The racing game landscape has dramatically shifted in the last decade. At one time it felt like every style of game was thriving: Need for Speed, Blur, GRID, and Motorstorm were fighting for arcade racing superiority. On the other hand, Microsoft's Forza Motorsport, PlayStation's Gran Turismo, Project Cars and others were battling over simulation supremacy. Even kart racers were going strong, with other companies besides Nintendo throwing their hats in the ring. Since then, the simulation has maintained popularity, although gradually including more arcade-like elements (Forza Horizon, Driveclub). Strong arcade racers like Hot Wheels Unleashed are uncommon.

Enter Milestone, a Milan-based development studio that specializes in racing games. In recent years, the developer's made many of the industry's defining motorcyle simulators, including MotoGP21, Monster Energy Supercross 4, and Ride 4. MotoGP21 is one of the most immersive sports games ever made, with crisp photo-realistic graphics and detailed motorcycle driving gameplay. Given the studio's previous experience, it's understandable to wonder how a studio with pedigree like Milestone's ends up making a new Hot Wheels racing game. Game Rant spoke with Milestone's Federico Cardini, Lead Game Designer on Hot Wheels Unleashed, about how the game came to be, and what Milestone brought to the table.

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The Origins of Hot Wheels Unleashed

Hot Wheels video games have been coming out for over 20 years now, every release providing a new interpretation of the franchise. There are cases like World Race and Stunt Track Challenge that are fun arcade racing titles, but don't utilize the Hot Wheels brand more than including popular vehicles. Other titles like Beat That! and the plethora of mobile games released over the years tap more into the creative side of Hot Wheels, allowing players to edit tracks and cars in a limited capacity. From the very start, as Cardini points out, Milestone wanted to do something different, and consulted Hot Wheels' history for help:

"Yes, we conducted research on previous Hot Wheels games, mainly to have an initial reference on how the brand has been interpreted before. Then we wanted to create something unique, creating from scratch what we believe is the best Hot Wheels gameplay experience so far."

One of the tricky parts about developing (or wanting to develop) a game based on licensed material is getting that initial green light to start. In rare instances, companies will approach game studios to make games based on its properties, but most times, it falls on the studio itself to make the pitch. This is the case with Hot Wheels Unleashed, as once Milestone determined what type of game it wanted to make, it built a prototype in 2018 and pitched it to Mattel, the company that owns the Hot Wheels brand. Cardini describes how the pitch went, noting that Mattel initially didn't respond to Milestone until a few weeks later, when Mattel was actually "quite entusiastic to work together" on the Hot Wheels project.

And work together Mattel and Milestone did, as there was a lot of communication between the two companies throughout Hot Wheels Unleashed's development. According to Cardini, "every asset and piece of game content" was approved by Mattel, as well as the other brands the game is crossing over with. The game includes cars based on entertainment properties like Batman's Batmobile and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Party Wagon, as well officially licensed cars from Chevy, Ford, and many others brands. Mattel also provided Milestone with "general feedback" as the game was progressing.

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Hot Wheels Unleashed, and the Power of Milestone

Learning that Milestone is developing Hot Wheels Unleashed after looking at its recent lineup of games may lead many to question whether the studio was a questionable fit for this game. In recent years, the studio has been primarily developing motorcycle-based simulation racing games, with a focus on immersion and detail, its last non-bike based game being 2018's Gravel.

Cardini points out, however, that Milestone is not just relegated to simulation racers, and that more-arcade-like games is something the team is still very capabale of. "Milestone in the past has made some iconic 4-wheel arcade games, such as Screamer. So, these type of games have been always part of our DNA."

The line between arcade and simulation racing can become pretty hazy with titles like Forza Horizon 4, a gorgeous game with highly detailed and accurate vehicles. However, at times Forza Horizon is about how far off a jump you can go, or how fast players can get from Point A to Point B with some kind of arcade-like twist. Nonetheless there is overlap between the two genres, with Cardini admitting that although Milestone has recently been focused on realistic racing games, the experience of making those titles has been essential for developing Hot Wheels Unleashed.

"I think we brought part of our experience in simulative games to Hot Wheels Unleashed too, since racing skills are quite important in our game, even if it can be played by all by lowering the difficulty level."

Before Hot Wheels Unleashed, the last AAA appearance by the franchise was in Forza Horizon 3's Hot Wheels DLC, which added sprawling orange tracks across the Australian setting and many of the series' most popular cars. It has been an even longer amount of time since a full-fledged, non-mobile game release in the Hot Wheels franchise has come out.

When asked why they think it's been so long since a true Hot Wheels title, Cardini expressed the special circumstances that Milestone has. "To create a full-fledged, non-mobile Hot Wheels game, you need a lot of experience in racing games; there aren’t many studios like that." Milestone saw the opportunity as a studio that's focused 100% on racing titles, Mattel also saw the potential, and now a new Hot Wheels game is nearly here.

Hot Wheels Unleashed launches September 30 on for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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