Project Cars 3 is being delisted, server shutdown announced

Bandai Namco has announced that Project Cars 3 will be delisted in August and the servers shutdown in early 2026. This brings an end to the Project Cars franchise, with the first two titles in the series having been delisted in 2022.

In a statement on the game’s Steam page, it was announced:

Update on PROJECT CARS 3. All product sales will end on: August 24th, 2025 23:59 UTC. Please note that times may vary by region. If you bought the game digitally it will remain in your library and can be redownloaded in the future. Any DLCs purchased before August 24th, 2025 23:59 UTC will still be available to use after this date. The game’s online modes will also remain active until February 24th, 2026.

While a reason for this was not given, the most likely situation is the one that affects almost all racing games, as licenses for cars, tracks and soundtracks expire. With reduced income from games several years after release, it rarely makes financial sense for companies to review the game-specific licensing deals that are cut with manufacturers and tracks.

The sad part of this is that it’s an end to what was a real bolt from the blue for the sim racing genre. Launching in 2015, Project Cars was an imperfect, but refreshingly different take on the sim and simcade racer, and gained a healthy fanbase on the PS4 and Xbox One generation, two years before Gran Turismo Sport arrived, and at a time when Forza Motorsport was still a lighter style of racer. It was quickly followed up by a sequel in 2017, but then things went a little bit off the rails.

SMS was acquired in 2019 by Codemasters ahead of the 2020 release of Project Cars 3. That game took a turn towards more arcade racing that didn’t meet the same audience as the previous titles, and with Codemasters subsequently acquired by EA, their sim racing endeavours were eventually cancelled in 2022 and the team broken up or laid off.

In the meantime, SMS founder Ian Bell had left and gone on to found Straight4 Studios (previously branded as Mildly Annoyed Studios). They’re currently working on Project Motor Racing, putting even more focus on motorsports and with a November release date.

In our review for Project Cars 3, Thomas wrote, “Project CARS 3 suffers from a case of mistaken identity. Once you adjust to the new direction, you can get into a fun flow of ticking off objectives, drifting around hairpins and purchasing upgrades. However, while the series’ existing platform means you get a great variety of circuits, cars and weather conditions, it also shackles this game from being a great arcade racing experience.”

Source: Steam