SimBin Studios Returns with GTR3

Names as GTR, GTR2, GT Legends, and the Race07 Series will forever be synonymous with Sim Racing. All these popular titles were products of the former Swedish Simbin development studio.

Back in September of 2014, after a bankruptcy, Simbin Studios closed its doors. It was a sad day for the Sim Racing Community. A few days later, former Simbin Licencing manager Jay Ekkel announced that the studio would continue developing under a new name and at a new location. Sector3 Studios was born and would continue the work where Simbin left off. A team of former Simbin staff continued the development of the free2play RaceRoom Racing Experience simulator.

Back in October last year it was announced that the Simbin name would return to the industry. The new development studio is based in a brand new Manchester office in the North-West of England and is headed by former Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe and Route 1 Games producer, Allan Speed. The new Simbin will partner up with the existing Sector3 Studios development team to focus mainly on cross-platform racing games.

Recently, RaceDepartment visited the new Simbin Studios UK offices and sat down with Studio Head Allan Speed. He confirmed that the studio’s first project will be a relaunch of the famous GTR series. Even better so, they revealed that the iconically named GTR3 racing sim is scheduled for release in 2018 as a multi-platform title on the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It is stated that a first playable version of GTR 3 should be in six months time. Allan Speed confirmed that the title will care for both the casual and serious sim racers.

GTR3 will be powered by the famous Unreal 4 game engine and will feature day to night transitions, a dynamic weather system, and a vehicle damage model. At this point, the Simbin UK studio did not yet reveal details about their licensing arrangements. As proof of concept, Racedepartment was allowed to publish two in-game preview screenshots showing us some BMW Z4 GT3 action at the Spa-Francorchamps track.

We expect to see more info being revealed in the coming weeks and months.

Check out the original announcement at RaceDepartment