VR support has long been in heavy demand in the F1 fanbase, and along with supercars, F1 Life, and more, it’s going to be one of the headlining new features in Codemasters and EA Sports’ F1 22 when it launches later this year. And with PC players finally getting the opportunity to pair the series’ trademark authenticity with virtual reality support, there’s plenty of reasons to be excited, according to the game’s developers.
Speaking in a recent interview with GamingBolt, F1 22’s senior creative director Lee Mather said that from admiring details in the cockpit of a car and the tracks you’ll be driving in to getting an even better sense of the speeds you’ll be zipping through them at, F1 22’s VR support is going to bring “a new level of immersion for the series.”
“We’re also excited about the addition of VR on PC this year,” Mather said. “It’s something the fans have been asking me about for a number of years. With the stars aligned, we were finally able to bring it to the F1 series, and players will be able to experience and understand what it’s like to drive an F1 car. We’ve spoken with drivers on so many occasions about how it all feels relatively calm to them, and it’s not as hectic as you’d think. 200mph becomes the norm and time almost slows down.
“The player will feel what that’s like. They’ll be able to admire the amazing detail within the cockpit, and really feel the scale of the circuits surroundings and elevation changes. There’s nothing quite like looking straight at the track in front of you when heading through Eau Rouge at Spa. Paired with our incredible binaural audio, the player will experience a new level of immersion for the series.”
Of course, VR support has only been confirmed for F1 22’s PC version so far- so can fans expect the game to add PSVR support down the line as well, especially with PSVR2 currently in the works? Mather says that while there are no plans for the same, it might not be completely out of the question.
“Unfortunately there are no immediate plans, but we never say never,” Mather told us.
In the same interview, Mather also revealed that F1 22 will add cross-play support after launch, and that though the game won’t feature the Breaking Point story mode, the feature “will return in the future”. Our full interview with Mather will be live soon, so stay tuned for that.
F1 22 launches for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on July 1. You can check out the game’s PC requirements through here.