Chief of which are flag-to-flag races thanks to dynamic weather, ranked online events and a social media feed within the career mode.
Flag to flag races debut
A much-requested feature, dynamic weather makes its first appearance within MotoGP video games. Unlike MotoGP 22, for example, in MotoGP 23 you will see races start dry before it then rains, forcing a pitstop and a change of bike with wet-weather tyres affixed.
This flag-to-flag ruleset is used in real-world motorcycle grand prix, where riders hop from one bike to another within the pitlane.
In prior MotoGP games, you could run races in dry or wet conditions, but the weather was not changeable and the pitlanes were out of bounds.
Career shortcuts
One enthralling element of previous MotoGP games has been the career mode, which encompasses Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP categories, with your rider progressing through the ranks.
It has not seen major changes for several years now. For this year’s iteration, the ability to potentially jump from Moto2 to MotoGP mid-season returns, but is now entitled ‘turning points’ and is integrated with a rivals system. A new faux social media feed with real-world riders interacting with you based on your on-track performance is also included.
The electric MotoE category will also be available for single events and multiplayer use.
Ranked mutliplayer
MotoGP 22 introduced cross-platform multiplayer between PlayStation and Xbox as a post-release update, but it will be within MotoGP 23 from launch this time – although sadly still excluding Nintendo Switch and PC players. It will appear alongside what are described as ‘ranked races’.
We hope this is an in-depth online multiplayer ranking system, however, in developer Milestone’s recent Supercross 6, a similarly touted feature turned out to be a form of online leaderboard. We’ll hopefully find out more details about this closer to the launch.
Local split-screen will be present once more – apart from in the Nintendo Switch version, ditto the flag-to-flag races – alongside the full roster from this season.
A new circuit, the Sokol International Racetrack in Kazakhstan, is set to hold a MotoGP race in July, although it’s not been confirmed if this venue will make it into the game for launch. Similarly the new sprint race format.
Another item seemingly absent at present is a return to the documentary-style game mode, which last year recreated the 2009 season.
Speaking of which, MotoGP 23 will release on 8th June 2023 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
MotoGP 22 was released on 21st April 2022, with the extra month and a half being used to launch the game with accurate 2023-season liveries and motorcycle models this time around, as opposed to a post-launch update.
