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Have you ever noticed that driving games are all a bit samey? Whether it's Formula 1 or Forza, the emphasis never changes. They're all about speed and success, a relentless, testosterone-fuelled drive toward dominance. Drive in enough circles in your gleaming, sleekly lined car, and eventually you'll be rewarded with an even sleeker, gleamier car. So the cycle continues in this fashion, fanning the player's ego with points and prestige, without ever actually taking them anywhere. Conservatism is so firmly entrenched in driving games that even the outliers of the genre, like the ferociously challenging Dirt Rally, or the blissfully batshit Burnout, are built upon the same fundamental principles.
If you've ever realised this whilst playing a driving game, then imagine what it must be like for the developers who make them, spending months and years working on a project that is scarcely any different from their last. "I noticed a while ago that I really am not that fond of driving, unless I'm headed somewhere I've not been before," says Greg Prjmachuk, a developer who worked on Codemasters' Formula 1 franchise from 2009 to 2014. "I started to notice the parallels of commuting to work with working on the same game year on year. You can't but help notice the joy fading."
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