I’d be lying if I said I hate driving in games. The other week in the review of Assetto Corsa Competizione, I said I’ve driven nearly everything, everywhere, all on the last four generations of consoles. I would say I have anyway, from racing trucks, monster trucks, banger racing, F1, GT racing, Sofa racing, lawn mower destruction derby, driving across America, and driving around the island of Ibiza. To use Geoff Mack’s song “I’ve been everywhere,” I’ve probably done it all. It is the last of those types of driving that I want to talk about today. The third game in the sub-series of the Test Drive series was announced yesterday.

Yes, for many years now I’ve been banging on about this “Test Drive Unlimited 2” thing that apparently no one else had heard of, and/or forgot about. The entire game is set up as this millionaire’s fantasy of owning nice clothes, mansions, and cars on the beautiful sun-kissed islands of Oahu, Hawaii and Ibiza, Spain. Was it perfect? No, but it laid the groundwork for what would become Ubisoft’s The Crew and The Crew 2. The latter of which I think once again plays on that millionaire fantasy of being jobless and just driving about racing others, it is stupid but fun.

Now in the hands of Nacon Games (formally BigBen Interactive) and Kylotonn (KT Racing), the third game in the Unlimited series: Solar Crown is both in development and being teased for a somewhat near-future release. In the faux-E3 conference by Nacon known as Nacon Connect, creative director at KT Racing, Alain Jarniou, spoke about the development and where the team currently is with it. The conference itself is rather dull, mostly including studio heads talking with a small trailer. Solar Crown itself only recieved a very short teaser trailer (shown above).

As Jarniou states, the team has only been working on the new game for “several months now,” so no, don’t expect it out by the end of the year. Given we’re only getting a very nice looking teaser of Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, I don’t think we’ll see a proper trailer or gameplay for six months to a year, at least. Much like fans of Skate 3, I’m oddly clamoring for a game that no one else cares about or will buy because it is designed for me. It is also bringing a seemingly similar social aspect from The Crew 2, according to the Steam page: “Remember, social status is everything In the world of TDU.”

Admittedly, excitement for the next game might be overriding me, but the online aspect is something I’m wary about. Jarnious stated, “Players will compete against each other in the Solar Crown.” I’m optimistically cautious, hoping there is still a single-player mode to speak of, so that we’re not tethered to an always-online experience that requires PlayStation Plus or Xbox Gold just to play on consoles. That can get right in the bin, alongside Microsoft and Sony for that awful system.

Solar Crown has no release date set, nor a release window. Though I’m sure the three other people on this planet that are excited to get back to a millionaire’s fantasy on the open-world island “recreated at a 1:1 scale,” will be waiting with bated breath for its release. At a guess, I’d assume we’re talking a year or a year and a half away if things go quickly. At most, it could be two to two and a half years to wait.

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