C.A.R.S. Gets Green Light Through WMD Support

The community assisted racing sim is now officially “go” with an announcement that Ben Collins will be coming onboard as part of the development team. The screenshots below were also released and honestly look absolutely spectacular.

Press release:

C.A.R.S. gets the green light!
Exciting new racing title gets ready to set off

London, October 11, 2011: Slightly Mad Studios today announces the unveiling of C.A.R.S., their first title to be produced using the innovative new WMD portal. To compliment the unveiling, SMS is also announcing their exciting latest addition to the C.A.R.S. development team; Ben Collins, the man who spent seven years as the “Stig”.

Speaking of his participation, racing driver Ben Collins said, “I’m delighted to be working on the C.A.R.S. project to create the best racing simulation in the world! Computer ‘games’ and simulations have become integral to success on the race track and I will be applying all my racing knowledge to provide handling input and advice to the builds on a regular basis. I’m also looking forward to meeting some of the project’s contributors at the trackday events and working with SMS’s team of experts, whose passion and pedigree will be key to the development of this incredibly exciting new model.”

Ian Bell, MD of the company behind C.A.R.S and the WMD Platform said, “When we found out Ben was interested in the project it was an obvious decision to get him involved. I can’t think of anyone better. As the “Stig” he has driven the best cars in the world and was universally regarded as the best real racing driver around. The experience that he can bring to the team will be invaluable. He’s also really enthusiastic about working in a new development model alongside fans, members of the public and experienced developers alike.”

Racing fans can sign up to become part of the C.A.R.S. (Community Assisted Racing Simulation) team from Tuesday 11th November, where they will instantly be able to actively contribute to the development of the game via the WMD portal. From day one they will be given a unique opportunity to actually participate in the development of a AAA game, as part of the team that created the Need For Speed: SHIFT series, with access to state of the art tech and tools, early builds of the title and the team’s development forums.

The project is Slightly Mad Studios’ first project to use its revolutionary crowd- sourcing meets crowd-funding platform WMD (www.wmdportal.com) which enables fans, enthusiasts and other members of the public to contribute to the development of upcoming titles by working on them or providing funding – or both – whilst getting to enjoy the game whilst it is being built. What is more, when the game is released all those who worked on the game will earn a share of the revenues earned.

Places will be available on a first come first served basis at launch but in order to make sure everyone has a fair chance, additional places will open up throughout the development process. Founder Team Members will however have exclusive benefits. The expected final release date for C.A.R.S is expected to be around Thanksgiving 2012, so make sure to sign up and get involved!

About WMD
WMD (World of Mass Development) is a new platform for games creation from the award-winning developer Slightly Mad Studios that allows:
Developers to submit ideas to an active gaming community, raise the funds needed to develop them, get continual feedback from community team members that can play work-in-progress builds, use the WMD Portal to promote their project, get help from other developers, and ultimately launch their game to an eagerly-awaiting audience

Players to browse available projects and join any they are interested in, download and play regular builds of the game, participate in discussion and polls, speak directly to the developers, and eventually earn money back for their contribution when the game is released.

WMD is therefore a unique prospect for both gamers that want to get involved in exciting upcoming titles and developers looking to raise funds for their projects. To see a full breakdown of the details for both players and developers, plus lots more, please visit www.wmdportal.com, or contact info@wmdportal.com. Follow the updates on Twitter @WMDCars.

About Slightly Mad Studios Ltd
Slightly Mad Studios is an independent, award-winning developer known most recently for its work on Electronic Arts’ Need For Speed franchise with the successful SHIFT series. The company has a core studio located near Tower Bridge, London but predominantly uses a unique distributed development system that allows the team to attract worldwide talent, be cost-effective and ultra-efficient.