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Driver 5, a cancelled project by Sumo Digital

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 6:05 am
by max.thunder
Driver 5 is a cancelled racing game which was, for a short period of time, in the works at Sumo Digital, the developer of the Sonic & All-Stars Racing games. It would have been published by Ubisoft and released around early 2011 on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.

In January 2010, Ubisoft released a financial forecast for their next fiscal year, detailing a number of their scheduled releases. Among these were some vague plans to release an untitled fifth entry to the Driver series, although no other information was provided at the time. Behind the scenes, it was around this point that Driver 5 (a working title) was in pre-production at Sumo Digital, who had been contracted externally. Previously, Sumo had partnered with Ubisoft to produce Driver ’76 on the PSP, who they worked on alongside Ubisoft Reflections.

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Christian Bravery of design studio, Lighting Lights, was brought on board to draft concept art for the Driver 5 project.

“It was interesting to be involved at the beginning and the end of this project and something I’d love to do more often.”

The lifespan of Sumo Digital’s Driver 5 was brief, as it never moved past pre-production. It was cancelled when Ubisoft elected not to partner with Sumo Digital on it, instead giving the project to Ubisoft Reflections. Reflections would then go on to create Driver: San Francisco.

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By the looks of it, this original vision for the game would have incorporated destructible environments of some sort. The concepts show Tanner’s surroundings crumbling around him as he races away from his pursuers. Perhaps this was a small stepping stone towards Sonic & All Stars Racing: Transformed, which incorporated a similar concept of tracks that would dynamically change and fall apart as the race progressed.

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Source

In the artworks we can see New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Re: Driver 5, a cancelled project by Sumo Digital

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 6:11 am
by TheEngiGuy
Tanner's face is hilarious.

By the looks of the concept arts it looks very similar to the actual Driver SF anyway.

Re: Driver 5, a cancelled project by Sumo Digital

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:15 am
by VAIMAHDO
It appears Driver San Francisco was somewhat based off of this "Driver 5", the Driver game that was never given life. By the looks of it, it would have been better than Driver San Francisco, with the assumption that you could exit your vehicle. I never knew this idea once existed.

Re: Driver 5, a cancelled project by Sumo Digital

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:34 am
by Steerclear
Interesting stuff. It could of been as good as the released Driver SF, but we'll never know. I like that the environments are more destructible in Sumo's version, the amount of invisible walls in Driver SF is ridiculous, however I'm sure there are reasons for that. I also like the fact that it's multiple cities which goes with the original Driver games, but it would depend on the size of those maps more than anything. Good find!

Re: Driver 5, a cancelled project by Sumo Digital

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 2:42 pm
by Wheels
That's unfortunate. Sumo Digital could've built a game that would've exploded in a minute with many users. But too bad Ubisoft changed that...

Re: Driver 5, a cancelled project by Sumo Digital

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:19 am
by the kid 78
Oh my God! Las Vegas was included also NY, it could be a great game but always as we know UBI turn them into crap!

Re: Driver 5, a cancelled project by Sumo Digital

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 7:06 am
by RacingFreak
max.thunder wrote: Image
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:mrgreen:

Re: Driver 5, a cancelled project by Sumo Digital

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 7:37 pm
by max.thunder
Nice find!

Re: Driver 5, a cancelled project by Sumo Digital

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 12:36 pm
by Wheels
Copy and paste, anyone?