The first World Superbikes game in 10 years will be released on September 15th, 2022, and you can see what developers Milestone have been up to with a new SBK 22 gameplay showcase video.
It’ll be the first title since SBK Generations back in 2012 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but Milestone have been busy on the official titles for MotoGP, MXGP, AMA Supercross and their Ride series based on road bikes.
As expected, the game will be very similar to the current MotoGP 22 title, using Unreal Engine, and an almost-identical format for the career mode.
There are two big differences between MotoGP and WorldSBK in the real world. The first is that the premier class features prototype machines in all three main classes, whereas superbikes are based on roadgoing machines (albeit highly-tweaked homologation specials). And the second is that SBK follows a different calendar and format, with three races across each weekend (one sprint and two feature races), along with visiting different tracks.
So if you want to ride Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic, Magny-Cours in France, or San Han Villicum in Argentina, then you’ll find them in SBK 22. Sadly though, you won’t find the supporting World Supersport and World Supersport 300 classes in the game, which is a real pity. Given the chaos and carnage of a typical WorldSSP300 race full of teenagers, it’d be great fun to compete in virtually, especially as the series gave us the first female FIM World Championship winner in 2018 with Ana Carrasco.
The worry is that the game will be essentially a reskin from MotoGP22 with the same physics (and also carrying across existing bugs and limitations). I’m not a professional motorcycle racer (although I’ve interviewed quite a few over the years), and there are big differences between the feel of a superbike and a MotoGP motorcycle.
We’ll have to wait and see whether Milestone have alterered how the bikes handle beyond swapping their designs for the Kawasaki ZX-10R, Honda CBR1000RR, Ducati V4R Panigale, Yamaha YZF-R1 and BMW M1000RR. Especially given some of the spirited battles so far between Alvaro Bautista, multiple-champion Jonathan Rea, and reigning title holder Toprak Razgatiolgu.
SBK 22 will be available from September 15th, 2022 for the PC via Steam, the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S via the Microsoft Store and the PS4 and PS5 via the PlayStation Store. And you can keep up with all the latest SBK 22 news, updates, DLC and more here.
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