Disney’s new free-to-play racer will feature 4 character classes and ‘combat racing’

Developer Gameloft has provided more details about what players can expect with its upcoming free-to-play racing game, Disney Speedstorm.

Speaking with Nintendo Everything, Aska Suzuki, game manager from Gameloft Barcelona, mentioned some of the upcoming racing game’s characteristics after being asked about what could make it “stand out” from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This includes the characters’ types, as well as the extra boosts they can receive during a race.

“In Disney Speedstorm, characters aren’t just broken up by general types. We’ve given them one of four classes: Speedster, Brawler, Trickster, and Defender to support the strong combat racing element to this game,” Suzuki said. “Boost management is really important, and each class builds extra boost in different ways, such as a brawler gaining more boost through stunning other racers, or a speedster gaining extra boost by going across boost pads. This provides the opportunity for very strategic racing if players wish to race that way.”

Suzuki elaborated that the characters will be “pre-loaded with specific power-ups,” where each type can have more items connected to the trait it possesses. She described Disney Speedstorm as a racing game where character choice “is closer to picking a character in a MOBA game.”

She also confirmed Disney Speedstorm will be a live service title, meaning that seasonal and regular new content will be available from time to time. The game will be released for PS4, PS5 Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC this year.