Milestone announced that the annual MotoGP racing series is coming back for the 2019 season, featuring all new racers, new bikes, and new tracks in MotoGP 19. The game is scheduled to release on June 6th this year for the Xbox One, PS4, and on Steam for PC, while the Nintendo Switch version is set to launch a few weeks later.
The game features the 2019 racing season, with players having to climb up the ladder ranks and compete in all challenges such as the Red Bull MotoGP Rockies Cup.
At the top of the new features list is the dedicated servers for the multiplayer. This will reportedly reduce lag and rubberbanding, which has been a pretty big criticism for some of Milestone’s previous games.
They’ve also completely reworked the AI system by teaming up with Orobix, where they’ve engineered an artificial intelligence solution based on neural network performance and adaptation. This new proprietary approach to the AI handling in MotoGP 19 comes from a system that has been in development for more than two years. Maybe that means we’ll see AI as impressive as the kind from the original Forza Motorsport from 13 years ago?
You can see what the gameplay is like with the teaser trailer below, which accompanied the announcement for the game.
As displayed in the trailer, there are 49 playable teams in the game; the revival of historical riders and historical races, much like the classic MotoGP games from sixth gen.
The trailer also briefly touches on the AI neural network system but we don’t actually get to see it in action since the clips are composed of memes, which is kind of a shame because it would have been nice to see maybe 10 seconds of the AI at play.
The Unreal Engine 4-powered racing title will take everything they accomplished with MotoGP 18 and attempt to evolve it in the upcoming title. This includes more livery editing options, all new accessories and gear brands in which to deck out your rider with and modify your bike, as well as the ability to self-design your very own helmet.
To be honest, the lack of fantasy tracks, and the strict touring discipline kind of limits the appeal of the game compared to Milestone’s Ride series, the last of which (i.e., Ride 3) was pretty much pitch perfect in balancing the MotoGP challenges with the street bike thrills, and everything else in between. It’s going to be a hard entry to top given that it was basically the Gran Turismo A-Spec of motorcycle racing games.
We’ll see if Milestone can top themselves with MotoGP 19 when the game releases on June 6th this year for Xbox One, PS4, and on Steam for PC (with the Nintendo Switch release arriving a few weeks later).
