F1 22 story mode: Why is there no sequel to Braking Point?
There's no Braking Point story mode in F1 22, and we know why.
Why doesn't F1 22 have a story mode? If you played last year's entry in EA and Codemasters' racing game franchise, and now you're checking out the new one, that's a question that may well cross your mind.
After all, one of the best things about last year's F1 21 was Braking Point, its thrilling single-player narrative mode that let players take part in a Drive to Survive-style Formula One drama, blending real-life figures with fictional characters and no shortage of fallings out.
As soon as you boot up F1 22 and head to the single-player menu, you'll notice that there's no story mode this year. No Braking Point 2. So what gives? That mode was well received last year, and now it's vanished.
Naturally, the game's developers have been asked about this a couple of times already. And so, you can read on to learn why F1 22 doesn't have a story mode, and whether we'll see anything like Braking Point in the franchise's future.
Why is there no F1 22 story mode?
The reason why F1 22 doesn't have a story mode? It sounds like time constraints are the main reason why this year's Formula One game has shipped without a Braking Point sequel or any other narrative-based segment.
The game's senior creative director, Lee Mather, explained to Traxion.GG: "The reasons are purely logistically, it’s a huge undertaking to do something like that."
Adding a bit of extra context, he said, "In 2019, we did the F2 feeder series, which was the cinematic game opening. Then, obviously, F1 2021 had Braking Point, and you saw the scale of Braking Point compared to what we did with F1 2019’s intro, it’s vast."
Mather continued: "It’s something that takes a very long time to put together. There’s a lot of time in the casting, there’s a lot of time in creating the scenes."
And it sounds like, long story short, it wouldn't have been logistically possible to crank out another Braking Point-sized story mode in time for this year's game.
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Will Braking Point return?
However, there is good news! Mather said in that same interview that two years "is a cadence that I think we’re comfortable with" when it comes to new story content.
Mather explained that having two years between big story drops "gives us the opportunity to obviously change our focus year on year.”
Reassuring fans that he hasn't forgotten about Braking Point, Mather added, "If we do something in the game, we do it for the long term, and that’s the sort of cadence that we’re going to stick with, with Braking Point for the foreseeable."
Speaking to GamingBolt.com, Mather made similar sounds. As he put it, "We saw great success with our F1 2021 story mode Braking Point across both new and returning players, and we’re committed to this feature.
"However it’s not part of our immediate plans due to our two-year development cycle with our internal teams. But rest assured, it will return in the future."
With all of that in mind, it sounds very likely that F1 23 will feature new story content, be that a sequel to Braking Point or a new original story. Until then, because of that two-year development cycle on story content, we'll just have to enjoy all the other modes!
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