Back in 2023, a demo for an open-world racer called JDM: Japanese Drift Master became the unexpected darling of Steam Next Fest, thanks to its impressive visuals, anime inspirations, and deep car handling.
Now, finally, developer Gaming Factory has committed to a March release date.
Promising over 250km worth of roads to drive on, JDM takes place in the fictional Japanese prefecture of Guntama, an open world location with loads of winding mountain roads and city streets to race around.
The game takes obvious inspiration from the classic manga and anime series Initial D, and it'll feature a full story mode with manga-style cutscenes to play through.
I had a great time with JDM when I played that first demo, despite continuing to be absolutely abysmal at drifting in every racing game I play.
There's clearly a ton of depth to the driving, with the devs billing it as a "simcade racer" – meaning it's not fully beholden to simulation, but you should expect more nuance to the driving than you'd see in a fully arcade-style game. It doesn't hurt that it looks gorgeously detailed too.
Since the release of that demo, the devs have locked down some notable car licenses including Nissan, Mazda, and Subaru, and they tease in a press release that they're "not done with our announcements yet."
Hopefully whatever announcements come in the future will include a Toyota deal, because getting a Trueno AE86 in here for the full Initial D vibes would be beyond perfect.
In the meantime, while we wait for an official Japanese Drift Master release date, while not go and check out some of the best racing games you can dive into today.
In fact, if you like this sort of style, our Need for Speed Unbound review makes a compelling case for your time and attention.
