DiRT 4 Will Not Feature Current WRC Content Due to Licensing

[skazz]

Irrespective of the license there will be some really fun rally cars. Now we just need to see how good Codemasters' procedural tech is, and how that changes the game for uniqueness and long term enjoyment.

I'm not going to pretend that anything Codemasters say from now until release will change whether I buy the game or not. I will preorder DiRT 4 no matter what they say

 

[SAFFY]

It's common practice in sports games. FIFA do it for the FIFA games, as does whoever administers the NFL for the Madden series.

It's about retaining control over their intellectual property. If they let just anyone include the championship in their games, the market could be flooded with low quality games or the inappropriate use of the cars or image.

It's not just "anyone" in question though, is it? Codemasters have done more than justice to the license in previous times with the Dirt series, not to mention the F1 series they have been developing with great success. So it's safe to say that the license would have been in more than capable hands. I personally, don't think it's anything to do with Dirt 4 being a low quality game, in fact the opposite looks to be the case.

 

[Rallywagon]

Odd, that the FIA or their partners would block WRC content but still allow the RallyX stuff to be included. but, if excluding it allows for more content, then the FIA be damned. I just hope Dirt 4 matches the experience of Rally. It would be a shame to go from that back to Dirt 3.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Odd, that the FIA or their partners would block WRC content but still allow the RallyX stuff to be included

They're separate championships, so they have separate licences.

 

[ELmarcotuff]

I hope they add the 08 impreza wrc with the focus and c4, just to complete that generation of rally cars.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I personally, don't think it's anything to do with Dirt 4 being a low quality game, in fact the opposite looks to be the case.

I don't think that was ever the case. One of the key things we have seen from Codemasters is the history of rally angle - the cars drawn from fifty years of competition. If the licence restricted them to only using cars from the current season and they were unwilling to trade away the historic cars, they're not going to bid for the licence. Especially when the FIA is increasingly interested in the e-sports angle.

Even if the FIA were willing to let them include cars from any time period, individual licences would have to be negotiated with car manufacturers, and different manufacturers would have differing demands. It's obvious that Toyota don't want to be involved - and given what they did with the ST165, you can't blame them - and if other manufacturers have their own demands, there is a real chance that the game would have an official licence, but the historic angle would feel incomplete, which in turn would reflect poorly on Codemasters.

Time that has finally been invested in procedural generation.

I think there is a reason that they haven't included it until now - the Ego Engine hasn't been up to it. Codemasters is a small studio, so they can't necessarily invest in new graphics and physics engines as frequently as they might like.

 

[Devil240Z]

I am excited for this Rally game in a way that I haven't been since Colin McRae was alive.

 

[Jay84]

They should let CM have WRC BigBen and Kito...Kitoblue? Whatever they are cant make good rally games, they look and feel like ps3 era games.