Activision signs Race of Champions developer

Activision has announced the developer for its upcoming game Race of Champions and revealed further information on the game. Race of Champions, which is based on the annual Rally racing event held in the Canary Islands, will be developed by UK-based Climax Group. It will include 25 cars from leading manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Toyota, Peugeot, Audi, Porsche, and Citroen, among others. More than 30 real-world drivers including such legends as Didier Auriol from France, Armin Schwartz from Germany, and Tomi Makkinen from Sweden will also be featured in the game.

"We are very excited to partner with the Brighton arm of the Climax Group to develop Race of Champions," said Julian Lynn Evans, vice president of Activision's European studios. "Their development expertise, coupled with their proprietary DYNE Motorsports technology's powerful simulation capabilities, will enable us to achieve ultra realistic motion and collision responses on a variety of vehicles. Climax aims to make Race of Champions the most cutting-edge game in the driving genre, and given their track record, we fully expect them to succeed."

"This is truly a match made in heaven," commented Karl Jeffrey, president and CEO of the Climax Group. "Climax's Motorsports technology and Activision's sales and marketing muscle are an unbeatable combination. I fully believe that Race of Champions is going to be the greatest rally game ever made."

In development for the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Microsoft Xbox, Race of Champions will be released in 2002.