Project CARS 3 launched on 28 August 2020 for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One, and it is the odd one out in its own series. Slightly Mad Studios, a Codemasters subsidiary, built the first two games as motor simulation, all tyre wear and fuel loads and pit strategy. The third one throws most of that out. It keeps the cars, the circuits and the weather, and it rebuilds the career around earning credits and buying your way up. That trade is the whole story of this game, and it is why it lands at 7.4 of 10.
Trailer, via IGN.
Slightly Mad Studios trades simulation for arcade speed
The departure is deliberate and it is total. Project CARS 3 does not feature tyre wear or fuel depletion, and as such there are no pit stops. Fans of the series said so loudly, and they had a point: the thing that made the first two games distinct is gone. What replaces it is a handling model described as more accurate and more fun, with adjustable skill settings for every level of driver. On a pad, that reads as a faster, friendlier racer. On a wheel, it reads as a different franchise.
140 circuits, 24-hour cycles and every season
The scope is not the problem. Project CARS 3 lets players race customizable cars over more than 140 global circuits, with 24-hour cycles, various seasons and weather effects layered on top. The career mode has been rebuilt, and the artificial intelligence has been enhanced. VR support is included on PC. The track list is genuinely broad, and the conditions system still does the heavy lifting.
New metal includes:
- Audi TTS
- Koenigsegg Jesko
- Lotus Evija
- Bugatti Chiron
New circuits include Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Circuito de Jerez and Tuscany.
A metagame built on credits and XP
The career asks players to rise from Weekend Warrior to racing Legend, and the structure underneath that is a metagame. Race hard, earn in-game credits and XP, then buy and own hundreds of cars from the world’s most elite brands. Credits also buy authentic performance upgrades and customization: wheels, tires, body kits, rims, plus personalization options for a racing hero persona. It is a clean loop and it works. It is also a loop that rewards grinding.
Ian Bell calls it a spiritual successor to Need for Speed: Shift
Slightly Mad’s CEO, Ian Bell, has said Project CARS 3 is a spiritual successor to the Need for Speed: Shift series, which the studio also developed. That is the most useful thing anyone has said about this game. Shift was arcade racing with a serious car list, and Project CARS 3 is that idea with better weather and a bigger garage. The studio was acquired by Codemasters in November 2019, and Codemasters brings the Formula One, Colin McRae Rally, Dirt and Grid series with it. The first trailer landed on 3 June 2020.
The multiplayer is refined, the pit lane is empty
Multiplayer returns in a refined form, and the redesigned controller experience is the best argument for the shift. Racing on a pad in Project CARS 3 feels immediate in a way the earlier games never managed. Then you notice what is missing. No fuel. No tyre wear. No pit stops. No strategy beyond the racing line. The weather still changes and the AI still fights, but the long-game tension that defined the series is simply not there.
A delisted game and a cancelled series
Context matters here, and it is not kind. Project CARS 3 received mixed reviews from critics. It is the last mainline instalment in the series. Slightly Mad’s owner, Electronic Arts, cancelled future development of Project CARS in November 2022. The game was delisted in August 2025, and the online servers were shut down in February 2026. Anyone reading this now cannot buy it new, and the multiplayer is gone.
What Project CARS 3 gets right
The car list is strong, the conditions are spectacular, and the career loop is easy to fall into. The redesigned controller experience is the best argument the game has. The AI has been enhanced. The 140-plus circuits give the game real breadth, and the VR support on PC is a genuine bonus for anyone with a headset.
What it loses is the reason the first two games mattered. Simulation racing is a small, devoted market, and Slightly Mad built the third game for a different one. The result is a good arcade racer wearing a name that promised something else. That is not a failure of craft. It is a failure of nerve, and the fans who complained had a case.
The delisting and the server shutdown settle the argument in the harshest way possible. The online servers are off, and the game cannot be bought new. What is left is the single-player career, the weather, and a handling model that finally works on a controller. That is worth playing if you can still find it. It is not the Project CARS that built the franchise.
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