They're not really similar honestly. Dirt 4 was a lot more 'rally' and was more like a Dirt Rally-lite.
This is more like Motorstorm but on race tracks. Pure arcade racing.
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Dirt 5 player count peaked at 824 on Steam.
- Thread starter Stacey
- Start date
They're not really similar honestly. Dirt 4 was a lot more 'rally' and was more like a Dirt Rally-lite.
This is more like Motorstorm but on race tracks. Pure arcade racing.
That's partly why I'm not interested in it. If it was arcade rally, I'd be interested. If it was balls out motorstorm, I'd be interested. But it's this weird middle ground that's quite boring looking to me.
I find most dirt games to be boring career wise. I like buying cars, having a huge garage and open free roam with buddies.
Last arcade racers that I was completely hooked on was driveclub and honestly I did like the rebooted grid. I only spent $12 on the ultimate edition
I'm super excited for the next test drive unlimited though.
Yeah it's so fun and I'd be bummed if this was the end of mainline dirt. Like uh, this is actually good.
Racing games are in massive trouble.
I have a lot of thoughts about why, but this really is a worrying trend.
I have a lot of thoughts about why, but this really is a worrying trend.
Feel free to share.
My take is that outside of the first party racing titles such at GT, Forza Horizon and Mario Kart everyone else is fighting an uphill battle to garner attention. Even well established franchises like Need for Speed struggle.
I mean Dirt 5 isn't amazing by any means, but this sort of reception is wild. I bought it myself...
Think if it was called "Driveclub Motorstorm" or a better yet still derivative name it might have got more attention.
Don't think most know what kind of game it is.
Don't think most know what kind of game it is.
Sadly younger audience is not longer interested in cars in real life, and that translates into videogames.
Me too. I actively avoid Rally Cross on all of the previous DiRT games and I hate racing against other AI cars when rally racing. Just give me a challenging course and let me do runs against myself or leaderboards for time, THATs what I love and desire in a Rally game.
I hate Rally Cross and they went and made DiRT 5 completely focused on that and nothing else. I wouldn't pay $2 for DiRT 5.
Hopefully DiRT Rally 3 is more to my liking.
Lacklustre wheel support and lack of VR support killed it for me on PC.
Once they have dialled those in I'll pick it up.
Once they have dialled those in I'll pick it up.
It has been marketed a bunch. It was on both XSX and PS5 showcases. It was one of the first big cross-gen games and somewhat of a showcase for new console tech like 120hz. It was on DF, IGN, Gamespot and other big sites with gameplay and prewievs like two weeks ago. It had a million times bigger coverage than Dirt 4 and Dirt Rally 2.0. It also reviewed really well and it was released on many platforms. Seriously. What more hype do you want for a Dirt game?
Btw the situation isn't any better on consoles, for those who wonder. According to gamstat:
PS4: 16k
Xbox: 15k
You're reading it right. The game had around 31k total players on all consoles combined after launch. Probably sold like 50k first week at best. I feel really bad for the devs it looks like they made a good game and it was marketed "properly" for what it was. People just didn't care.
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I think racers can do well. But rally racing is dead. It's just not something many people know or care about much, especially in the US. Of course it's got fans, but it's very niche. Like lawnmower racing or something.
Think GT and Forza have ruined expectations. People want a thousand cars and tracks in every racer which simply is ridiculous. The younger generation maybe be a factor, definitely.
I think any racing game that doesn't have GT/Forza/NFS/MK in the title is likely DOA if priced at $60.
There has been a surprisingly low amount of genuine innovation and quality.
The PC space is more suited to experimental stuff like Wreckfest, Euro Truck Simulator, etc.
You didn't see any of the next-gen console gameplay showcases? The game had huge marketing for racing/rally game. Project Cars 3, Grid, Dirt 5 all flopped. It seems like the market is becoming tough for car games even with decent budgets. Driving games were huge in the PS3/360 era. (and before)
To be frank, even as an arcade racer fan since as long as I can remember, the gymkhana and Ken Block stuff from Dirt is so unappealing. And I love the Dirt Rally games as sims, they go straight to the point and are such a joy for rally fans. Bless them. But the main series, since they transitioned from Colin's name, it's totally lost.
Same with Grid, really. It's not an arcade, but it's not a sim either. GT Sport with driving helps is far more enjoyable. Horizon games just by looking at the spectacle, the colour palette and how you can drift overt brick walls says it all about what to expect. And they sell gangbusters so arcade is definitely not dead.
Very few selected games do the middle ground well, Driveclub was probably the last.
Same with Grid, really. It's not an arcade, but it's not a sim either. GT Sport with driving helps is far more enjoyable. Horizon games just by looking at the spectacle, the colour palette and how you can drift overt brick walls says it all about what to expect. And they sell gangbusters so arcade is definitely not dead.
Very few selected games do the middle ground well, Driveclub was probably the last.
Value I guess. I wouldn't shell out 60 bucks for a racing game. All you do is... race.
You buy a GaaS game and there's probably some bullshit racing minigame. (See GTAV or Cyberpunk)
They should have made game to fill in void left by Burnout styles racers. There aren't many studios left that can make good racing games.
Fuck GT, Forza, and Forza Horizon!
Can someone please make spiritual sequel to Burnout Paradise?
Fuck GT, Forza, and Forza Horizon!
Can someone please make spiritual sequel to Burnout Paradise?
well it definitely got drowned in the next gen hype then, don't get me wrong I love the Dirt games but this game got overlooked pretty hard
Racing game makers are trying to straddle reality too much
Bring back Jet moto, Motorstorm, Wave racer, project gothem, Arcade Racers!
Bring back Jet moto, Motorstorm, Wave racer, project gothem, Arcade Racers!
While I do like the game, I would say that it has a lot of issues. I would go as far as to say that it's not as good as any of the prior mainline Dirt games. Both singleplayer and multiplayer are super barebones, and the gymkhana is the only mode that feels somewhat fleshed out. It feels as though it was rushed to launch with the next gen systems.
Also, I think folks who want arcade racers are playing open world racing games now. Forza Horizon really captured that audience and I think that most folks looking for the kind of experiences Dirt 5 offers, probably feel already quite well catered for in Horizon and games like that.
Also, I think folks who want arcade racers are playing open world racing games now. Forza Horizon really captured that audience and I think that most folks looking for the kind of experiences Dirt 5 offers, probably feel already quite well catered for in Horizon and games like that.
So many genres got way smaller and niche. Gaming is bigger than ever but not for all. F2P, Quick and big discounts, free games (PS Plus, EGS), cheap subs (GP), big games getting even bigger (Sony/Nintendo ex's) are all coming at a big price. I truly feel sorry for devs stuck in one genre like Codemasters. Gaming is becoming a combination of experimenting within genres to become the next viral thing and/or go hard on nostalgia. Either that or get shuffled into a sub with 300 games like this game will be. :'/
HOTTAKE: Codemasters would have been the next surprise bankruptcy in few years or months and T2 stepped in.
It doesn't help that Dirt Rally (1), Dirt Showdown, and Dirt 3 have all been given away for free (from Humble or other sites) at different points over the last 5 years. There's probably a lot of people (like me) who have three un-played Dirt games in their Steam library, wondering if buying the newest one is a wise investment.
That said, I don't think Dirt 5 even made Steam's "New and Trending" list, which is absolutely damning. I usually check Steam every other day or so and I didn't even realize it was released. That is just terrible for a game of this magnitude.
That said, I don't think Dirt 5 even made Steam's "New and Trending" list, which is absolutely damning. I usually check Steam every other day or so and I didn't even realize it was released. That is just terrible for a game of this magnitude.
I imagine this is a big reason it didn't sell.
Sim racing has a decent sized following on PC, and it's grown a ton this year. That community is strongly against casual racing games however. The vitriol thrown towards Project Cars 3 was intense.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will literally be the best selling racing title ever with more than 40m copies sold so I don't see how you can consider Mario Kart a declining series.
Im looking forward to getting it with my PS5 on thursday. Big fan of codies racers, sim and arcade.
Wasn't that more to do with the fact that Project Cars 3 has pivoted away from being a sim racer compared to the first 2 games? If the series had always been one or the other I don't think that reaction would have been as dramatic.
Too many DiRTs in a very small timeframe. And like with GRID and PCars 3, game missed all hype from any type of racing fans: arcade, simcade or pure sim aficionados. Hell, it doesn't even supports wheels on PC, imagine that. The anticipation in the racing community was 0 degrees Kelvin.
The game's message was confusing from the start. What is it? Rally simcade? Arcade racer? Some weird mishmash? And the messy DiRT bradning hardly helped either. I am a huge racing fan myself (both arcade and sim) and never bothered with the game since the initial reveal. Guess I'm not alone.
The game's message was confusing from the start. What is it? Rally simcade? Arcade racer? Some weird mishmash? And the messy DiRT bradning hardly helped either. I am a huge racing fan myself (both arcade and sim) and never bothered with the game since the initial reveal. Guess I'm not alone.
My 2 cents.
Mainstream gamers play Mario Kart.
Graphic enthusiasts play Forza or Gran Turismo.
Hardcore motorsport fans play iRacing, rFactor 2, Assetto Corsa.
The market can't sustain any other alternative currently.
Mainstream gamers play Mario Kart.
Graphic enthusiasts play Forza or Gran Turismo.
Hardcore motorsport fans play iRacing, rFactor 2, Assetto Corsa.
The market can't sustain any other alternative currently.
You're right, it ratched up the intensity of the reaction. On the places I frequent Forza and GT get dumped on regularly, it just isn't as directed or angry.
It got overlooked because nobody cared anyway. You're kinda proving it if you watched the next-gen gameplay streams from MS and Sony then you have seen the game and forgot it even existed so you probably didn't care in the first place. The game got every chance it could and would have flopped even hardver if comes out 6 months ago with barely any next-gen news. Look at PC3 or Grid.
Looks like the main cause is a bad port on PC. Speaking for myself, I feel like the rally (not even racing) genre is oversaturated for how niche the sub-genre actually is. People have been crying out for a midnight club sequel/successor for years, why not just pivot and release your "drab" rally games incrementally. Go full on fever dream arcade monstrosity a la Midnight Club and see how it goes?