Project CARS Wii U Progress

Project CARS is out now on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, performing well in early sales indicators. It was a project that suffered its share of delays, and the Wii U version was pushed back the most and given a loose '2015' window. Developer Slightly Mad Studios and publisher Bandai Namco have been largely quiet or vague about progress on the Wii U version in recent times, too.

Unfortunately, it does seem that the Wii U iteration is struggling in development. Over the past weekend studio boss Ian Bell answered queries about the Nintendo version on the game's forum, and the news was far from positive.

OK I'll come clean. At the moment we're running at about 23FPS [at 720p] on the WiiU.

We're awaiting/hoping for more of a hardware announcement at E3...

...Honestly, unless we really cut the looks back I think we're looking to Nintendo's next console.

...I suppose if they don't announce something at E3 or soon after we will have a go at it.

It was pointed out to Bell that Nintendo's stated there'll be no 'NX' hardware announcement at E3, and he clarified further.

...We could reach a fairly solid 30FPS [on Wii U] but it might take a hell of a lot of work. On the other hand, about halfway through us finishing, Nintendo might announce a new console (I have zero knowledge on this BTW but I've heard 'rumours'). Our work might just be the best thing that ever hit that new console in the driving sim genre.

So we're playing a waiting game at the moment and yes, economics do come in to it.

With versions of the game on systems such as Xbox One having some dips in framerate, it's perhaps no surprise that the development team is having issues with the Wii U. These comments do, however, cast doubt on a 2015 release window on the Nintendo system, as the tone here suggests that development is still at an early stage.

While this honesty is admirable, we should also point out that, if that is the state of play, there's clearly been some over-optimistic comments from the studio in the past - par for the course, perhaps, but still telling. Slightly Mad's Andy Tudor said the following last year.

So when we say the Wii U version is delayed in 2015 because we need a little more time, that's all it is. We just want to make sure it's of the same standard of all the other games. To do that, we just need a little more time. I've seen the Wii U version, I've seen it quite regularly. It's got dynamic time of day, weather - it looks phenomenal. And the actual console itself is quite good.

Assuming Nintendo's repeated insistence on a lack of hardware announcements at E3 trumps the cited 'rumours' that Ian Bell has heard, it seems there's some doubt about Project CARS on Wii U.

Are you disappointed with this, or was there an air of inevitability that there'd be issues when - for example - the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of this game were dropped? Let us know what you think.