Black Angel Team - Notizie

Automobilista 2: 2026 Development Preview – All the News Coming This Year

Reiza Studios has published a comprehensive preview of what awaits Automobilista 2 throughout 2026, outlining a year packed with updates, new content, and long-awaited features. The Brazilian racing simulator, about to enter its seventh year since its March 2020 launch, continues to grow and is poised to cross the milestone of one million copies sold.

A Simulator in Constant Growth

Automobilista 2 has found its niche in the PC racing simulator landscape, building a steadily expanding user base year after year. Positive reviews show that the vast majority of players are satisfied with the product. The game primarily attracts sim racers who don't have much time to dedicate to the hobby: those who race competitively elsewhere and jump into AMS2 to unwind, or simply those who prefer to enjoy driving without competitive stress.

As Renato Simioni, founder of Reiza Studios, emphasized, the team has no intention of settling. For 2026, the staff has been bolstered with new developers on every front, new licensing deals have been secured, and existing ones renewed. The goal is to build faster and stronger on the foundations patiently laid over previous years, retaining what AMS2 already does well while expanding the areas that need improvement.

The 2026 Development Roadmap

As in most previous years, game updates should continue to arrive thick and fast, roughly one to two months apart. The major milestone update for 2026 will be version 1.7.0, expected toward the end of Q2, bringing numerous new features alongside fresh content.

Single Player and AI

The single-player front will see significant improvements to AI race craft, with more realistic and refined racing tactics. One of the most anticipated additions is the ability to save and resume races in progress—a feature that, despite some inherent limitations, will finally allow players to manage lengthy race sessions without needing to complete everything in a single sitting.

Multiplayer and Third-Party Integration

On the multiplayer front, the option to sign up and join scheduled races through third-party services such as LFM and JR will be integrated directly into the in-game lobby. This integration, already available externally through SimGrid via the new Automobilista portal, will make access to organized competitions much simpler.

Quality of Life Improvements

Several quality-of-life improvements will be introduced throughout the year. These include new UI localization options, improved content filtering and sorting options that will allow users to better manage the ever-increasing number of cars and tracks available in the game. The overhauled HUD, currently available as a heavily work-in-progress beta option, is expected to be feature-complete as of the next public release.

Simulation and Advanced Physics

Simulation improvements include more intrinsic tire damage properties, better wind simulation, and further dynamic weather and track enhancements. Logistical realism options that the team has been working on for over two years include limited tire sets, tow and repair delays after incidents or breakdowns, and limited spare parts—all elements targeted for completion by version 1.7.0.

Immersion and Atmosphere

On the immersion front, planned features include animated trackside flag marshals, dynamic crowd reactions, and support for animated driver interactions. These elements will contribute to making the racing experience even more realistic and engaging.

Expanded Technical and Sporting Regulations

A particularly rich area of development involves expanding support for more diverse technical and sporting regulations. New additions will include different qualifying and race formats, virtual safety cars, parc-fermé rules, ballast rules, a wider range of pitstop restrictions, additional championship scoring options, and support for inter-series class split scoring and leaderboards. This is particularly relevant for series such as the Ligier European Series, Porsche Cup, Formula 3, and Lancer Cup, where two or more classes of cars with different specifications share the grid.

Customization and Modding

Reiza plans to boost user customization options and improve modding support. Players will be able to modify individual car performance, both as a way to better model various seasons in modding packs and to produce bespoke Balance of Performance options for multiplayer leagues. Creating and sharing custom presets as well as championship files will also be possible. Regarding community-created cars and tracks, while users should not expect AMS2 to become a full-blown modding platform (given game engine restrictions and its design), the team is working to remove or lower barriers to make AMS2 more accessible for creators of quality scratch-built content.

Career Mode

The big greyed-out feature on the main screen is the single-player Career Mode, which serves both as the connective tissue tying all game features together and as the element that requires everything to be in place before it can deliver the intended experience. This is why it has always been planned as the last major development for AMS2.

Reiza explained the dilemma: implementing career mode halfway through planned features would create enormous maintenance overhead and lead to career progress constantly breaking during game updates. At the same time, the more AMS2 expands and evolves, the longer career mode gets pushed out.

The team is confident that delayed gratification will pay off: a career mode with the game in its current form would certainly be more engaging than at any previous point, and even more so a year from now. Implementation is planned in stages, with the initial rollout scheduled for the second half of 2026.

The 2026 Content Roadmap

AMS2 has been designed to be as thorough a motorsports simulator as possible, representing the most popular motorsport series from the modern era going back at least six decades to the mid-1960s, along with some of the most unique and exotic classes that, while not as well known, offer extraordinary driving experiences.

Final Thoughts

The 2026 development preview paints an ambitious picture for Automobilista 2. Reiza Studios, born from the collective passion of a small group of modders turned developers, continues to chase the goal of creating the best simulator possible. With an expanded team, new licenses, and a more defined roadmap, 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the Brazilian simulator.

It's important to remember, as the team itself emphasized, that plans are always subject to change. While Reiza wouldn't present these plans if not confident in delivering them, hurdles may arise that delay or prevent some content from becoming reality. The advice remains to evaluate any purchase of AMS2 or its DLCs solely based on the value offered at the time.


https://automobilista.gg/