JDM: Japanese Drift Master Announces Nissan Partnership

Nissan officially joins the JDM: Japanese Drift Master roster, delivering its iconic drifting legends to the virtual touge.

Nissan fans, your time has come! Gaming Factory, the developer behind the upcoming JDM: Japanese Drift Master game, has announced that Nissan will join their officially licensed lineup.

This addition brings a selection of legendary Nissan models to the virtual touge, following the earlier additions of fellow JDM giants Mazda and Subaru.

The trio of Japanese manufacturers, known for their drift-worthy machines, further adds to the authentic JDM experience we can expect from the upcoming game.

The feature car in the recently released free prologue, “Rise of the Scorpion,” is an unlicensed widebody version of the Nissan 350Z (or Fairlady Z, for the JDM purists).

Now, with Nissan officially on board, Rise of the Scorpion gets an update with the new Nissan cars and a new challenge mode. We can also look forward to properly branded versions of fan favorites in the full game.

Alongside the Z, we’ll get the most popular models in the Silvia lineup – including the S13/PS13, S14, and S15 models already teased in the trailer.

Alongside those, the announcement also showcased another iconic Nissan absent from the previous teasers – the holy grail Skyline R34 GT-R V⋅spec II. This is famously known as Paul Walker’s favorite, which will excite fans of both the Fast and Furious franchise and JDM culture.

Previously, the trailers heavily featured Nissan-inspired cars, with their unlicensed version of the Nissan Silvia S15 dubbed “Ichiban Silvanna 15.” Thanks to the licensing agreement, we’ll now have these vehicles with their correct names and hopefully many more.

If you’ve missed the previous teasers and announcements and this is the first you’ve heard of the JDM game, it aims to deliver a unique insight into the essence of Japan’s car culture. It blends Initial D-style anime-inspired visuals with realistic physics within an open-world environment.

It’ll feature diverse landscapes, from winding mountain touge roads to neon-lit urban streets. Players can carry out in-depth mods and upgrades to their rides, enjoy the unique manga/anime-style story mode, and perfect their drifting techniques across various Japanese-inspired cities and mountain passes.

The full game is still set for a 2024 release, meaning it should arrive within the next three months. Thanks to the recent free prologue, available to download on Steam, the upcoming game is already generating significant buzz.

It looks to carve out a new niche in the ever-growing drift/racing sim world, thanks to the unique drift-focused Japanese experience. This unique approach differentiates it from competitors like Assetto Corsa (and the upcoming Assetto Corsa EVO), CarX Street, or the Forza Horizon series, with Horizon fans desperate for the series to head to Japan.

As the roster continues to grow, speculation mounts as to which other manufacturers might join the lineup next. Toyota, we’re looking at you!

For now, one thing’s certain – JDM drifting fans will soon get to shred their tires in Nissan, Mazda, and Subaru’s most sought-after models in the game’s stunning virtual Japan. In the meantime, we’ll keep our fingers crossed for the addition of more JDM legends before the game hits the shelves.

 

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