Pure developers Black Rock Studios feel that the video game racer, as we know it, is "in a dire way," that the genre "is in many respects dying out." What can save it?
Why, Black Rock Studios own Split/Second, the explosive reality show-meets-street racing game, of course.
"We're all fans of street racing here, but as a genre it is relatively stale – the evolution is only coming from how you customise cars, which can only serve to remove you from the action – I think Split/Second will do the opposite," game director Nick Baynes tells Develop.
Obviously, some of this is drinking the development Kool-Aid, publicizing the merits of one's own video game, so it must be taken with a grain of salt.
But Black Rock studio head Tony Beckwith says there's some data to back those statements up.
"If you look at the sales figures, the racing genre is in many respects dying out – take Mario Kart out of the equation and the category is in a dire way," he says. "I think this genre is ripe for something new and inventive to give it a kick start."
While the game certainly looks flashy enough and critical acclaim for Pure was positive, we'll have to see if Split/Second lives up to the developer's own hype.
Disney's Black Rock: We can save 'dying' racing genre [Develop]