Codemasters has made two big announcements about its flagship F1 franchise. Not only is the studio bringing the release date of its annual F1 title forward by two months from August to June, but is it also adding the Formula 2 Championship to the series for the very first time.
The new addition—said to be "one of the most requested features from our community"—comes as Codemasters celebrates its tenth F1 title and will form part of F1 2019's career mode.
In an update (thanks, Polygon) on the official FIA Formula 2 website, F2’s CEO confirmed players will be able to race with F2's 2018 drivers and teams, before eventually reaching Formula One in the 2019 season. As every F2 team is required to use the "same chassis, engine and tire supplier", players will have to race tougher opposition AIs with fewer in-game assists, putting a much greater emphasis on driving skill rather than the technological advancements of your team/vehicle.
2019's F2 season will reportedly be "digitally added later in the year, complete with online functionality".
"We’re extremely excited to be bringing F2 to the franchise," said F1 franchise director, Paul Jeal. "It’s consistently been one of the most requested features from our community and it comes at a perfect time with the top three drivers from 2018 in George Russell, Lando Norris and Alexander Albon progressing to F1 for this season. We can’t wait to unveil more details on how this is integrated into the career mode in the coming weeks."
"We’re immensely pleased to be part of the 2019 F1 video game," added FIA Formula 2 CEO Bruno Michel. "This is something that the fans have been waiting for and the amount of feedback we received after the teaser in the announcement trailer was great. The fact that we are now part of the F1 video game like we are part of the F1 Grand Prix weekends is an amazing opportunity to raise awareness of the F2 brand in a way that’s never been done before."
F1 2019 is scheduled to launch on June 28, 2019 on Windows PC, as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
