Even if you’re not familiar with the futuristic off-road game, there’s an interesting nugget for all sim racing fans in the ExoCross progress update for December 2023.
The PC and console title is heading towards release after the original indie developers Orontes were acquired by iRacing, and the name was changed from the original DRAG Outer Zones. It was planned for Autumn 2023 in an announcement earlier in the year, but that seems to have been pushed back.
But work has continued, and in a quick update shared by iRacing, there are some interesting details being revealed.
“We have an all new Quick Race game mode fully playable against a field of drivers using the underlying AI code from iRacing. We’re excited to be porting Exocross from PC to Xbox and PlayStation as well! We’ve migrated our online gameplay to a new backend service, which has allowed us to begin getting multiplayer working across all of our supported platforms. An all new 4th zone has been created, which will include 14 unique new track configurations to race, and a new 3rd vehicle model is now playable. We’ve built a completely new set of 48 challenges, spread across each of the game’s 4 zones, and have made numerous changes to improve the game’s menu system and in-game UI. We haven’t forgotten about the driving, and significant improvements have been made to the vehicle physics and tire model, as well as adding new engine sounds unique to each vehicle.
We’re still working hard to complete the online feature set and the new offline Championship Mode, and we look forward to sharing additional updates in the New Year.”
While the additional content and challenges look great for potential ExoCross fans, what’s interesting is how the code from iRacing is being utilised in a different title. Particularly one that’s being released on Xbox and PlayStation consoles. And what the new backend service for online multiplayer might be.
The first console title published by iRacing, World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing, used a range of car and track assets already available in iRacing. And while ExoCross isn’t an obvious title for cross-platform play with the main iRacing service itself, iRacing picked up the official NASCAR license for console games in 2023 from Motorsport Games.
Given that the AI racing on iRacing is one of the best examples in sim racing, it makes sense to use it for other games when possible. But if the online backend was either based on iRacing, or compatible with it, then that opens up a lot of opportunities to have an integrated profile and records for all of your PC and console racing on anything published by iRacing. Essentially creating an iRacing equivalent of Steam, or the various third party sim racing systems which have been growing rapidly over recent years.
It could also open up the possibility of cross-play between iRacing and their console titles, potentially in specific events or series, along with iRacing itself making the jump at some point. And while that probably wouldn’t be a popular move for many PC sim racers, there’s a potentially much larger audience to be tempted across from Forza and Gran Turismo.
That all involves a fair bit of speculation based on the AI code being utilised for a separate game, but it would be an interesting direction for iRacing to take for the future.
In the meantime, you can buy the current version of DRAG Outer Zones on Steam for the PC, and get a free automatic upgrade to ExoCross when it’s released. And you’ll be able to keep up with all the latest ExoCross news, updates, DLC and more, here.
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