Why 2015 Was The Best Year For Gamers, And What's Coming In 2016

I can’t help but reminisce on the good times we had last year in the racing game world. These major racing games, along with indie titles, set out with a healthy dose of competition in 2015:

• Forza 6
• F1 2015
• Project CARS
• DiRT Rally
• NFS 2015
• The Crew: Wild Run
• GTA V (remastered and released on PC)

The Crew, Driveclub, Forza Horizon 2 and Assetto Corsa were released at the end of 2014 and kept their popularity through 2015 and there was every type of racing we could imagine.

It’s because of the insane variety last year, that there was a game for every taste. There were road courses, off-road courses, tracks, and open-world roaming to play with our supercars, clunkers, motorcycles and more. Gamers of all levels and interests got their hands on a racing wheel last year. We also saw China lift a 14-year ban on video game consoles, encouraging even more new players in the coming years.

The capabilities of our gaming systems are insane, and it’s absolutely necessary at this point to keep up with our demand for realistic racing. If you could go back in time and explain today’s gaming systems to your younger self, you would blow your own mind. Not only are we living the dream with force feedback wheels, adjustable pedals and hundreds of customisable driver settings, we’ve also gone head first into the world of virtual reality. Now, we can shut out the outside world and truly feel part of the race.

Not only did the new wheels help us get the most out of the latest games, they also let us relive some older titles in a new way. This year, new VR headsets and wheels will emerge, keeping us entertained until the next new game arrival. The new Oculus Rift headsets are shipping out now, and may be the key to keeping the excitement rolling. Forza 6 and Project CARS are already supported on the headsets, while Microsoft pushes to soon make all current Xbox and PC games compatible with the Rift (Gran Turismo Sport will be supported from the day of release).

2016 won’t be the year of a dozen more robust games, but you can keep your heads up for these new releases:

• January: Sébastien Loeb Rally EVO
• March: Trackmania Turbo
• April: Assetto Corsa and DiRT Rally on Xbox One and PS4 for the first time
• Late 2016: Gran Turismo Sport and a possible beta version of GT7
• Sometime 2016: Project CARS 2
• Not likely, but we can hope 2016: DiRT 4

We will likely see just as many major updates, new tracks, new cars and new gameplay modes as we did last year. All the big publishers will continue to compete for your business, and producing new content is the only way to keep their sales on top. In January, Project CARS, Driveclub, The Crew, Assetto Corsa and Forza 6 will all be adding new content. iRacing, RaceRoom and rFactor 2 players, as always, will have new content coming in all year long.

Am I just being overly optimistic, or does the racing game scene in 2016 seem like it will be just as great as it was in 2015? I feel like despite not having a wave of release dates lined up, the improvements to existing games and peripherals will be tremendous. Plus, the prices of last year’s games are already dropping, making them well worth the money.