Trying to persuade egotistical racing drivers not to crash into each other while keeping an eye glued to the sky in case a sudden deluge necessitates a switch to wets is pretty stressful, but at least when the cars are only virtual ones it's a fun kind of stress. A fresh set of team boss shoes to jump into is set to hit Steam in 2027, with the very straightforwardly named Motorsport Manager getting a sequel in the form of the equally straightforwardly named Motorsport Manager 2.
Just announced via a short teaser by devs Playsport Games, MM2's building on its predecessor rather than trying to reinvent the wheel or take the track off in a totally different direction. You're once more the boss of a custom team running in a fantasy single seater, GT, or endurance championship. You've got personnel and sponsors to recruit, car parts and setups to tweak, and key strategic decisions to make on raceday, with the goal of landing your drivers on the podium once all the driving around in circles is done.
Ensuring what happens on Sunday feels as challenging and variable-stacked as possible has been a focus for MM2. "Teams will react more intelligently to what is happening on track, adjusting strategy in response to changing conditions, pit stops, rivals, and opportunities," Playsport wrote in a press release. "A new weather simulation introduces more varied and dramatic race-day decision-making, with conditions that can change across different parts of the circuit rather than simply applying to the whole track at once."
Alongside that, the off-track relationships and rivalries have been "expanded", with the devs citing the lack of restrictions that comes with not being tied to directly emulating any real-world racing series as a boon in that regard. "Freedom is one of the biggest advantages of Motorsport Manager 2,” project lead Matt Hanlon said. "Real-world motorsport is an inspiration, not a limitation. We can draw from different eras, disciplines, formats, rivalries, and stories to create a motorsport world that feels authentic, dramatic, and full of possibility."
Beyond those, full mod support on day one is locked in, so folks will be able to get to work right away on re-creating whichever real-world F1 or enduro grids/seasons they like right away. The blank slate nature of the first Motorsport Manager was its strongest aspect in my estimation, with the same sorts of modders who spend hours diligently re-creating classic liveries for other racing sims lining up to offer ways for you to create some alternate history. I did bounce off it after about 30 hours, but I think that might just be the sort of amount of time it takes me to get my fill of racing games in which I'm not behind the wheel. I've clocked up more miles in Funselektor's retro racing management sim Golden Lap, but still nowhere near the time I've spent with my favourite games that put me in the driver's seat.
"It's a tough game, in which I often feel like I'm grinding my way toward the top rather than discovering brilliant new tactics or innovative strategies," Adam Smith (RPS in peace) wrote in his review of the original Motorsport Manager. "That makes me feel a little distant from my team, and makes this a game to play while burning through podcasts in the background rather than to focus all of my attention on, but I'm enjoying the challenge. I feel like I earn my victories and the disasters are usually my fault as well. It's hard to escape the sense that I'm always reacting, whether to the weather or the placement of a particular track on the calendar, rather than creating a team with an identity of my own choosing. Maybe that's because I'm a terrible Motorsport Manager, but I think it might just be part of the job."
Playsport say a more detailed look at Motorsport Manager 2 in action is coming in autumm. Until then, you can wishlist it on Steam if you're so inclined.