Rennsport "built with simulation in mind", 60,000 waited to race multiplayer

Rennsport is shaping up to be one of the most promising sim-racers to come out in the near future, and it just entered its first proper public testing with both the currently-running multiplayer closed beta and the very first official competition based on the racing game. At Gamelab 2023 in Barcelona we caught up with Rennsport's head of strategy and business development Jose Rodrigues as there's obviously a lot to ask about in the current phase and with so much to be announced or finalised.

"Over 60,000 people" waited in line to play the game in closed beta, confirms Rodrigues in our interview below.

"It is built with simulation in mind", he adds about Rennsport's approach to the sim-racing space. "We want to make sure that we represent the best possible experience that you would have in a real car, in a virtual space. And that is actually one of the reasons why we started the competition so early in the life of the project. We are using the competition and the drivers that are the best virtual drivers in the world to give us feedback and help us improve exactly that experience. And how the car feels on the track, on the straight lines, on the curbs, accelerating."

Besides that, and before adding other promised features such as three-screen support or VR mode, "right now we are focused on making sure that, in the closed beta, that the servers are working properly, that the multiplayer experience is as smooth as it can be". In fact, about triple monitor rigs, "there are some tricks and workarounds that I've seen the community coming up with (laughs), but yeah, so for now, single screen just in the start of the closed beta. I cannot say yet if it will come further along the line with the closed beta or not".

And being so focused on the competitive side of things (the studio itself is called Competition Company), what about the more traditional single player content such a Career Mode? "We'll see", Jose briefly answers after listing what is coming to Rennsport in terms of cars and tracks:

"What I can tell you is that we are working really hard to bring additional content to the game.
Right now we have the 4 GT3 cars, we announced the Praga R1. I believe Morris [Hebecker], our CEO, mentioned at our last summit that TCR [Touring Car] is coming, LMDh [Le Mans Daytona h] is coming. We'll be bringing new tracks as well to the game. And the community knows that we also announced this track in the shape of an 8, the beta track to celebrate their memes. So that might also be coming to Rennsport soon".

ESL R1 race for a share of the $1M price pool starts tomorrow in Saudi Arabia

Rennsport and ESL R1 are partners, and the very first tournament (after June's Major) with the game (with its closed beta already) will kick off tomorrow in Riyadh as part of the summer-long event Gamers8. In it, 48 drivers from 12 teams will race for four days.

"[It's the] biggest, I think, prize pool ever in sim-racing. One million dollars on the line for our team, which is a really, really cool thing. Basically, our ambition is to create this ecosystem where our teams and our partners are successful."

Play the full video for more on Rennsport's supported controllers, racing with wheel and pedals, or working with partners. And when will Rennsport get a release date? Sadly, "not as of yet, no", says Rodrigues about an approximate launch window. For now, you can try and join the closed beta.