World of Speed
World of Speed aimed to blend traditional circuit racing with MMO-style social systems, letting players take licensed cars onto city streets and landmark routes inspired by real places. At its best, it sold the fantasy of building a garage, tuning a favorite ride, and teaming up with other drivers for organized competition, backed by strong visuals and an emphasis on handling. Despite those ambitions, the project ultimately did not find long-term footing and the servers were taken offline.
 | Publisher: Mad Dog Games Playerbase: Shut Down Type: Racing MMO Release Date: August 22, 2017 (Early Access) Shut Down Date: December 25, 2018 PvP: Competitive Racing / Territory Wars Pros: +Impressive visuals and lighting. +Licensed cars and recognizable real-world settings. +Team-focused racing options. Cons: -Clunky, confusing interface. -Handling and collisions could feel unreliable. |
World of Speed Shut Down on December 25, 2018
World of Speed Overview
World of Speed is a 3D racing MMO built around real-world cars, brand recognition, and competitive events that encourage long-term progression. The pitch is straightforward, pick a vehicle from well-known manufacturers, tune it to match your style, then race across routes modeled after famous locations. Instead of treating each race as a standalone match, the game tries to add persistence through collection, upgrades, club play, and larger competitive objectives.
Car choice and customization sit at the center of the experience. Players can adjust a vehicle’s appearance and also tweak performance through parts and tuning, with the goal of tailoring handling and acceleration to different event types. That matters because the game supports multiple race formats, meaning the “best” setup can change depending on whether you are chasing clean laps, short bursts of speed, or events that reward controlled slides.
The locations are presented as recognizable slices of major cities and racing venues, encouraging the feeling of touring a global circuit rather than repeating a single fictional track. On the social side, World of Speed pushes cooperative play through team racing where drivers can take on different responsibilities during a match. It also features Motor Clubs and a Territory Battles mode, framing competition as an ongoing struggle for control over key regions instead of only a leaderboard grind.
World of Speed Key Features:
- Tactical, Team-Oriented Racing – build and tune around your preferred approach, then adjust for route characteristics like tight hairpins, long straights, and elevation changes.
- Multiple Race Types and Event Rules – compete across several formats, including Circuit, Spring, Drag, Drift, plus social-focused in-game activities.
- Real-World Inspired Tracks – drive through detailed recreations of locations such as London, Moscow, France, Monaco, Brands Hatch, and Bathurst.
- Licensed Car Roster – choose from real vehicles, including: Chevrolet Camaro SS, Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-1.6 Evolution 2, Ruf RK Coupe, and others.
- Motor Clubs and Territory Wars – team up with other players to contest ownership of racing areas through Territory Wars and club competition.
World of Speed Screenshots
World of Speed Featured Video
World of Speed Review
World of Speed is an interesting case study in how difficult it is to fuse sim-leaning handling with MMO progression and long-term PvP goals. The presentation and concept point toward a polished, globally themed racer with licensed vehicles and club rivalry, but the moment-to-moment experience could feel uneven, especially once competitive play exposed rough edges in interface and physics.
A major strength is the game’s sense of authenticity. Having real manufacturers and recognizable models immediately helps the garage and progression loop, because unlocking or upgrading a specific car feels like working toward something tangible rather than a generic “Class B Coupe.” The same goes for the locations, which are designed to evoke real places and lend variety to races through different layouts and visual identities. When everything clicks, the driving can be satisfying, with weighty cars and an emphasis on carrying speed through corners rather than simply holding the throttle down.
The social and competitive structure is also a smart fit for an MMO racer. Team-based play and Motor Clubs give players reasons to log in beyond personal lap times, and Territory Battles provide a larger objective that can make victories feel meaningful for a group. For players who enjoy organized competition, this framework is more compelling than a standard queue-and-repeat matchmaking loop.
Where World of Speed struggled is in the layers that surround the driving. The user interface was often awkward to navigate, which made basic tasks like managing cars, tuning, and jumping between events feel more cumbersome than they should in a game that expects repeated sessions. More importantly, the physics could be inconsistent, particularly in the way collisions and certain interactions played out. In a competitive racing environment, even small reliability issues can undermine trust in the results, and that is difficult to recover from.
In retrospect, World of Speed had several ingredients for a strong long-term racing platform: licensed content, attractive visuals, and MMO-minded club competition. However, the execution did not fully support the ambition, and the project ultimately shut down on December 25, 2018. For genre fans looking back, it remains a reminder that great cars and great graphics are only part of what keeps a competitive online racer alive.
World of Speed Online Links
World of Speed Official Site
World of Speed Wikipedia Page
World of Speed Facebook Page
World of Speed Developer Page
World of Speed System Requirements
Minimum Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 7 / 8
CPU: Intel Pentium i3 3.5 GHz
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GT 440 / GT 620 / Radeon R7 240
RAM: 4 GB
Hard Disk Space: 12 GB
Recommended Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 7 / 8
CPU: Intel Pentium i5 3.5 GHz
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 / Radeon R9 270
RAM: 8 GB
Hard Disk Space: 12 GB
World of Speed Music & Soundtrack
A complete music list was never properly documented in-game in a way that made it easy to catalog, but the overall audio direction aimed for a modern racing vibe, energetic tracks in menus and events, and punchy engine notes during races. Sound effects generally focused on selling speed and road texture, with tire noise and impact audio meant to provide feedback during cornering and contact.
World of Speed Additional Information
Developer: Saber Interactive / Redemption Ark (Previously Slightly Mad Studios)
Publisher: Mad Dog Games
Announcement Date: August 13, 2014
Early Access Date: August 22, 2017
Shut Down: December 25, 2018
Development History / Background:
World of Speed began life under Slightly Mad Studios, the London developer known for Need for Speed: Shift, with early messaging positioning it as an online-focused racer that would support clubs and ongoing competition. The title was announced on August 13, 2014, and at the time it was discussed alongside plans for a closed beta targeted at Q4 2014, with an initial release window also pointing to 2014.
Over time, the project experienced delays and its public visibility diminished, including a period where it effectively vanished from My.com’s portal. Later, it resurfaced and entered Early Access on Steam on August 22, 2017. Despite the return, the game did not remain active long term, and service ended with a shutdown on December 25, 2018.