'Project Cars 2' news: 2017 release confirmed for racing simulator; sequel to support 12K and VR

"Project Cars 2" has been announced to debut later this year, and Slightly Mad Studios recently released a new trailer for the upcoming sequel.

According to reports, the game will include over 170 licensed cards from popular brands. The trailer shows a short glimpse of the new tracks, including the Daytona Speedway. Slightly Mad also revealed that the simulator will have full VR support and the ability to play in a 12K resolution PC.

As requested by fans, a new Online Championship game mode has been added to let players create and join leagues. The gamepad system has been redesigned as well to help players navigate better without a steering wheel. Many fans are wondering if the racing game will have a Nintendo Switch version, but creative director Andy Tudor already clarified that there's still no plan of bringing it to the hybrid hardware.

The most ambitious new feature in the sequel is a geographically-accurate weather system. This means that doing a few laps around any racetrack is different each time depending on the weather. When rain pours down, pools of water would form in various locations before evaporating once the sun comes out. While the technology looks impressive, co-director Stephen Viljoen stressed that the introduction of the new feature isn't purely for aesthetic value.

"It is the unpredictability of the environment that feeds into what makes you win a race or lose it, what happens when you get your strategy wrong or when you get it right, how you approach a race weekend that spans a long period of time," he explained. "There's so much affected by what the weather is going to do, what time of the year it is, and all these things," he went on to say.

"Project Cars 2" arrives later this year for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Slightly Mad has yet to announce an official release date for the sequel, but the studio's CEO, Ian Bell, previously said the game would be launched "Septemberish."