Technology
Amazon is making a game based on “The Grand Tour” for PS4 and Xbox One
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After years of acquisitions and false starts, Amazon is
making its first major console game: “The Grand Tour.” -
The game is based on the show of the same name — one of
Amazon’s most popular original series, which stars Jeremy
Clarkson. -
Rather than creating a simulation-style game, “The
Grand Tour” is more like a grown-up “Mario Kart.”
Amazon is a wildly successful company, but it can’t seem to crack
the business of making video games.
Since its formation in 2014, Amazon Game Studios — a trio of game
development studios that it owns — hasn’t released a single
major game. One of the first games announced by the studio,
“Breakaway,” was
canceled earlier this year; two others remain in development,
with no announced release dates in sight.
With the announcement this week of “The Grand Tour,” it looks
like that may finally change.
As the name implies, “The Grand Tour” is a video game based on
the hit Amazon Prime show of the same name.
With the upcoming debut of the show’s third season, the game is
somewhat of a tie-in — players are encouraged to buy a season
pass to the game, sold separately, which offers new vehicles and
tracks weekly alongside new episodes on Friday.
Despite all the cars, “The Grand Tour” isn’t just a racing game.
Instead, it features challenges inspired by “The Grand Tour”
format itself — stuff like creating a car that can survive a
“doomsday” scenario, then testing it. There’s also more
straightforward stuff, like head-to-head races between the show’s
main trio of hosts: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James
May.
Challenges from the show are playable in the game, though it
looks like the majority of those challenges will come from the
forthcoming third season.
Per the game’s description on
Amazon (emphasis ours):
“Featuring the incredible cars, exotic locations, and ridiculous
challenges from the first episode of ‘The Grand Tour’
Seasons 1 and 2, and all of Season 3.”
Additionally, there’s a split-screen multiplayer mode that
features power-ups, a la “Mario Kart.”
You can even play as the cheeky show hosts, who will sling sharp
verbal barbs alongside clouds of blinding dust.
Amazon
Game Studios
It’s not clear when “The Grand Tour” will arrive on the Xbox One
and PlayStation 4, but the game’s debut trailer says it’s “coming
soon.” Given the integration with the third season of the show on
Amazon Prime, it’s likely to debut alongside that — the show is
currently filming.
Take a look at the first trailer for “The Grand Tour” right here:
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