Codemasters respond to complaints about lack of cockpit view in Grid 2

Announced less then 12 hours ago and Codemasters are already
receiving complaints about GRID 2. The main point of contention is
the loss of in-car camera view that was available in the original.
Though Codemasters say their decisions was justified.


“There seems to be some confusion about where we get our data
from to help us make these decisions,” speaking to Eurogamer, executive producer
Clive Moody said, “While we do use research and focus groups, the most
important data source for us is the enormous amount of telemetry data
we can obtain from our servers that tells us exactly how and what our
players are doing across all our games. So it's not a case of just a
sample of people we've spoken to in research, it's a fact that only
5% of Codemasters Racing game players ever used the in-car view.”

Considering the cost involved in implementing the in-car view –
Grid's was a fully fleshed out affair with detailed vehicle
interiors, subtle head movements, and animated limbs – you can
catch their reasoning for dropping it. And, that cost, as Moody
explains, isn't just financial:
“By making this educated call, we can use the extra available
memory to make the on-track racing a truly mind-blowingly immersive
experience.

“We can author and run higher resolution vehicle models with
more detailed geometry. We can feature higher resolution external
vehicle textures and work further detail into our environment
textures. We can dedicate more processing power to our improved
physics systems, integral to the GRID 2 experience, and push other
systems to the next level, such as particles and real-time lighting.”

It's a shame for those 5% but when faced with that data it would
have been difficult to justify its inclusion.
Moody also points out that there will still be a bonnet cam for
those players who use racing wheels.