Grid Legends announced for 2024 at EA Play Live

Grid Legends is the next racing game from Codemasters, the Dirt and F1 studio bought by Electronic Arts at the beginning of the year. This adaptation of the developer’s long-running grand touring simulation leans heavy into cinematics and narrative, featuring a cast of three main characters vying for the title of best driver in the world.

Races in Grid Legends can be a multiclassification competition, pitting big rigs against open-wheeled speed machines, drift cars, or even electric vehicles. Drivers will compete in arena ovals, on street circuits, and off-road.

“We are giving you a classic underdog tale,” said Becky Crossdale, Codemasters’ senior designer for Grid Legends. “We will put you straight into the driver’s seat, right in the middle of the Grid World Series.” That looks to be a globe-trotting all-comers racing series, taking drivers from London to Moscow and other postcard settings.

Grid Legends’ cast of three main characters is led by Ncuti Gatwa, best known as Eric Effiong on Netflix’s comedy-drama Sex Education. Scenes in Grid Legends are filmed using extended-reality techniques popularized by the makers of Disney Plus’ The Mandalorian, Crossdale said. “[The actors] are stepping into our Grid world and reacting with it,” she added.

Grid Legends is scheduled to launch in 2024.