorsport 7's Race Car Lineup Announced". GT Planet. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  13. Bartholomaeus, Stefan (13 June 2017). "Supercars plans virtual racing plunge". Supercars. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  14. Howard, Tom (31 August 2018). "Supercars to launch new eSports series". Speedcafe. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  15. "Supercars Eseries grid taking shape". Supercars. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  16. "Supercars Eseries schedule, broadcasts locked in". Supercars. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  17. Bartholomaeus, Stefan (5 September 2019). "Eseries Mustang and ZB under development". Supercars. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  18. Bartholomaeus, Stefan (23 March 2020). "Drivers prepare for All Stars Eseries". Supercars. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  19. Chapman, Simon (27 April 2020). "Ambrose to run special celebratory number in Eseries". Speedcafe. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  20. G, Jordan (2 October 2013). "Mount Panorama (Bathurst) Confirmed for Gran Turismo 6: New Video & Screenshots". GTPlanet. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  21. "Holden V8 Super Car". iRacing. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  22. "Supercars Ford Mustang GT". iRacing.
  23. "Supercars Holden ZB Commodore". iRacing.
  24. "Ford FG V8 Super Car". iRacing.
  25. "Ford V8 Super Car circa 2012". iRacing.
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