Straight4 Studios Joins Forces with Reiza Studios

After reassembling most of the team from the GTR and GTR2 days, Straight4 Studios is working on a successor to the popular series of sims under the working title of GTR Revival. Now, the developer has secured the support of a dedicated studio: Reiza and Straight4 confirmed a strategic partnership.

As Reiza is using the MADNESS Engine for Automobilista 2, the link to Straight4 CEO Ian Bell becomes clear: Bell was behind the Project CARS franchise for which the engine was created, establishing contact with Reiza CEO Renato Simioni - and the two studios have been talking for quite a while, as it turns out.

"Renato and I have been discussing this possibility for a long time, going back to when they were creating Automobilista 2", states Bell. "All of us at Straight4 were enormously impressed with what Renato and his studio were able to create in terms of feel and handling with Automobilista 2."

"Easy Decision for Reiza"​

Simioni explains why the two studios finally came together: "Our studios have always ended up on varying projects at varying times, delaying any kind of decision. Finally, with Ian and his team working hard on their upcoming game, the time was right for us to join forces." The Brazilian liked what he has seen so far for Straight4's effort. "Having seen inside the new project Straight4 is working made this an easy decision fo Reiza to sign up to a project we believe is going to be the next great sim racing title."

A promising alliance, especially considering Straight4's patented AI-based commentary and race engineer system that was first demoed using Automobilista 2 and Project CARS 2. "Combining our studio's talents is exciting news for all of us at Straight4, and I'm really confident this will also be fantastic news for the sim racing industry as a whole", says Bell.


What this means for the ongoing development of AMS2 is not yet clear. However, Simioni promises updates very soon: "We'll have further news on our portfolio of games for our fans in the next few days."

The upcoming title of the now joint effort is set to be released on PC as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X & S and will be published by PLAION.

Your Thoughts​

What do you think of the partnership between Straight4 and Reiza? Are you looking forward to what they are creating? Let us know in the comments below!
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About author
Yannik Haustein
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

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Comments

R
gamma123152 said:
I've been searching on the "Straight 4 studio's" website and press releases and VR isn't even mentioned! This means that the focus of Ian Bell lays elsewhere and that seems to be mass audience since they didn't announce VR but they DID announce console support. So with all due respect, this is not going to the right direction. Focus should be sim racing first, that's PC first and VR first but consoles are mentioned and VR isn't mentioned at all.


So I really hope that Reiza knows what they are doing. CodeMasters is already gone to EA and lost forever (I have zero hope left for WRC 23) and now Reiza is also at danger because of this adventure. Reiza until know always was independent and I really hope that it stays like that.

Because of all this: I'm really looking forward to read from Renato WHAT this cooperation exactly is and means for Reiza studio's, AMS2 and with their focus on sim racing and VR. At this moment it's completely unclear what path this is going and what the idea's are. Is it mass money/mass audience/mass focus on console/less focus on sim racing/no focus on VR. Or isn't it? Without proper VR ANY sim title is lost, my rig only has VR and I'm not going back to screens.
VR like ACC/Rennsport(announced) both with deferred rendering/blurry TAA/level of detail/shadow popin/not working mirrors etc. is not really VR. It's just terrible compared to AMS2.


So I really hope that this subjects gets clarified because this press release of Ian Bell causes more concerns then positive thoughts to be honest since it feels to me that Ian only has dollar signs in his eyes and he tries to buy talent where he could. I really hope that Reiza doesn't fall for this and sold their soul to the devil for a cheap price. Reiza is worth at this moment a thousend times more then whatever Ian Bell has in his mind, I hope that you guys at Reiza keep realizing that.
Click to expand...
In reality, Reiza doesn't worth a lot with an old game, AMS1 and a current game, AMS2, which main sales have occured 2 years ago, in its cagalogue. Its assets must be the main value, those from AMS1 worthing around 0, those from AMS2 still going on for a few years.

On the contrary, Straight4 main asset (and also worst one) is Ian Bell himself as a successful business owner and a potential cash graber. Publishers, investors, banks have much more interest in the Pcars games history than in the AMS games history. So, as a company, Straigh4's value is probably already much higher than Reiza's.

So Reiza needs projects to worth something to attract money and keep the company existing, and keeping the jobs of the team. It is then a good move to get involved in another project without assuming the whole responsability, as AMS2, its own franchise and main asset, must remains the priority.

The main question is what means "partnership". Are both companies developpers and owners of the game? Which would not be a good idea considering their obvious opposite visions ? Or Reiza will work for Straight4 to make money and keep their talents working on projects and train new people, which would be a good idea ?

It seems an accepted idea here that the developpers of Pcars are part of this GTR Revival but they are more probably still working at Codemasters were they may have more opportunities and more job security. So it is probably not an easy task for Straight4 to build a whole new game with new physics. And anyway the SMS team, whatever the reasons were, has never been able to fully refine a physics engine. Reiza has this specific expertise, the team must have build methods, process, to do the job effectively. It takes time (several years for AMS1 and obviously AMS2), and it would be a total nonsense for Straight4 to try to do that on its own. And obviously the cost of this expertise is much lower in Brazil than in Great Britain, both companies win.

The only limit is the money, how much Straight4 will be willing to spend to fully refine its sim... When you remember SMS just stop paying the fee for the real weather update, which broke the feature in Pcars2, I don't know what to expect from this collaboration (may I say... explosive? :D ).

Anyway, it is good for Reiza to get into such a project, as a provider or even a real partner (getting some ownership on the game), as in both cases I'm sure cash will enter, experience will be earned, new talents will emerge.

And being involved in the development of this new engine will ensure an easier development for AMS3. And this expertise activity could be sold to other developpers in the future. With all of that we can say that Reiza's value has increased and is not based only on decreasing assets. That's really great for this company and AMS2.
 
R
DC WOLF said:
i don't understand the negativity all around.
Joining forces, does not mean Simoni stops working on AMS2 and now pushes all his effort into GTRR.
Think of content creation.
Sharing assets, tracks and cars will speed up the output.
Scanning new tracks for 2 projects will lower the cost
Though many bugs were consistent over several Madness Engine versions, does not mean Straight4 doesn't have good developers and really needs the few guys from Reiza to compete.
But sharing knowledge, tricks and technology can always be the right step in a better future.
Do not forget. Madness Engine was announced as gift to Reiza. No cost. Bell pulled it out of the access of codemasters and EA b4 he sold it and now having no rights on it anymore.
It was a bit of a greek gift, that cost Simoni about 2 years, but slowly they nailed it.;)
Click to expand...
Didn't know it was a gift. Is there real gifts in business? Or is this partneship the price? Which will led to a new gift, the future engine for Reiza? I would be more concerned about AMS2 then but it would be a long term good move anyway for Reiza.
 
G
roadyroad said:
In reality, Reiza doesn't worth a lot with an old game, AMS1 and a current game, AMS2, which main sales have occured 2 years ago, in its cagalogue. Its assets must be the main value, those from AMS1 worthing around 0, those from AMS2 still going on for a few years.

On the contrary, Straight4 main asset (and also worst one) is Ian Bell himself as a successful business owner and a potential cash graber. Publishers, investors, banks have much more interest in the Pcars games history than in the AMS games history. So, as a company, Straigh4's value is probably already much higher than Reiza's.

So Reiza needs projects to worth something to attract money and keep the company existing, and keeping the jobs of the team. It is then a good move to get involved in another project without assuming the whole responsability, as AMS2, its own franchise and main asset, must remains the priority.

The main question is what means "partnership". Are both companies developpers and owners of the game? Which would not be a good idea considering their obvious opposite visions ? Or Reiza will work for Straight4 to make money and keep their talents working on projects and train new people, which would be a good idea ?

It seems an accepted idea here that the developpers of Pcars are part of this GTR Revival but they are more probably still working at Codemasters were they may have more opportunities and more job security. So it is probably not an easy task for Straight4 to build a whole new game with new physics. And anyway the SMS team, whatever the reasons were, has never been able to fully refine a physics engine. Reiza has this specific expertise, the team must have build methods, process, to do the job effectively. It takes time (several years for AMS1 and obviously AMS2), and it would be a total nonsense for Straight4 to try to do that on its own. And obviously the cost of this expertise is much lower in Brazil than in Great Britain, both companies win.

The only limit is the money, how much Straight4 will be willing to spend to fully refine its sim... When you remember SMS just stop paying the fee for the real weather update, which broke the feature in Pcars2, I don't know what to expect from this collaboration (may I say... explosive? :D ).

Anyway, it is good for Reiza to get into such a project, as a provider or even a real partner (getting some ownership on the game), as in both cases I'm sure cash will enter, experience will be earned, new talents will emerge.

And being involved in the development of this new engine will ensure an easier development for AMS3. And this expertise activity could be sold to other developpers in the future. With all of that we can say that Reiza's value has increased and is not based only on decreasing assets. That's really great for this company and AMS2.
Click to expand...
I personally always loved the niches of AMS2. And I'm a VR only racer. So that made AMS2 a gem for me.

This new cooperation focuses indeed probably more on the financial opportunity part instead of passion for sim racing part. So the niches that AMS2 had could move to the background and the focus could lay on a more simcade approach(to compete with Forza/GT7), with more popular content(car brands), no VR but unreal engine again which creates terrible VR support as ACC and console support instead of focus on PC support.

That all will probably generate more money for them in the end, but in that case its nothing for me, Reiza/Straight4 will be doomed to me if they choose this direction. It's not the type of game that I'm looking for in the future.
 
R
gamma123152 said:
I personally always loved the niches of AMS2. And I'm a VR only racer. So that made AMS2 a gem for me.

This new cooperation focuses indeed probably more on the financial opportunity part instead of passion for sim racing part. So the niches that AMS2 had could move to the background and the focus could lay on a more simcade approach(to compete with Forza/GT7), with more popular content(car brands), no VR but unreal engine again which creates terrible VR support as ACC and console support instead of focus on PC support.

That all will probably generate more money for them in the end, but in that case its nothing for me, Reiza/Straight4 will be doomed to me if they choose this direction. It's not the type of game that I'm looking for in the future.
Click to expand...
More money means further potential development for AMS2 (at least a long term support). It's all good.

I do think this announcement shows a will to go the simulation way but I don't really care about this new promise which already went from GT to BTCC, with the picture of a car interior rendered in UE (how impressive....) in the middle.
 
G
roadyroad said:
More money means further potential development for AMS2 (at least a long term support). It's all good.

I do think this announcement shows a will to go the simulation way but I don't really care about this new promise which already went from GT to BTCC, with the picture of a car interior rendered in UE (how impressive....) in the middle.
Click to expand...
IF this is the case then it's all good indeed. Let's hope the best of it since we don't have any influence on the process, but Renato always did the right thing so there is a good chance that it doesn't turn out bad indeed.
 
Beezer215
Spinelli said:
I wouldn't want them to use the PC2 engine. That's exactly what I'm saying. I thought their next game was going to using a new core physics engine (including core tyre model) rather than the PC2/AMS2 one. As far as I know, the AMS2 version isn't much different from the PC2 version. I don't think Reiza made lots of fundamental core-coding changes to the physics engine and core tyre model of the PC2 engine. I think they made some minor touch-ups but it's still 99% PC2. Reiza are very good at bringing the best out of a given physics engine / tyre model with their content though (content meaning vehicle creation, tyre creation, etc.).
Click to expand...
This is all wrong. Reiza made a bunch of code changes, those of us which are in the modding community can see in the files themselves. AMS2 feels nothing like PC2 as much as PC3 feels nothing like PC2. All using the Madness Engine. Thinking that AMS2 is 99% PC2 is an uneducated statement that was perpetuated when AMS2 first came out.
 
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R
Beezer215 said:
This is all wrong. Reiza made a bunch of code changes, those in which us in the modding community can see in the files themselves. AMS2 feels nothing like PC2 as much as PC3 feels nothing like PC2. All using the Madness Engine. Thinking that AMS2 is 99% PC2 is an uneducated statement that was perpetuated when AMS2 first came out.
Click to expand...
It is true indeed, Reiza's work on the madness engine is not just a few adjustments, it's heavy (codemasters should pay for its expertise, but I wonder whether Codies just bought SMS to terminate the madness engine as a competitor).
 
jonelsorel
Andrew_WOT said:
Isn't GTR Revival UE5 based? Little Reiza can use actually to learn more about Madness Engine.
Probably also means kiss good VR goodbye.
Click to expand...

No idea, I'm not interested in Ian Bell products even if he swears by his mother that they'll be the very best sims in the galaxy and don't much care about VR personally after having tested it.

Spinelli said:
I don't think Reiza made lots of fundamental core-coding changes to the physics engine and core tyre model of the PC2 engine. I think they made some minor touch-ups but it's still 99% PC2. Reiza are very good at bringing the best out of a given physics engine / tyre model with their content though (content meaning vehicle creation, tyre creation, etc.).
Click to expand...

I have very serious doubts that you really tried both AMS2 and PC2 with a steering wheel, if you say they feel 99% similar to you. Even on a keyboard they feel significantly different. Yours is the same type of knee jerk opinion the internetz has when calling the new Supra a beemer.
 
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C
Alexandre said:
Reiza role will surely be more related to physics, FFB, and AI than anything else.
Click to expand...

So be it!
Because Reiza's cars are terrible... and I hope the game stays in the hands of the other company, because Simione is a guy who doesn't deal well with criticism.
 
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M
I think he meant to say that it doesn't take a scientist to test back to back PC2 and AMS2 with the same car and realize they are a world apart nowadays.
People often make statements that make no sense in the real world just because they need to show they are opinionated.
 

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