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Fans of harness racing game ‘Catch Driver’ can expect an exciting new look to the game from next week.
Catch Driver is a harness racing game where players can race live against other players from all over the world by using their touchscreen mobile phone or device.
Since its release in August of 2018 the game’s Canadian founder, Ryan Clements, has been constantly searching for ways to keep the game improving.
“When we first got started, our team’s background had been mainly in software development and not games,” explained Ryan.
“This meant we didn’t have a 3D artist or animation skills, so it was natural for us to make a game like ‘Off and Pacing’ (The Farm Ventures other harness racing game) which focused on players being able to manage horses but not drive them.”
“We have been moving towards becoming a more traditional game studio over the past few years, and our capabilities in the area of graphics have been improving rapidly. I knew this was a prime opportunity to bring Catch Driver to life in a whole new way,” said Ryan.
Ryan has a keen interest in technology, but also is an important part of the way forward for harness racing as he has grown up in and around it.
His grandfather raced the legendary Cam Fella, and Ryan has made it his mission to help grow the number of harness racing fans by creating games that anyone can play, giving them an opportunity to fall in love with sport.
And he’s dedicated to keeping that work going.
“Our whole business is built around the idea that we when release a game, that doesn’t mean it’s finished,” Ryan said.
“We want our players, and the industry as a whole, to see us pushing forward and to believe that we are going to continue to bring excitement to the world of harness racing in the form of games.”
He went on to explain that the improvement in graphics will put players in the sulky like no other game has before.
“A whole new challenge awaits players as they get even closer to the action, and keeping track of your fellow competitors will become even more vital to success,” Ryan said.
The game may be made in Canada, but it has become popular for harness racing fans worldwide.
“Right now the game is most popular in the United States and Italy. Not far behind those two are Canada, Australia and France.”
“New Zealand is currently our ninth biggest audience, but is well represented at the top of the leaderboards. Including Matty Williamson who has been ranked as one of the highest rated players in the game,” said Ryan.
Ryan and his team have been instrumental also in getting some of the world’s biggest names on board which gives players the chance to drive against some of their heroes.
“Many of the world’s top drivers have been known to appear in Catch Driver races from time to time,” Ryan explained. “A video of Tim Tetrick playing circulated on Facebook a while back. This week Aaron Merriman is hosting a stakes event in the game where he will be competing.”
“We have had championship events including top North American pros like James MacDonald, Doug McNair, Aaron Merriman, Marcus Miller, Brady Galliers, Yannick Gingras, Anthony MacDonald and Tim Tetrick.”
“You will be able to notice the big name drivers in your race by a little star that appears by their name. There are professionals from all over the world playing Catch Driver.”
The team have been releasing updates and teasers on the Catch Driver Facebook page around the new upgrades, and the feedback has been overwhelming.
“Every time we show someone a sneak peak of the new updates the first question they ask is when can I get it.”
“We haven’t seen this level of excitement since the day we first released Catch Driver, and I’m equally as excited. This is by far the biggest update we have ever brought to one of our games,” Ryan said.
The Catch Driver team have been huge supporters of the youth of New Zealand harness racing, last year co-sponsoring the Kidz Kartz New Zealand Cup and are this year’s sponsors of the Catch Driver Cadet of the Year competition.
As mentioned, the new graphics will launch next week and the game is available to play for free on mobile phones and can be downloaded for Apple or Android by visiting the following link http://onelink.to/gme7ve
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