F1 22: Interview with Senior Creative Director Lee Mather

On By Garmin Philip
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We at XboxDynasty had the chance to interview Lee Mather, Senior Creative Director at Codemasters. The answers came back full throttle and we are therefore pleased to be able to present the interview to you here.

Please introduce yourself and tell the XboxDynasty.de readers what your job is.

Lee Mather, Senior Creative Director at Codemasters/EA for the F1 Series

Please briefly describe the game and explain what Xbox players can expect from F1 22 compared to F1 21 – specifically the game and career modes.

F1 22 represents a new era for both Formula 1 racing and the F1 video game series. The rule changes in the sport bring with them an on-track experience that not only looks very different from the vehicle perspective, but also in the way they drive and race.

We’ve been working on several aspects that affect all areas of the game. The most important are the safety car, formation lap and pit stops, all of which are now in an immersive and broadcast version. We’ve also expanded Department Events as seen in 2021, now covering both My Team and Driver Career.

We’ve also added a new feature, the F1 Life Player Hub, which gives the player a glimpse into the glamorous world of an F1 driver, with supercars to collect, trophies to display and a personalization area.

They’ve been part of Electronic Arts since last year. How does it feel developing games with EA and how much help have you received from EA for F1 22?

Becoming part of EA has been fantastic for the team. We’ve had the opportunity to work with so many other departments who all help us make the best F1 game we can. A great example of this is how we were able to share the assets for Miami with the Madden team, specifically the Hard Rock Stadium model itself.

EA SPORTS F1 22 gets its own soundtrack for the first time. Tell us more about the song and artist decision. How many tracks does the soundtrack have?

Funnily enough, this is something we’ve wanted to do for a while. As this is the first F1 title to appear entirely under the EA Sports brand, we felt this year was the perfect time to offer something that EA titles are synonymous with.

The game contains 33 tracks that are heavily inspired by the artists and DJs who spin at Formula 1 events on race weekends. You’ve probably seen famous DJs spinning both after the podium sequences and during the race weekend shows, so that’s where the inspiration came from. You can listen to the soundtrack on Spotify and Apple Music.

F1 22 will have a special feature called “Real-time Updates” – can you explain it and tell us more about it?

There are a number of areas of the title that we’ve updated throughout the season. The real season start is updated with the race results after each race and gives the player the opportunity to start their career season at that point in the season, with the points and positions of the teams and drivers corresponding to real life.

We will also update real drivers’ stats on a regular basis based on their performance in the real world. This year we are also working with several key figures from Formula 1 who will advise us and give us feedback on the adjustments we are making.

What are the technical details for the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S? Resolution? frame rate? ray tracing? Are there differences compared to the PC version?

The game will run similar to F1 2021 on consoles, in performance mode at 120fps at 1440p or graphics mode at 60fps in 4k on PS5 and Xbox Series X.

The Xbox Series S will run at 1080p 60 frames per second. This year, the latest generation of consoles gets ray-traced transparent reflections and ray-traced ambient occlusion in replays, cutscenes, and the frontend. These cool new features will also be enabled in races on PC.

Can we expect a 120 FPS mode again on consoles?

In performance mode, the game will run at 120 FPS in all game modes.

Besides post-launch bug fixes, what other plans do you have? Is cross play possible?

Crossplay is a big feature we’re introducing to the series this year. Due to circumstances beyond our control, this feature will not be available until after the series launch. We’re really excited to be able to bring it to the F1 series because co-op careers and social players really benefit from the fact that there aren’t any more platform differences if they want to race with friends.

What tips would you give to Xbox players for F1 22?

F1 22 allows the player to experience the exciting world of Formula 1 the way they want. One should spend some time with the options and help, get a feel for the very different driving behavior and then start his preferred career or use his skills online.

F1 22 is for everyone, and the in-game options allow players of all skill levels to have fun or challenge themselves.

Is there anything else you would like to say to XboxDynasty.com readers?

Thank you for taking the time to talk about F1 22. I hope everyone who plays F1 22 has as much fun with the game as we have made it.

F1 22 Interview Questions
XboxDynasty

  1. Please introduce yourself and explain to the readers of XboxDynasty.de what your job is.

Lee Mather, Senior Creative Director at Codemasters/EA on the F1 series

  1. Please briefly describe the game and explain what Xbox gamers can expect from F1 22 compared to F1 21 – especially the Game- and Career-Mode.

F1 22 represents a new era for the sport of Formula 1 as well as the F1 video game series. The rule changes in the sport bring with them an on-track experience which not only looks very different from a vehicle perspective, but also in the way they drive and race. We’ve worked on several aspects which impact all areas of the game, the key ones being the safety car, formation lap and pit stops, all of which now have immersive and broadcast versions. We’ve also broadened department events as featured in 2021 to now cover both my team other Driver Career. We have also added a new feature, the F1 Life player hub, which gives the player an insight into the glamorous world of being an F1 driver, with supercars to collect, trophies to showcase and an area to personalize.

  1. You are part of Electronic Arts since last year. How does it feel to create Games with EA and how much help did you get from EA for F1 22?

Becoming part of EA has been fantastic for the team. We’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with so many other departments, all there to help us create the best F1 game we can. A great example of that is how we were able to share assets for Miami with the Madden team, in particular the Hard Rock Stadium model itself.

  1. EA SPORTS F1 22 gets its own soundtrack for the first time. Tell us more about that decision on songs and artists. How many tracks does it have?

Funnily enough, it’s something which we’ve wanted to do for some time. With this being the first fully EA Sports branded F1 title, we felt this year was the perfect time to offer something which EA titles are synonymous with. The game features 33 tracks, and they’re very much inspired by the artists and DJs that play at Formula 1 events around race weekends. You’ll have seen famous DJs playing both after the podium sequences and during the race weekend shows, so this is very much where the inspiration came from. You can listen to the soundtrack on Spotify other AppleMusic .

  1. F1 22 will have a special feature called “real time updates” – can you explain it and tell us more about that?

There are a number of areas of the title which we updated over the course of the season. Real season start will be updated with race results after each race, and gives the player the opportunity to start their career seasons at that point of the season, with the points and positions of the teams and drivers replicating that of real life.

We will also be updating the real driver stats at regular intervals, based on their real-world performance. This year we’re also working with several key personalities from F1 who will advise and give feedback on the adjustments we make.

  1. What are the technical details for the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S? Resolution? frame rate? ray tracing? Are there any differences compared to the PC version?

The game will perform very much as it did for F1 2021 on consoles, with performance mode running 120fps at 1440p, or in graphics mode at 60fps in 4k on PS5 and Xbox Series X. Xbox Series S will run at 1080p 60fps.

This year the latest generation of consoles gain ray traced transparent reflections and ray traced ambient occlusion in replays, cut scenes and the front end. These cool new features will also be enabled when racing on PC.

  1. Can we expect a 120 FPS mode on consoles again?

In performance mode, the game will run at 120fps in all game modes

  1. Besides bug fixes, what other plans do you have after the launch? Is cross play possible?

Crossplay is a big feature which we’re bringing to the series this year. Due to circumstances completely outside of our control, the feature will be brought to the series as a post launch update. We’re very excited to be able to bring it to the F1 series, with Co-op Career and Social player really benefiting from the removal of any platform differences, when wanting to race with friends.

  1. What F1 22 tips would you give Xbox players along the way?

F1 22 really lets the player engage with the exciting world of F1 the way they want. Spend some time looking at the options and assists, get a feel for the very different handling, and then start your preferred career or take your skills online. F1 22 is for everyone, and the in-game options will allow players of all skill levels to have fun or challenge themselves.

  1. Any final words you’d like to share with XboxDynasty.de readers?

Thanks for taking the time to talk about F1 22. I hope everyone who plays F1 22 has as much fun with the game as we did making it.

More information about F1 22 can be found on the overview page.

F1 22 – pre-order

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