''F1 2020'' is the official video game of the 2020 Formula 1 and Formula 2 Championships developed and published by

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Octo ...

. It is the thirteenth title in the ''Formula 1'' series developed by the studio and was released on 7 July for pre-orders of the

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

Edition and 10 July for the

Seventy 70 (seventy) is the natural number following 69 and preceding 71. In mathematics 70 is: * a sphenic number because it factors as 3 distinct primes. * a Pell number. * the seventh pentagonal number. * the fourth tridecagonal number. * the fif ...

Edition on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

and, for the first time,

Stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

. The game is the twelfth main series installment in the franchise, and it features the twenty-two circuits, twenty drivers and ten teams proposed in the provisional 2020 Formula 1 World Championship. ''F1 2020'' features the championship as it was originally intended to be run before the championship was disrupted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, which saw several races postponed or cancelled, with races at other circuits held. This was the final F1 game before EA bought

in February 2021.

Features

The

Circuit Zandvoort Circuit Zandvoort (), known for sponsorship reasons as CM.com Circuit Zandvoort, and previously known as Circuit Park Zandvoort until 2017, is a motorsport race track located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, the Netherlands, near the North Sea ...

and the

Hanoi Street Circuit The Hanoi Circuit or Hanoi Street Circuit (Vietnamese: ''Trường đua đường phố Hà Nội'') was a motor racing venue located in the Nam Từ Liêm district of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It was a street circuit designed to host the V ...

— circuits which were new to the championship in 2020 — are included in the game despite the cancellations of the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and Vietnamese Grands Prix. The 70th Anniversary,

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

Emilia Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Sakhir Sakhir ( ) is a desert area located in the Southern Governorate of Bahrain, near Zallaq. It contains the Al-Sakhir Palace, built in 1870. Camping in Sakhir during the winter months is a popular activity in the country. Notable sites In the earl ...

, Styrian,

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

and Tuscan Grands Prix, eight events that were added to the 2020 calendar, are not included as well as the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

, the

Imola Circuit The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, better known as Imola, is a motor racing circuit in the town of Imola, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, east of Bologna. It is one of the few major international circuits to run in an an ...

, the Portimão Circuit, the

Bahrain International Circuit The Bahrain International Circuit ( ar, حلبة البحرين الدولية, Ḥalba al-Baḥrayn ad-Dawliyya) is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrai ...

"Outer Circuit" layout, the

Istanbul Park Intercity Istanbul Park ( tr, İstanbul Park), also known as the Istanbul Racing Circuit or initially as the Istanbul Otodrom, is a motor sports race track in the Tuzla, Istanbul, Tuzla district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was designed by the well ...

and the

Mugello Circuit Mugello Circuit () is a race track in Scarperia e San Piero, Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The circuit length is . It has 15 turns and a long straight. The circuit stadium stands have a capacity of 50,000. Grand Prix motorcycle racing host an ann ...

, as they use circuits that host other events. ''F1 2020'' introduces a team management feature known as "My Team" which allows the player to create, own, and run an eleventh team. The player will initially need to choose an engine supplier, recruit a second driver, design a livery and sign sponsors. As the career mode progresses, they will be able to upgrade the facilities at their team's headquarters and hire staff to continue development. This supplements the development tree used to upgrade the car. Codemasters had previously used the My Team mode in ''

Dirt 4 ''Dirt 4'' (stylised as ''DiRT 4'') is a simcade racing video game developed by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June 2017, and for macOS and Linux in March 2019 by Feral Interactive. A sequel, ''Dirt 5'', was r ...

'', a part of the ''

Dirt Rally ''Dirt Rally'' (stylised as ''DiRT Rally'') is a racing simulation video game developed and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows. A Steam Early Access version of the game was released on 27 April 2015, and the full version was released ...

'' franchise. In career mode players now have the choice to do a half, or a full Formula 2 season or only do three races as in '' F1 2019'', known as the F2 Feeder Series, although there is no longer a rivalry story-line and no fictional drivers other than that created by the player. When playing in Formula 1, players can choose between three different season lengths of ten, sixteen or twenty-two races. They are also able to create a custom calendar should they choose a shorter season length. The driver's "acclaim" or experience level determine their virtual pay; even though this virtual money is not used in the career mode. ''F1 2020'' reintroduced the

Split Screen Split screen may refer to: * Split screen (computing), dividing graphics into adjacent parts * Split screen (video production), the visible division of the screen * ''Split Screen'' (TV series), 1997–2001 * Split-Screen Level, a bug in the vid ...

mode, which was featured in

F1 2014 The 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 68th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 65th Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars, recognised by the sport's governing body, ...

but was removed for the next games. For the first time in the F1 game series, the option to use a virtual

rear-view mirror A rear-view mirror (or rearview mirror) is a flat mirror in automobiles and other vehicles, designed to allow the driver to see rearward through the vehicle's rear window (rear windshield). In cars, the rear-view mirror is usually affixed to ...

has been added. If the player uses the cockpit camera view, they can have the option to use that mirror to see what's going on behind them like a road car. In ''F1 2020'', the AI are more prone to making mistakes to give the players "a much more realistic experience". The game introduces driver ratings for the first time, with drivers given a score out of ninety-nine for experience, racecraft, awareness and pace. The experience score provides additional 'resource points' to enable the player to upgrade their car faster in the "My Team" and "Career" modes, racecraft relates to the effectiveness of the driver's attempts at overtaking, a higher awareness score improves the ability of the driver to maintain control of their car in difficult situations and pace relates to the driver's ability to set quick lap times. The scores are derived from real life data and applies to F2 drivers as well as those from F1. Podium Pass is new to ''F1 2020'' and allows players to unlock cosmetic items, such as liveries, race suits and celebration animations, all of which are new to the F1 games. A VIP Podium Pass can also be purchased using in-game Pitcoins, which also includes more exclusive liveries, race suits and celebration animations. Each game in the ''F1'' series, starting with ''F1 2020'' will have six series, with the sixth and final series having no time limit. French driver

Anthoine Hubert Anthoine Hubert (; 22 September 1996 – 31 August 2019) was a French professional racing driver. He was the 2018 GP3 Series champion and a member of the Renault Sport Academy. He died at the age of 22, following an accident during the featur ...

, who lost his life in the feature race at the

2019 Spa-Francorchamps Formula 2 round The 2019 Spa-Francorchamps FIA Formula 2 round was to have been a pair of motor races that were due to be held on 31 August and 1 September 2019 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium as part of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. ...

is also remembered within the game, as a selectable driver in "My Team". There are 16 classic cars available to use, the oldest being the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

McLaren MP4/4 The McLaren MP4/4, also known as the McLaren-Honda MP4/4, is one of the most successful Formula One car designs of all time. Powered by Honda's RA168E 1.5-litre V6-turbo engine and driven by teammates Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, the car comp ...

and the newest being the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

McLaren MP4-25 The McLaren MP4-25 is a Formula One racing car designed and raced by McLaren in the season. The chassis was designed by Paddy Lowe, Neil Oatley, Tim Goss, Andrew Bailey and John Iley and was powered by a customer Mercedes-Benz engine. The ca ...

Ferrari F10 The Ferrari F10 is a Formula One motor racing car used by Ferrari to compete in the 2010 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by Aldo Costa, Nikolas Tombazis and Marco de Luca with Luca Marmorini leading the engine and electronics design. ...

and

Red Bull RB6 The Red Bull RB6 is a Formula One motor racing car designed by Red Bull Racing for the campaign. It was driven by World Champion Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber and was launched on February 10 at Jerez. Vettel, who (since joining Scuderia To ...

. Four cars —

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

Jordan 191 The Jordan 191 was a Formula One car designed by Gary Anderson for use by Jordan Grand Prix in its debut season in 1991. Its best finish was in Canada and Mexico, where Andrea de Cesaris drove it to fourth place at both races. Driving the 191 at ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Benetton B194 The Benetton B194 is a Formula One racing car designed by Rory Byrne for the 1994 Formula One season. Design The car was closely based on its predecessors, the B192 and B193, and powered by a Ford Zetec-R V8 engine (produced by Cosworth but ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Benetton B195 The Benetton B195 is a Formula One racing car designed by Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn for use by the Benetton team in the 1995 Formula One World Championship. Overview On 23 August 1994, Renault announced they would be a works engine supplier to ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Ferrari F1-2000 The Ferrari F1-2000 was a Formula One racing car that the Ferrari team competed with for the 2000 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by Rory Byrne, Giorgio Ascanelli, Aldo Costa, Marco Fainello, Nikolas Tombazis and James Allison wi ...

— are available to those who purchased the Deluxe Schumacher Edition of the game, or those who purchased the regular edition of the game and later purchased downloadable content. Codemasters released an update in December in which recreates the

2020 Formula 2 Championship The 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula 2 cars, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was the fifty-fourth season of Formula 2 racing and the fourth seas ...

, with

Mick Schumacher Mick Schumacher (; born 22 March 1999) is a German racing driver who is the current reserve driver for the Mercedes-Benz in Formula One, Mercedes AMG Formula One Team. Schumacher began his career in karting in 2008, progressing to the German ...

becoming champion.

Reception

''F1 2020'' was released to highly positive reviews. The title received "generally favorable" reviews for PC and PlayStation 4 and "universal acclaim" for Xbox One, according to review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, thus making it the highest-rated Codemasters-developed ''F1'' title on the site. Critics praised the new "My Team" mode, the addition of a Formula 2 mode, split-screen racing, accessibility for newcomers, and the racing itself, The game reached number one in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

sales charts, displacing ''

The Last of Us Part II ''The Last of Us Part II'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Set five years after ''The Last of Us'' (2013), the game focuses on two playable charac ...

'' which fell to third place. In

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the

version sold 5,762 copies within its first week of release, making it the fourteenth bestselling retail game of the week in the country. It was nominated for the category of Best Sports/Racing game at

The Game Awards 2020 The Game Awards 2020 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2020. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, and took place on December 10, 2020. The preshow ceremony was hosted by Sydnee Goodman. Unlike previous Game Awards, ...

References

External links