Zynga Unveils First Look At Its Racing Game CSR2

Updated on

Zynga and NaturalMotion unveiled a first look at CSR sequel CSR2, the firm’s upcoming car racing game. CSR, which is immensely popular, recorded 130 million downloads over the past three years, and Zynga is hoping for the same from CSR2.

Simple but impressive game

Although the game is simple, it’s a beautiful drag racing title similar to console titles. Zynga is offering new beautiful, 3D animated cars that model the Ferrari LaFerrari and McLaren P1. Gamers will have the option to choose official paint colors for the car body and brake calipers along with real-world manufacturers and model trim options. The cars used in the game have been created using the original computer-aided design models from the car manufacturers themselves. Italian flag on a side mirror of Pagani model reflects the hard work that has been put into the project.

Torsten Reil, Natural Motion’s head, told Games Beat in an interview at The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) event that they are more focused on making an authentic free-to-play title in the best possible way. Reil also noted that they want to produce the best-looking racing game for mobile with an authentic and realistic look and feel.

“We wanted to go far down the road of believability and authenticity. It’s a massive jump up in quality,” Reil added.

Will Zynga nail it this time?

CSR not only hit record downloads, but also resulted in significant revenues. CRS made its debut in 2012 as a free-to-play title, and even then it earned over $12 million in revenue in the first month. The game has small game cycles, and players are allowed to buy cars, which helped NaturalMotion earn a huge amount of money from energy purchases, which is needed to keep the game running. To keep interest going, the now Zynga-owned firm has added many features over the last three years. Given the popularity of the first game, it will be a big task for Zynga and NaturalMotion to switch players to the new version.

Over the past three years, Natural Motion, which Zynga acquired for $527 million, have formed a brand new team in a studio dubbed London East. The team includes veterans who have worked on games such as Forza, Need for Speed, DiRT and Burnout.

CSR2 is critical for Zynga as the game maker is currently struggling with operations, and is in dire need of a big hit. In the coming weeks, CSR2 will be rolled-out gradually on both the iOS and Android platforms.

Leave a Comment