Nacon has confirmed that their upcoming open-world racing game Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will be exclusively targeted at next-gen systems.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown was announced back in 2020 by France-based publisher Nacon as the brand new entry in their open-world racing series. The game is developed by Kylotonn, another French developer responsible for other racing games such as the WRC series, also published by Nacon. Unlike most other racing games, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown focuses on a high-end lifestyle, emphasising fashionable looks and luxury car brands.

These include Ferraris, Bugattis and Lamborghinis, which allow players to become sleek and stylish car owners.

Last year’s trailer for Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown focused on these aspects, emphasising stylishly painted cars, luxurious surroundings and the lifestyle that people of this calibre can participate in. A recent blog post by the game’s developers details that the player will engage in a clan war on the island of Hong Kong, where they can choose to join the Streets or the Sharps. These two clans will clash in the Solar Crown race, with the goal being to force their way of life over the other. The same blog post confirms several further details, including the release window.

One of the most important details the Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown team notes is that Nacon will stop development on PS4 and Xbox One.

According to the blog post, this was due to the team wanting to take advantage of the technology available on next-gen consoles and “maximise” the quality of the game. A Switch version appears to still be in development, although it may be a more compact version to fit the portable hybrid console.

However, the other big announcement would be that Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is now targeting a 2023 release date.

The team has said that since the game has received much support from fans, this delay is to polish it to a level that many fans can enjoy. However, so that fans are not left disappointed, the team says this extra development time will allow fans to participate in a series of beta tests.

They also added that the schedule for these closed beta tests for Test Drive Unlimited is already being worked on, with the more enthusiastic fans getting the chance to test the game well before launch. This phase will allow the developers to take onboard fan feedback so that they can continue to improve the racing game.

Source: Steam