Motorsport Network and 24 Hours of Le Mans launch esports series

[PJTierney]

https://www.motorsport.com/lemans/n...urs-of-le-mans-launch-esports-series-1046113/

The world's greatest motor race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and its organizer the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), have formed a joint venture on esports with Motorsport Network, whose platforms represent the largest audience of motorsport and auto enthusiasts in the world. The powerful new platform will be called Le Mans esports series.

The online series will be launched online on August 18 to coincide with the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Silverstone (6 Hours of Silverstone – August 19). A series of offline qualifying events will also take place at WEC rounds in Fuji, Japan in October (Asia qualifier), Autosport International Show, Birmingham in January (Europe & Middle East qualifier) and Sebring, Florida in March (US & Lat Am qualifier).

Competitors will be working towards qualification for a unique grand finale to be staged during the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans race weekend.

The event is open to all categories of competitors; from the elite esports drivers to amateur gamers the world over. The fastest qualifiers from the online game will also have the chance to race against and to meet the leading drivers from the world’s most iconic endurance race.

The Le Mans esports series will be based at the outset on the Forza Motorsport platform, in partnership with Microsoft. The events and format will be managed by Paris-based esports company Glory4Gamers. The series will feature many innovations and authentic details to excite and challenge gamers. Further details of the Le Mans esports series, the formats, prizes and unique features will be revealed at a press conference at the Silverstone WEC round in August. For further information and to register your interest, go to www.lemansesports.com.

Tagging: @GTPNewsWire, @SlipZtrEm

 

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Forza-Powered Le Mans Esport Series Begins; $160,000 In Prizes

This article was published by Kyle Patrick (@SlipZtrEm) on August 20th, 2018 in the Esports category.

 

[RaceFuchs]

Funny the most recent Le Mans winner isnt even in the game.

 

[Kano Manel]

I registered in the web of the organizer, they don't even have Forza in the list of games they support. No Forza, no PCARS2, no GTS... It is annoying when this small organizers go around announcing themselves as the ultimate platform to compete online, and then when you visit their webs they are worse organized that the events and leagues in this forum (which are by far the best organized in the net). Very disappointing Glory4Gamers.

 

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Le Mans Esport Series Announces $100,000 Super Final Prize Structure

This article was published by Kyle Patrick (@SlipZtrEm) on May 15th, 2019 in the Esports category.

 

[Novalee]

So was this a forza idea or someone else choosing to use forza as the game to race in ?
Either way i like to see as many games and platforms being used as possible

 

[Northstar]

So was this a forza idea or someone else choosing to use forza as the game to race in ?

Forza sponsors the 24 so it's likely one of those "a little from column a, and a little from column b" type things.

 

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Veloce Esports Qualifies to $100,000 Le Mans Super Final

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on June 5th, 2019 in the Esports category.

 

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Live Stream: Le Mans Esports Series Super Finale

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on June 14th, 2019 in the Esports category.

 

[BadFlounder]

What a shame that this uses FM7. The presentation and replay angles are poor in FM7, at least compared to GT Sport. Polyphony really need to add a proper endurance race component to GT Sport.

 

[Rouward]

PD haven't acquired the new Ford GT yet andstill remains questionable.

 

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Veloce Esports Wins the Le Mans Esports Series Super Finale

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on June 17th, 2019 in the Esports category.

 

[FoRiZon]

What a shame that this uses FM7. The presentation and replay angles are poor in FM7, at least compared to GT Sport. Polyphony really need to add a proper endurance race component to GT Sport.

Sadly Forza is the one who sponsored the Le Mans.

 

[Beezer215]

What a shame that this uses FM7. The presentation and replay angles are poor in FM7, at least compared to GT Sport. Polyphony really need to add a proper endurance race component to GT Sport.

So using one arcade racer as opposed to another would be better when we all know there are better platforms than both of those out there?
Hey, Forza is coughing up cheddar so they're not complaining.

PD haven't acquired the new Ford GT yet andstill remains questionable.

Forza hasn't acquired the TS050 so there's a little of that happening on both ends.

 

[BadFlounder]

So using one arcade racer as opposed to another would be better when we all know there are better platforms than both of those out there?

Actually, yes, I would argue that it would be better. Personally, I find the "arcade racer" label to be nonsensical, especially in this context. The fact is none of these "better platforms" games are true to life, 1 to 1 authentic racing experiences either. But that's neither here nor there, because I don't believe the goal in these competitions is a true-life representation of the race or racing series.

These events are sponsored by Forza or Gran Turismo, etc. One of the primary goals here is self-promotion, to increase interest in the game itself and/or the platform. Ditto for the sport and/or racing series itself. IMO both Forza and GT Sport do a good job of presenting a high-quality racing broadcast experience but they also offer a couple key aspects not easily found in the more serious sim-racers. Balance and accessibility. The "easy to play but difficult to master" nature of these games is a great fit for eSports competitions where one of the initial goals is to have as much participation as possible.

I'm not knocking the PC racing sims. I own a very good gaming PC and I race on PC/Xbox/PS4. I also enjoy watching broadcasts of most of the various series. I believe there is room in the sim-racing space for all levels of sim-racing eSports competitions. But I do find it somewhat silly when some knock these GT Sport or Forza competitions because "these games aren't real racing games" or "there are better platforms available". Well, the in-house custom F1 rigs that the real life teams use are far better than anything commercially available on PC, but that doesn't mean I am only interested in F1 eSports events held using that level of hardware. You get the idea. Again, to each their own, but personally I just don't understand why some in our sport have this elitist mentality.

My original post's point was simply that, IMHO, GT Sport is better suited to proper television broadcasts than Forza. Forza has its strengths to be sure, but it uses these weird replay angles that are constantly zooming way too far in on the cars. It's that or the constant 360 degree spinning camera shot they often use. I don't know, I just find it very off-putting when watching Forza broadcasts. I still enjoy them in the end, but I do feel like GT Sport is clearly better in this area. Polyphony included nearly television broadcast level replay angles and it makes watching the races a real pleasure.

 

[rhalgr]

Didn't expect this amount of success. Great to see racing eSports growing!