Have Driving Simulators Changed the Automotive Industry?

When Assetto Corsa launched back in 2014, it was quickly considered one of the best driving simulator games on the market. Not many people would have guessed, however, that games like this would have such a big impact on the automotive industry itself. 

For a long time, the gaming industry has been fascinated by the automotive industry. Driving competitively is something that many gamers enjoy, with popular titles like Need for Speed and Gran Turismo having sold more than 200 million copies. 

Even in the online space, many non-racing platforms include some type of automotive-themed output. That could be anything from racing-themed slots on RoyalPanda to car-related content on Twitch. Across the internet, cars are an integral part of gaming and streaming culture. 

Over the last ten years, however, it’s the driving simulators that have been bridging the gap between both industries, working to offer gamers realistic experiences while helping car manufacturers in their development processes. 

Designing and Testing

Driving simulators have improved over the years, and they’re becoming highly sophisticated tools used by manufacturers for designing, testing, and refining their vehicles – especially in the areas of vehicle dynamics, safety features, and advanced driver assistance systems. Some of the companies that use these simulators include BMW and Renault, who work to replicate realistic driving conditions to ensure their vehicles meet safety standards without needing to carry out costly real-world tests.

Testing ADAS

We mentioned that simulators have become important for developing advanced driver assistance systems. To elaborate further, with the rise of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles, many companies have been depending on simulators to test a range of complex systems, including brake tech, sensor fusion, autonomous decision-making, and vehicle communications. These technologies are critical for ensuring the safety and reliability of new systems, and simulators provide a controlled and repeatable environment for testing in extreme scenarios. 

Improving Driver Training

Those who don’t believe that simulators can improve driver training only need to take a look at the story of gamer-turned-racer Jann Mardenborough. Winning his way into GT Academy by being one of the best players in the world at the Gran Turismo simulation racing game, Mardenborough trained to drive real cars and went on to triumph at one of the most prestigious races in the world, Le Mans. 

With this in mind, simulators now play a pivotal role in driver training, offering a safe, risk-free platform to learn new vehicle controls and understand various driving scenarios. This is particularly important in industries such as motorsport, where precision driving is essential. By simulating high-risk situations, drivers are working to improve their reactions and driving skills without physical danger, just as Mardenborough did through the Gran Turismo game.

Shaping the Vehicles of Tomorrow

We should also note that gaming simulators have been instrumental in helping automotive companies understand driver behaviour, which is a critical factor in the development of the autonomous vehicles we mentioned earlier. Soon, more and more people will be buying self-driving cars. With data from these simulators, developers can recreate countless scenarios in a controlled environment, helping autonomous systems learn how to react to various driver behaviours. 

Racing games – where players push their cars to the limits – also help engineers to study more extreme driving behaviours, providing valuable data for safety, reliability, and practicality in the development process. 

This is a key point that demonstrates the main way in which driving simulators are aiding the automotive industry: through safety and security. As these simulators become more realistic and more data can be collected from them, our cars will become even safer in the future. With this in mind, driving simulators – both in professional scenarios and in the gaming industry – now play a pivotal role in helping automotive companies build smarter, safer, and better vehicles.