A new vision of simracing. Endurance Motorsport Series is Kylotonn’s new game for 2025. Want to know all about this totally new approach to racing? Here it is!
Laurent Deheppe – Total Jeux Video
A little background on Endurance Motorsport Series
Kylotonn (KT Racing), the French studio based in Paris and Lyon, lost the official WRC license in 2023 to Codemasters. In reality, this loss of license took place in 2020, taking effect three years later. Since 2015, the studio had been offering the new opus of the official World Rally Championship game every year. So this time, we were expecting a new rally game, without an official license (of course), like Dirt Rally 2.0. Well, sorry folks, but it’s not going to be that at all! For the past three years, French developers under the direction of endurance fan Roman Vincent have been working on a completely different project: an endurance game!
Following in the footsteps of F1, GT and rallying, endurance is now in vogue with Le Mans Ultimate, but also Rennsport in the world of simracing. When Endurance Motorsport Series was announced, we contacted our friends at Nacon, the publisher on which Kylotonn depends, to find out more about this ambitious new project.
What’s in the game?
A quick reminder: what are endurance races? As the name suggests, they’re… long races. But what really sets them apart is that, during the same race, Hypercars, LMP2s and LMGT3s compete against each other, i.e. around 60 cars in three different categories.
Illustration from 24h-lemans.com
At the time of writing, we know that most of the cars in the 3 categories will be present in the game, which is obviously good news. The other good news concerns the circuits: we should find iconic endurance circuits such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans or Monza, but also some fictional circuits in the style of Gran Turismo, some of whose original tracks have become real references, such as Deep Forest Raceway or Trial Mountain. And that’s what’s going to be cool: in a racing simulation that aims to be realistic (which we hope will be the case in terms of gameplay), you’ll find a playful, video-game-style dimension.
You can press a button and the AI will take control of your car on the track in real time (…) it will then be time to follow your race strategy or change it.
From then on, we can imagine anything, even if we know that the tracks will be endurance-type: in the city with insane gradients, a track that takes in the craziest corners of the real championship, such as the raidillon at SPA followed by Senna’s S at Interlagos… Or even a track over 30 km long (even longer than the Nürburgring)! And when you consider the studio’s talent for level design (just do a few of the special stages in WRC 10), you can expect to be faced with some major challenges! Of course, EMS will feature day/night cycles, rain, tire wear, flags, safety cars, pit stops… In short, the whole package, just like the real thing!
We have 4 pedalsets tested by a WEC champion
And what about you?
Well, you won’t just be driving. EMS is going to offer you a whole new experience: driving the car, of course, but also the chance to stand on the pit wall as a track engineer in front of control screens. Based on reality, this should include weather data, lap times, split times, car telemetry, track position and more. In concrete terms, if you’re playing alone and you’re in the car, you can press a button and the AI will take control of your car on the track in real time, while you go and sit in the booths, in front of your screens. In front of these screens, it’s time to follow your racing strategy or change it.
Editor’s note: the trailer shows 6 control screens, by chance?
We can then imagine different driver profiles, for example an experienced driver or a young rookie. During the swap, you’ll have the choice of putting this or that driver in your place, depending on race conditions. And that’s not all! You’ll also be able to compete with several cars from different categories. Endurance being multiclass, you’ll be able to run several races in one! The icing on the cake, as you can see, is co-op play.
At this stage we don’t know much about it, but given that co-op is planned for Le Mans Ultimate, we can’t really see what would stop Kylotonn from doing the same thing, especially as in reality there are 2 or 3 drivers per car in an endurance race. So the idea would be: one player at the wheel and another in the pits. With such a system, we hope to see strategy experts and fast drivers forming formidable online teams! See you on the track!
Editor’s note: The fact that 3 race management stations can be seen in this image from the trailer is probably no coincidence.
First opinion:
If the gameplay is anything to go by, EMS promises a whole new perspective on simracing! The idea of winning not alone, but as part of a team, goes far beyond what any current simulation can offer. What’s more, it’s still possible to play on your own, so there’s plenty for solo players too. With this concept, Kylotonn is breaking new ground in a field that has been static for years. Is it a revolution? On paper, yes. It remains to be seen once behind the wheel and behind the screens!
