The GRID series is a staple of Electronic Arts' various racing franchises, providing tons of racing action into one package. In the newest entry, GRID Legends, Electronic Arts plans on putting players closer to the experience than ever with enhancements to GRID's single player offerings.

It has been a few years since the last GRID title, that being 2019's aptly titled GRID. The series, developed by Codemasters, began in 2008 with Race Driver: Grid, and has seen new installments every couple of years since. Previous titles included special story mode features that allowed players to compete against other racing clubs like in Grid 2 and potentially accept offers to join them like in Grid: Autosport. Where other Electronic Arts' games like Battlefield 2042 are doing away with single player attention, GRID Legends is seemingly going in the other direction.

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At EA Play Live, Electronic Arts unveiled the latest game in the GRID series, GRID Legends. Unlike previous entries, GRID Legends will have a full fledged career mode that includes a unique story and live-action cutscenes featuring actor Ncuti Gatwa. During the showcase, Senior Game Designer at Codemasters, Becky Crossdale, detailed that the game will be using the extended reality (XR) technology seen in The Mandalorian to bring the game world to life. While no Star Wars games will be announced at EA Play Live, it seems that Star Wars still managed its way into the show.

The XR technology is a program that syncs up a background image displayed behind the actors, to the movements of a camera. Unlike a green screen where actors cannot see what they are supposed acting towards or where their setting is, the XR technology makes all of this visible, providing a more immersive experience. In the GRID Legends trailer, the technology can be seen in action in the live-action shots like when Gatwa's character is suiting up in the race-pit or when he is confronting the character Nathan Mccain, at the trailer's end. At least through this route, Electronic Arts can hire actors to perform the story and not have to worry about glitchy and unfinished facial animations like in Mass Effect: Andromeda.

What remains to be seen are this technology's implications on the gameplay of GRID Legends. Although the story will certainly be compellingly visually due to the XR technology, it seems like the extent of is usage will be to the game's cinemeatics. A reoccurring message of the GRID Legends presentation is to bring the players into the GRID world, and this artificial reality seems to do so. Games like Quantum Break have attempted live action narratives between its gameplay segments so it will be interesting to see how Electronic Arts' attempt goes.

GRID Legends will launch in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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Source: Codemasters/EA