Is ACC a 1 time project for Blancpain

I'm wondering what kind of contract was signed with Kunos and Blancpain (BP). BP is a successful racing series which is great for long term funding of ACC, however do they have long term interest?

Or was this a 1 time spend of x millions to deliver ACC completed?

I could see both scenarios where BP sees the marketing potential and continues to outsource updates to Kunos.
And I can see them feeling, hey that was last years budget, were redirecting funds elsewhere this year.

Anyone know how long this is funded for?

 

You seem to imply Blancpain are funding ACC. I don't think this is the case.

Stefane Ratel has a long history of seeing the value in simracing. SRO licensed Simbin's GTR and GTR2 and entered a long term agreement with Simbin which unfortunately Porsche and Ferrari killed by pulling out.

I think Kunos have said the long term plans for ACC depend on sales.

 

I think it will be long term, I’m think 2 maybe 3 years until ac2 with their new engine?
I don’t think there’s enough content to go much longer people will get bored.
Not Kunos fault but if thats all in the series then that’s all they got to work with

With ac1 there’s plenty of tracks / cars / mods to keep people interested for a lot longer

 

Most likely it will only depend on sales. Also if it's lucrative enough they might make the Asia/US - I pray

 

I'd imagine the core of ACC will be the software they use going forward for the next 5 years or so, bar some major developments that would force them to drop UE.

The obvious step from current ACC is to add multiclass but I think that's WEC domain. There's the new hypercar class coming out next year. In reality the real world series should be using the sim world as a test bed for ideas, we could flesh them out whether it's new classes or rules before they waste any real world money.

If there is an AC2 in the works I think they should probably consider keeping it road car only, keep ACC for serious racing stuff. Then they have two titles on the go. I know some people would rather have all the variety under the one roof but I think ACC shows that when they can focus on specific types of cars they can get a much more immersive experience.

I think they should focus on content going forward, if UE provides the platform that will last going forward they don't need new titles, work on ACC and just keep selling DLC. Both big additions like entire series and smaller once offs like highly desirable cars or tracks.

An AC2 could work the same way, just keep releasing DLC for it, roads and cars. Although maybe the hype around a new title coming out is worth it rather than trying to keep everyone engaged with an older title, I don't know.

 

This is something that needs constant reminding - the dev's are taking a chance on a niche product.
If we as sim racers would like to see more content, we need to support ACC and help make it successful. Kunos can easily make just as much money making another Forza or GRID, but they're not.
Threats like "I will tell everyone NOT to buy it" are not helping anyone, and if anything is potentially jeopardizing the success of the very thing we're all here for.

I've noticed that these forums have made another turn towards negativity recently, but it is mostly coming from a few newcomers and our resident pessimists.
I find it sad that a few who probably could care less about whether ACC existed tomorrow or not (because they'll simply move on to the next shiny thing), can wield 'influence' on the success of the something I enjoy so much.

 

SRO doesn't sponsor anything?
ACC will help them a lot to increase brand awareness. Yes we know of the Blancpain series being aficionados but ask a lot of people that casually follow motorsports (read F1), and they never heard of it.

 

Thanks for the clarity. I was watching a live SRO news conference when they announced this solution. I made a wrong assumption based on the marketing teams coverage. Thank you all for this offering, best driving experience out there.

 

I was one who had never heard of Bpain till simracing. So yup!

 

Yeah I find this weird as well, also given that ACC has a lot of Blancpain banners on the circuits.

Also (unrelated) that real GT3 drivers have a YouTube site with patreon sponsors.

Money flows where virtual and real driving meet: unintuitive.

 

While that's true, Blancpain is a business, they license out their IP to other people. If they didn't charge Kunos other companies would come back looking for discounts or freebies.

 

I wouldn't worry at all: just remember how long it took for AC to go from "hey!!! this game is buggy and you are out of early access" to "this is a masterpiece. Ac raises the bar!".
Just wait for bugfixing, we already saw all this 3 years ago. People will be very eager to come back and many will deny to have ever criticized kunos

 

It's just business, it's a matter of who brings value to whom. If SRO thinks "we'll get profit by having a simulator with our series" they'll pay Kunos. If Kunos thinks "we'll profit from having a Blancpain license" they'll pay SRO.
In the end, I believe the Blancpain license brings a lot more value to ACC than ACC brings to the Blancpain series. I mean, how would the SRO make significant money from having a simulator with their name on it? The simple answer is: they don't. So Kunos are the ones who need to pay to get the license, as simple as that (well, it's not really that simple, but in a simplified way, that is it).

As far as the longevity of the partnership goes, the developers have already said that if the game is successful enough, they may go for other licenses, like the International GT Challenge, Blancpain America, Blancpain Asia. There's no point in deciding before they even launch the content they already got (2018 and 2019 seasons), so it will depend on how much Kunos think they can get out of this partnership.

 

Brand awareness, that's why companies put ads out there. ACC is one of the first mainstream consumer products that features the Blancpain name and subsequently has the potential to reach thousands of new people who previously did not know about this series.

Of course the ratio of how much each party benefits isn't equal (Kunos will benefit from the license more than they do), but they both benefit from bringing this game to the shelves IMO.

 

I did not watch the blancpain series till i purchased ACC

 

I didn't say SRO couldn't make any profit from ACC, I just don't think it's significant.

 

I think it’s nut that Kunos has to pay for all this really
I wonder how much they pay for like a team or a track, then do they have to pay to have it laser scanned that can’t be cheap
And I never heard of this series before ACC so should Kunos get money back as now I watch and follow it on tv

Could they do it like dcs world where the engine is free and you can buy certain cars and tracks and just keep updating the engine

 

This is where the mod debate comes in. If the prices are ridiculous for logos/sponsors on cars, it almost makes more sense to do a couple of liveries and let the community supplement the rest.

 

I don't think people watching on youtube are really their customers. I'd imagine they are mostly focused on the gentlemen drivers and their rich friends. Viewership just helps sell the dream.