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World of Speed developer Slightly Mad Studios is working on its online racer in tandem with Project Cars. Both games are separate but share common DNA, as explained by various team members. They have also stressed that World of Speed should be referred to as “free,” not “free-to-play.” It follows our in-depth World of Speed hands on and interview session. Hit the link to see what it’s all about.

Speaking with Edge about World of Speed and Project Cars, lead producer Pete Morrish said, “Developmentally, they’re two completely separate games. The things that are shared are mainly on the human level, things like the experience and know-how and just the way that we approach stuff. It’s two completely separate teams, although leads are shared across both projects, because we’ve been around long enough to be able to split our time equally effectively across two things.”

Both titles share the same Madness engine, which was used Need for Speed off-shoot Shift 2 Unleashed. Studio head Ian Bell added that both titles depend on each other to some degree, “We’re ahead of where we expected to be on pCARS,” he revealed, then added, “let me put it clearly: pCARS would not be where it is now without WOS.”

Yet, the games both offer variances on the racing sim format, with Project Cars opting for a simulation angle, while World of Speed takes the ‘Arcade’ route of fast cars, big impacts and team play. The later looks to occupy a genre that has been left unoccupied by the absence of Split/Second, Burnout and Blur so it is felt that they won’t detract from each other when they launch.

On World of Speed’s status as a free title, creative director Andy Tudor said, “It’s not free-to-play, it’s free. It’s very obvious when you start putting walls into your game that require people to pay money to get over. I don’t know why games do it; we’re certainly not going to do that, ever. It’s also annoying when another player gets an advantage because they’ve put money into the game.

“We will never have a super-nitrous pack that will allow somebody to accelerate away from you. We expect you to get to the upper echelons of the game, with the best kit and best cars, and not have spent a single penny.”

We’ll have more on both games as it comes.