Amazon is making an episodic racing game based on The Grand Tour

Shawn Knight

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Why it matters: Amazon reportedly poured a lot of money into landing the former Top Gear hosts for its original series The Grand Tour. An episodic game gives the e-commerce giant another opportunity to monetize its investment.

Amazon on Tuesday announced The Grand Tour Game, an episodic racing game based on the Prime original motoring show from former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

Developed by Amazon Game Studios using in-house tech like Amazon Lumberyard and Amazon Web Services, the game will task players with driving some of the world’s most interesting vehicles in exotic locations where they’ll compete in the show’s zany challenges. New episodes will arrive weekly on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One during season three of the show, featuring cars, locations and more from each week’s episode as well as hours of original voice acting from the presenters.

“It's a video game featuring me, the crashy one, and the slow one. That’s all you need to know,” said Jeremy Clarkson. “If you've always wanted to come on the road with us, this is as close as you’ll ever get. Unless you kidnap James and steal his face.”

Craig Sullivan, creative director at Amazon Game Studios, said the game is all about powerful cars and ridiculous stunts, but also, camaraderie. “We're committed to authentically capturing the spirit of the show: cars, banter with friends and (mostly) friendly competition.”

The racer will offer four-player splitscreen and “over-the-top” power-ups, we’re told. The trailer and screenshots only provide a small glimpse of what to expect and don’t really convey how the game will actually feel. Will it be more of a racing simulator like Forza / Gran Turismo or an arcade racer? Given the aforementioned power-ups and the show’s premise, my guess would be towards the latter.

The Grand Tour Game doesn’t yet have a price, nor do we know when it’ll be available outside of the fact that it’ll be released alongside season three of The Grand Tour. For reference, seasons one and two premiered in late November and early December, respectively.

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