Curiously, the recently released Japanese GT500 Pack for Project Motor Racing was delisted last week.
Developer Straight4 Studios has offered an official statement on what happened on social media.
Part of the statement reads:
“The choice to temporarily remove the DLC was made by us as a courtesy while we work through a sensitive concern. We believe this is the responsible course of action while good-faith discussions continue.”
The statement denies any “fault or wrongdoing” from Straight4 Studios and publisher Giants Interactive. Though something is happening in the background, a serious enough issue that sales for the DLC has to be temporarily halted as discussions continue.
Players who have purchased the Japanese GT500 Pack, which curiously only referred to as DLC 1 in the statement, can still download the DLC and use it. So to are players who have the Year 1 Season Pass, which the DLC is included.
Project Motor Racing Japanese GT500 Pack DLC adds nine new race cars that competed in the Super GT/Japanese GT Championship series. But it also added one new track, Takimiya Circuit. Described as a “technical and flowing racetrack tucked into the hills of western Japan” on Project Motor Racing’s website.
It’s basically Okayama International Circuit, a track that is part of the Super GT calendar (along with Sepang, Malaysia), without the brand name. The name Takimiya is derived from the area of the city Mimasaka, which the circuit is in. The circuit isn’t exactly in Okayama city, but is within Okayama Prefecture.
Also, vintage F1 fans would recognise the track in another name, Aida (derived from its previous official name, Tanaka International Aida circuit), host of the F1 Pacific Grand Prix back when Japan had multiple races in the F1 calendar.
That said, Takimiya Circuit isn’t the only real-circuit-with-unlicensed-name in Project Motor Racing. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is referred as Lexington in the game (again, based on the area of the town it’s in). Silverstone is referred to Northampton (track is located south of the town). And Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, also referred as Imola Circuit, is named as San Marino for its connection of hosting the San Marino Grand Prix in the past, despite the fact that the track is not within the borders of the landlocked microstate.
This is a long-winded of saying “who knows?” Project Motor Racing doesn’t have full license and branding rights to the authentic cars and tracks it features in the racing simulator. But as the official statement says, the developer and publisher they are within their rights of doing so.
All we can do now is wait for this situation to be resolved.
Project Motor Racing recently released its big 2.0 update. The game is out now on PS5, PC (Steam) and Xbox Series X|S. Check out our review of the game here.