JDM: Japanese Drift Master Addresses Player Frustrations With New Patch, Teases Future Plans

JDM: Japanese Drift Master launched with huge hype and potential earlier this year. While it’s proven to be a great game overall, a few common complaints have been repeatedly surfacing among fans.

Those who have enjoyed what it offers so far have likely been frustrated by the unpredictable AI behavior and noticed the limited variety of content. Additionally, if you play the game on a wheel, we assume it’s probably not providing the experience you were hoping for in that regard, either.

Thankfully, the Gaming Factory Team has just announced an upcoming “major patch” for the game, set to arrive next week, and they’ve just teased the first improvements.

It tackles the first two issues we mentioned above head-on, while hinting at addressing more player concerns alongside the bigger plans further down the pipeline.

AI (Hopefully) Shouldn’t Drive Like It’s Drunk

If you’ve played JDM for any length of time, you know exactly what we’re talking about here. The in-game opponents slam their brakes in the middle of corners, ram into the barriers as if they don’t exist, and generally behave like they’ve had one (or ten) too many shots of sake.

JDM will introduce a new system that addresses the issue with “a more natural and realistic behavior” from the AI cars, “ensuring that every action they take is based on the same principles a player’s car would.”

They’re also “smarter” and capable of “looking for the best possible route for them based on a variety of factors and will take into account other cars to calculate their reaction.”

Alongside improvements to the AI opponents, the open-world traffic drivers will also be improved. A new detection system makes the traffic react to how fast you’re going and the maneuvers you’re pulling off. 

They’ve also reduced the frustrating traffic jams you’ve likely stumbled upon (at the worst possible moment, of course) on the narrow touge roads, making them “more scattered and less congested.”

New Additions Provide (A Little) More Fresh Content

While they’ve admittedly still not fully addressed the lack of things to do, they’re introducing some welcome additions that help address the thin content complaints, along with promises that there’s more to come soon.

“Underground Side Mission” Race

This is inspired by that iconic The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift multi-storey car park scene. You’ll navigate a multi-level parking lot, climbing to the top floor before racing back down. You’ll need to be quick, as the clock is ticking – at the same time, you’ll also need to rack up the highest drift score.

The parking lot is also now accessible in free roam mode, providing another location to explore in the Guntama Port area. The mission combines time pressure with drift scoring goals in an awesome new setting.

Pre-Tuned Cars For Challenge Mode

Challenge Mode gets pre-tuned cars that come ready to skid (or race). Similarly to the likes of the ‘Formula Drift’ options in the Forza series, these will come with optimal setups for either drifting or grip racing. Perfect for players who want to jump in and drive without worrying about getting the tuning perfect.

Custom Liveries Tease What’s Coming Next

The pre-tuned cars (mentioned above) feature “one of a kind” custom liveries. The developers also explain it’s “the first, minor step we are taking in our mission of creating a fully customizable decals system in the game.” The full decal experience is expected to arrive with the Autumn update.

Further Updates Are On The Way

The team refers to the update as “Part 01,” indicating that more improvements will also be announced (very) soon.

Wheel players will undoubtedly be relieved to know they’ve already specifically mentioned that steering wheel improvements are coming next.

Gaming Factory has consistently updated the game since its launch, addressing various issues along the way. While many have been vocal about their frustrations with the game feeling more like an all-too-familiar ‘Early Access’ release, it’s great to see they’re constantly rolling out improvements.

It’s nice to see the developers acknowledging the issues and fixing them, rather than pretending everything’s fine. (Sound familiar?)

They’ve also given a hint at the longer-term roadmap that stretches into 2026. Photo mode, career expansion, and split-screen multiplayer are among the highlights. Each update also promises new cars and parts, which should help with the “not enough content” complaints.

Whether it’ll be enough to win back frustrated players remains to be seen, but they’re undoubtedly moving in the right direction.

You can check out the full details of the upcoming patch here.