As every year, fans of car racing games can look forward to the official Formula 1 game, F1 2021, in 2021. After F1 2020 was able to convince with new features and great gameplay, the hopes are high this year as well.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 F1 2021 in the hands of EA
2 New story mode: Breaking Point
3 Exclusive details for PS and Xbox
4th Driver rankings
5 The release of F1 2021
Almost everyone has at least once heard of Formula 1 and the video game that goes with it. But this year a lot has changed with F1 2021. Here we show you exactly what has happened in the well-known series of games and how this will affect the players.
F1 2021 IN THE HANDS OF EA
In February of this year, EA officially acquired the development studio behind many well-known racing games. They are Codemasters. Codemasters is known not only for the F1 series, but also for racing games like Dirt Rally. EA Sports bought Codemasters for a whopping $ 1.2 billion. What impact will this have on the new F1 in 2021? EA does not currently have a particularly good reputation with gamers. After several disastrous game releases, which contained hardly any finished games with endless micro-transactions, the trust of gamers in the developer studio has fallen immensely.
But how exactly the takeover of the racing game series will affect F1 2021 remains to be seen. Many fans of the series hope that EA’s financial resources will make an already fantastic game even better. Because one thing cannot be denied: Almost everyone knows EA. While Codemasters is relatively less well known, EA can achieve a whole new range.
NEW STORY MODE: BREAKING POINT
As in the previous year, the current F1 will be able to impress with a new game mode. For example, “Breaking Point” has been added as a completely new mode. Breaking Point is a story mode in which the aim is to work your way up through Formula 2 to Formula 1. The story not only takes place here, but also around the racetrack. Fans of the series will also be happy to meet an already familiar character again.
This is Devon Butler, who first appeared in F1 2019 and will now return in F1 2021. He takes on the role of your rival in Breaking Point. The story runs over three seasons. The player also has the choice of five licensed teams, which he can join as soon as he has made it to Formula 1. The teams to choose from are Alfa Romeo Racing, Alpha Tauri F1 Team, Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team, Haas F1 Team and Rokit Williams Racing.
As with its predecessor, the game can be played in various difficulties and also in split-screen mode. A new addition is the new 2-player career. In the new 2-player career, there is the choice of either driving in the same team or competing against each other.
EXCLUSIVE DETAILS FOR PS AND XBOX
F1 2021 will not only be available for PlayStation and Xbox, but the game offers some interesting details for gamers on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X | S. This includes an improved damage model. Its aim is to show damage to the body more realistically. Tire damage can also be calculated better and displayed more realistically. It is not yet clear whether this feature will also be offered to PC gamers and users of older consoles at a later date. At the moment there don’t seem to be any plans in this direction.
DRIVER RANKINGS
One of the most important aspects for many fans of the series is the annually changing driver rankings. Usually the full rankings are announced about a week before the game’s release, but some values are already known this year.
Drivers get a value between 1 and 99 based on four factors. These are experience, racing skills, awareness and speed. The already known values include Kimi Räikkönen with an overall rating of 88 and Pierre Gasley with the highest known overall rating of 90 points. Like every year, the rankings are kept up-to-date throughout the season, so it’s worth keeping an eye on them!
THE RELEASE OF F1 2021
On July 16, F1 2021 will be released for the PlayStation
4, PlayStation 5 , Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and the PC. The game can already be pre-ordered for a whopping 70 euros. Codemaster has signed contracts with Formula 1 until 2025. These guarantee the development studio that it is allowed to release additional titles in the F1 series every year.
There have been new Formula 1 games every year since 1976. While the first titles were unlicensed arcade games from Atari at the time, the series has undergone a major transformation. Almost all newer Formula 1 games are now licensed, which speaks for the great interest of the sport in the video game market. It is therefore to be expected that further officially licensed Formula 1 games will come onto the market after 2025. Until then, it will show how the series and Codemasters will prove themselves under the new leadership of EA.
