Reiza has released a new Automobilista 2 Roapmap Update March 2020 with the last news. More detailed information below by Renato Simioni:
Greetings everyone! I hope everyone is doing OK and keeping safe.
What a difference a month can make right? A few weeks ago we had just deployed the first Beta build for AMS2 and were still firing on all cylinders pushing through our Beta program to get AMS2 ready for release on March 31st – a lot of work has been done in the 3 weeks we have been in Beta – we have just deployed our 5th BETA build tonight – but a lot remains to be done, and for that we relied on a strong couple of weeks in this final stint to reach a standard we´d be satisfied with for Automobilista 2 v1.0.
Unfortunately the last week has seen the World thrown into disarray, and with it the little chance we still had to get through the remaining workload in time for the 31st evaporated, as even though we already work in a fully remote operation and the Reiza team has not been directly impacted by COVID-19, things like this tend to bring indirect implications which have and will continue to inevitably slow us down a bit – as much as everyone in the team enjoys working hard, this would not be a good time to be pushing developers to their limits. nor would it feel appropriate to be engaging in promotional fanfare for a game release.
Paradoxically, this also happens to be turning into a boost for sim racing as all motorsports activities have grounded to a halt, and they are all turning to what sim racing can offer to help fill the time. We have already seen some huge events being organized in a very short time as fans, drivers and real series all flock to sim racing to engage on a level they never had before, and for us it would be a thrilling opportunity to offer everyone a fresh platform to enjoy themselves during these challenging times.
Taking all this into account, we have elected to go ahead with a soft launch for Automobilista 2 on March 31st as a Steam Early Access Release, offering a 40% discount over the full price of the base game for the duration of the EA phase, which we expect to last between 4 to 8 weeks.
AMS2 Roadmap For Early Access, Release and Beyond
By the time AMS2 goes live on Steam in March 31st we will be publishing a detailed breakdown of what will be the key development goals during this period for AMS2 to reach v1.0 status sometime between April and May – the extended timeline now allows us aim for a more robust V1.0 release, going further than our plans were for v1.0 on March 31st.
Last month we had published our schedule for the first 3 months of AMS2 post-release, featuring plans for monthly game updates along with new content packs (free and DLC) and some key new features – these plans largely stand unchanged even with the Early Access phase, as the Historic GP cars, GT3/GT4 pack, Hockenheim, Bathurst, Silverstone and a few other cool, not-yet disclosed bits of content are all already well under production and will be added to that game within that proposed schedule.
AMS2 BETA – Final Week to Join!
Due to popular demand we have put the forum store live again, where you can buy a pack that grants you AMS2 + AMS2 Beta + 2020-2021 DLC Season Pass.
We emphasize however this only makes sense at this stage for those who were already entitled to a free key or a discount on the package from their participation in previous crowdfunding campaigns, and those who may be eager to participate in AMS2 Beta development process from March 31st onwards as that will no longer be available for new users after initial AMS2 release on Steam.
For those not familiar with AMS2 Beta and how it may differ from the Early Access game that will be available on Steam on March 31st, follows a brief explanation:
Similar to its predecessor (Automobilista Beta for AMS1) AMS2 Beta is a separate AMS2 install on Steam which has been available to people who bought into the AMS2 Early Backing Campaign since Feburary 28th; after the main game is released next week, AMS2 Beta will continue to receive early beta updates and new WIP content (free or DLC) before they are deployed to the main game release, during and after Early Access is over.
If you are interested in AMS2 as a finished product however please hold off the impulse to buy into the Beta unless you really are convinced you want to engage with AMS2 development on the long run and want the chance to be playing already in these final days before the official release – if you want to check out AMS2 but don´t want to make a large financial commitment to it, we strongly recommend you wait 8 more days and get the base game with a 40% discount along with 2h to evaluate it from Steam.
That covers what we wanted to share with you for this pre-release dev update – obviously a bit different to what we had in mind after a gruelling 16-month production period, but we remain very excited to be sharing the results of our labour with all sim racers, and hope it can provide a bit of enjoyment over the next few months while we all take cover from this pesky bug that is doing the rounds…
