The Esports Cup has excellent close racing battles at every event
“ Consumer level community-focused sim racing is on an absolute high,” he says.“ The top tier side is a bit bumpy right now because the community is quite diluted, with too many games and competitions, but it goes through waves driven by funding and prize money. It’ s all about being agile and building towards that next big moment.”
Engagement with sim racing will continue to change as new generations look to experience motorsport in different ways. The connection between the virtual and real-world will continue to grow, with drivers transitioning and sim racers supporting on-track operations – but it seems sim racing itself is getting ready to stand on its own two feet.
An entire service industry is now growing up around the discipline and Crawford notes:“ You’ ve got the hardware manufacturers, telemetry and software and then you’ ve got car set-up companies that provide setups for hobbyists who don’ t have the time or skills to create car setups. It’ s a growing industry.”
Hawkins believes the most important thing is that the numbers of people involved in the beating heart of the industry, consumer sim racers, is growing exponentially. It’ s exciting,” he says.“ We’ ve got so many different elements to the industry and talent is coming through. Now we just need a sustainable championship with teams and driver development, more stability, and more revenue, and we’ ll be away...”
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Revolution Magazine 33