F1 2021 Release Date, Official Trailer, Gameplay Updates, Cars, Tracks, My Team and more. Here we share everything we know so far about the upcoming F1 2021 game.
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2021 is well and truly upon us, and we’ve already had some F1 season news start to come through with the postponement of a couple of races. You can read about the postponed races, and new races in the real Formula calendar here.
However, while the real Formula 1 season is already shaping up to be another unconventional outing. Let’s focus on the official F1 video game by Codemasters, F1 2021.
In the article below I will share everything we know so far about the F1 2021 video game. From the next gen graphics, to the release date, the new cars to the new tracks.
We will be continuing to update this article as we learn more, so keep checking back to be the first to know!
Currently there is no official word on an F1 2021 release date. However if last year is anything to go by, we should see a game release in July 2021.
Codemasters generally start to release information such as release dates in March. So check back then for more information.
Last year Codemasters gave the F1 community the chance to sign up to a beta of the new F1 game. As this game will be the first next gen F1 game, we would expect to see another beta.
Players could previously tell Codemasters they were interested in a beta, by signing up to a Codemasters forum account. If you wanted to keep an eye out for a beta then head over to the forum and create an account today.
On top of an early beta, previous years have seen certain special editions of the game which allow early access. 2020 saw the Schumacher edition which allowed purchasers the chance to play 3 days before its official release.
It is very likely that we will see this again this year.
My Team was a big hit with fans when it was introduced in last years game. It allows us to all unleash our inner manager. Allowing us to hire and fire drivers, allocate spending and decide how we run our own F1 team.
As F1 2021 will be the second iteration of the My Team game mode, we expect some big changes.
We very much expect the My Team game mode to be made deeper, while streamlining the user interface. Upgrades such as an improved livery editor would be great to see, as well as an expanded driver market.
We’ll update this section when we learn more about the My Team game mode.
As well as Imola being confirmed to host its second race in two years. Formula 1 have recently announced that Portimao will also host a grand prix this year.
It will slot in early in to the year, hosting a Formula 1 race on 2nd May 2021, making it the third round of the year.
So this recent announcement and addition to the Formula 1 2021 calendar, begs the question. Will Portimao be in the F1 2021 video game?
We do know that the F1 2021 game is in the works, and can guess for a July launch date. As this is the month which saw last year’s F1 2020 game release.
That means there is still plenty of time between now and the game being released. Could this allow Codemasters enough time to work in Portimao, or even Imola which was confirmed to be hosting a 2021 F1 race earlier in the year.
Fingers crossed Codemasters can work in both of these new tracks, giving us a true 2021 Formula 1 experience.
We recently covered the changes that have already happened to the 2021 season calendar. And these include the postponement of Australia and China. And the introduction of Imola for the second year running.
Many fans of F1 and the F1 games love the Imola circuit as it’s extremely fun to drive.
The question is, will Codemasters stick to the original Formula 1 calendar, which did not include Imola. Or will it embrace the changes, as they have come fairly early in the year.
There is time to potentially add Imola, and they do already have some track data, as the game is found in other Codemasters games.
As with every iteration, we will see all of the official F1 drivers and teams included. That means that in F1 2021, we will see all of the driver swaps, and the new drivers such as Mick Schumacher.
We have a comprehensive F1 2021 driver lineup guide here, where we discuss the potential of including F2, F3 and free agent drivers.
The Formula 2 season has been in the F1 video game for a couple of years now. Although for the past two game entires, it has always been the previous season included. Meaning Codemasters have always been 1 year behind when it comes to feeder series.
For F1 2020, Codemasters did release a mid season update which included the actual 2020 F2 season. So we may well find that Codemasters have caught up with themselves, and that we will get up-to-date F2 seasons in the next game.
Other racing games such as the official Moto GP game have included multiple feeder series. Codemasters could lift from these games and include Formula 3 as well.
By including Formula 3, Codemasters would be expanding upon the content and career mode potential in so many ways.
The end of 2020 marked the introduction of next gen consoles. And 2021 will be the year which Codemasters release their first F1 game on next gen platforms.
No doubt Codemasters had access to a development kit for the next gen consoles throughout the whole development of F1 2021. Meaning this iteration of Formula 1 game should be fully optimised for next gen.
What does next gen mean for F1 games? Well, we can start by looking back to the first F1 game to make the jump from the PlayStation 3 era to PlayStation 4.
F1 2015 was the first game to make that jump, despite the consoles being out for over 2 years, and looking back it wasn’t the best iteration. While we did see graphical upgrades, the game itself was missing a lot of features, including a career mode, classic content and even the safety car!
This time around should be different, as Codemasters are a lot more established now. And the generation jump isn’t as big this time around.
What we’re hoping to see is a decent graphical upgrade, along with a bump in the frame rate. Both of those features alone should help elevate the overall immersion.
Codemasters have done a fantastic job over the past decade, producing some fantastic driving games, the F1 series included. Because of this success, Codies have had a lot of interested from big publishers who want to purchase the game developer.
Take-Two, the same company that owns Rockstar and 2K, initially showed intrest in purchasing Codemasters. Although it was EA who beat them to the line, and snapped up the British racing game developer for a cool $1.2 billion.
This could be great, or horrible news for fans of the F1 game series. EA are notorious for producing games with minimal changes year on year, think FIFA and Madden.
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding game modes such as Ultimate Team, and we’re hoping these elements don’t make into future F1 games.
Luckily for F1 fans, a sport such as Formula 1 doesn’t necessarily lend itself to an Ultimate Team mode. And we already have the bones of a very good career mode in the game.
On the flip side, EA have made some really quite good single player story modes in their sports titles. There were three iterations of FIFA game, which had a fully acted story mode which saw you making on and off the field decisions.
This level of polish, acting and story telling could really help tell stories across single and multiple seasons of a future F1 career mode.
It’s highly unlikely that we will see the true fallout from EA buying Codemasters for a good few years to come.
Rich is the founder, F1 car setup creator and content writer for SimRacingSetups. With over a decade of experience as a graphic designer, marketing director, competitive sim racer and avid motorsport fan, Rich founded SimRacingSetup.com to share his passion and knowledge of sim racing and Formula 1 with other sim racers. Regularly writes for sim racing website SimRaceReviews.com
View all articles written by Rich
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