Dirt 5 stars Nolan North and Troy Baker as racing nemeses

Dirt 5 has starring roles for both Nolan North and Troy Baker, but what does that mean for a game that's about driving lots of cars very fast?

Codemasters development director Robert Karp explained why the studio wanted to bring on the pair of actors in an interview following the Xbox Series X gameplay event. Karp explained that Baker will play the role of your mentor in Dirt 5's career mode. Baker's character will help guide you through the process of picking up sponsors in Dirt 5, real-world companies that will give you bonuses and extra cash for performing well.

"And there's really only one person to have as the antagonist to Troy Baker, his nemesis. And that's Nolan North," Karp said.

North added in the video that he's playing "a very pivotal character, per usual". Karp confirmed that you'll need to beat North's character to win the overall career mode, making him the racing game equivalent of a final boss. Nolan North and Troy Baker have appeared in many games together, though the best known example in recent years is probably their role as the Drake brothers in Uncharted 4. We'll see how their relationship in Dirt 5 compares to Nate and Sam's.

North also teased that "you're going to see some pretty recognizable faces in this game," so it sounds like Dirt 5's character work will extend beyond your mentor and rival.

Dirt 5 is scheduled to hit PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X starting in October 2020. Codemasters has confirmed that the Xbox version will support Smart Delivery for easy play across Xbox One and Xbox Series X, and the latter will even allow you to choose a special 120hz mode for an ultra-smooth framerate.

Find even more to get excited about in our roundup of every Xbox Series X game at the May 7 Inside Xbox event.