Racing games are inherently competitive in nature. So it’s about time some organisations are making a big move to help grow the e-sports scene for racing games, particularly the niche but dedicated sim racers.
Cloud Sport, a company that is dedicated on this cause, are now organising the Road To Vegas, under licence of the FIA Formula E series. It is an international scale open tournament, with a prize pool of a whopping $1,000,000 USD up for grabs.
Any eligible sim racer can participate. Participants will be racing in rFactor 2 for the top prize, where various stages of the tournament will be held until the end of the year. After that, the best 10 players will be racing along all 20 Formula E drivers in rFactor 2 in a televised event that will be held at CES in Las Vegas, that should be taking place in early January.
Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag is optimistic in having e-sports to grow alongside actual motorsports. In a press statement, he said: “We believe eSports offers a new level of fan interaction and participation in sport, and we want to be at the forefront of this gaming revolution.”
Interesting to see the niche sim racer community is getting a huge opportunity like this. While Gran Turismo Sport aims to do the same by bridging motorsports fans with racing game fans, its appeal would be on the mainstream side of things. This should be a great start for the often overlooked sim racing community to be in the limelight. Plus, having the best of them go toe-to-toe with professional drivers should be an interesting watch.
More details on how to enter the tournament and its schedule available here.