JDM: Japanese Drift Master Delayed Until Early 2025

Gaming Factory announces JDM: Japanese Drift Master will not make its planned 2024 release, pushing the launch window to Spring 2025, but it’s not all bad news.

TL;DR

• JDM: Japanese Drift Master delayed to Spring 2025 for additional refinements
• A new trailer reveals fresh location, Ichikara, a Tokyo-inspired district featuring neon-lit streets and skyscrapers
• The final game will feature over 250km of roads across the Guntama prefecture
• Story mode includes 40+ missions and “dozens” of side quests
• Licensed cars from Mazda, Nissan, and Subaru will come with detailed customization and tuning
• Multiple race types beyond drifting: Circuit racing, time trials, and drag racing
• Free prologue (JDM: Rise of the Scorpion) available to play on Steam

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The delay comes with a recent X (Twitter) update, where the JDM development team shared their commitment to quality, stating, “This extra time will allow us to deliver the highest quality experience.”

🏁 JDM Update
The full release of JDM: Japanese Drift Master has been postponed to spring 2025. This extra time will allow us to deliver the highest quality experience.

Catch all the details in our devlog and get hyped with the new Key Art! 💨
▶️ https://t.co/7yT4HL5xnq#JDM… pic.twitter.com/hRNoOJ1fUj

— Japanese Drift Master (@Japanese_Drift) November 13, 2024

The Polish studio also explained that they “dove deep into polishing the details and improving the overall quality of the game, so you can get the best possible experience on day one.” Test Drive Unlimted: Solar Crown could learn a thing or two from these guys!

While it might not be the news fans were hoping for, it’s refreshing to see the dev team continue communicating with its community and showing real progress while they’re at it. After all, this is the same team that previously analyzed 2,000 player feedback surveys from their demo and made actual improvements based on community input.

Fresh Trailer Shows Off New Location

The delay announcement comes alongside plenty of positive news, as Gaming Factory dropped a new trailer showcasing “Ichikara,” their virtual take on Tokyo’s modern districts.

The neon-lit metropolis appears to be a drift enthusiast’s playground, complete with wide expressways and towering skyscrapers, joining the previously-announced Haikama Lake touge mountain roads.

The trailer showcases Mazda’s officially licensed vehicles, starting with a subtly modified RX-7 FD3S cruising down the highway, overtaking various vehicles, including lorries and kei trucks.

Things heat up when a VeilSide Fortune-kitted RX-7 FD appears, performing donuts in the city streets.

It then transitions to a Rocket Bunny widebody FD with Mount Fuji looming in the background.

It then meets up and cruises alongside a slammed, camber-heavy, top-down Miata, which treats us to some playful pop-up headlight action, showing off the game’s attention to detail.

While the new footage looks good and adds to the suspense, it’s noteworthy that it’s purely cinematic (with a distinct lack of Eurobeat!), leaving fans waiting to see more actual gameplay.

Latest Dev Announcement Reveals Further Details

The delay announcement came packaged with substantial new information about JDM’s features and content. Here’s what we learned:

The World of Guntama Expands

Gaming Factory lifted the lid on their fictional Japanese prefecture, Guntama.

At its heart lies the newly announced Ichikara, which draws inspiration from Tokyo’s modern districts. However, it’s now revealed that it’s just one part of a much larger picture. The team announced that the full game world spans over 250km of roads, weaving through mountain passes, rural backroads, and city streets.

In-Game Story Mode & Missions

Players step into the role of a foreign driver aiming to build their reputation on Japanese streets. The manga-filled campaign features over 40 story-driven missions, complemented by “dozens” of side quests.

Cars & Tuning

The game’s JDM car roster includes officially licensed models from Nissan, Subaru, and Mazda. Each car has been laser-scanned and features authentic engine sounds recorded from their real-world counterparts.

The tuning system promises extensive customization options, from performance parts to visual mods, complete body kits, and advanced suspension tweaking, as we see above.

More Than Just Drifting

For those of you who sometimes venture beyond the drift events, you have the chance to participate in circuit racing, time trials, head-to-head battles, and even drag racing. Each event type comes with its own unique challenges and gameplay mechanics.

While We Wait For JDM’s 2025 Release

Don’t forget, JDM: Rise of the Scorpion remains free to play on Steam. The prologue offers a solid taste of what’s to come, featuring a slice of the story mode and several licensed vehicles, including the Mazda Miata (MX5) we’ve seen in today’s trailer.

The development team continues actively engaging with the community through their Discord server, gathering feedback and sharing development updates. Given their track record of implementing player suggestions, it might be worth joining the discussion if you want to help shape the final product.

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