Frontier Developments is making its F1 racing management sim – the aptly F1 Manager 2022 – free to try this weekend on Steam.
F1 Manager 2022 – the first of four games planned for release under Frontier’s F1 licensing deal – launched last August, putting players in the role of a team principal and challenging them to lead their “drivers, engineers and fans to glory in the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship and FIA Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championship”.
While it adequately filled enough of a niche to draw a positive response at launch, players quickly began to criticise the game for its shallow, undercooked features and a significant number of bugs – but any hopes of major improvement were quickly quashed when Frontier announced it was ending support for the game less than two months after launch.
At the time, Frontier tried to justify the decision by claiming it would “ensure upcoming F1 Manager projects realise their potential and meet the expectations of both our team and our community”, but the move likely didn’t help bolster either interest or consumer confidence in a game the company later admitted had been a flop.
Still, the studio is having another stab at reviving interest in its fledgling series this weekend, starting at 6pm GMT today, 2nd March, and running until Monday 6th March – a window spanning this weekend’s Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.
If you’re at all tempted to join in F1 Manager 2022’s free weekend on Steam, Frontier notes progress can be carried over to the full release – which will be discounted by 70% to £13.49/$16.49 USD until 6th March – once the event comes to a close.
www.eurogamer.net
