Since its launch in 2022, open-world racing game CarX Street has received countless updates and novel content, but the update that just went live is one of the biggest ever. Titled Showdown, it adds an all-new team-based PvP mode that pits street players against law enforcement.
A maximum of 16 people can play in the mode at the same time, eight on each team. On the one hand, street racers must reach a designated area to score points and then deliver them to the garage. On the other hand, police officers are rewarded for neutralizing drivers in several different ways, which we will discuss in detail in a moment.
Each match consists of two rounds in which everyone is randomly assigned to competitors or police, and then switch sides between rounds. So you will always play sometimes as a racing driver, sometimes as a policeman. Competitors have HP and if their HP drops to zero, they will lose any undelivered points and respawn in the garage to try again.
Drivers lose HP when they bump into environmental objects or other cars, so you can’t drive recklessly. However, speed is still very crucial. If a driver drives too slowly when there are police cars nearby, his HP will gradually decrease. So you need to exploit the nitro boosters and consistently drive as quick as possible while keeping the car under control.
While competitors earn points for reaching certain parts of the map safely, police officers earn points for actions that prevent this from happening. They can earn points by ramming racers’ cars, arresting drivers, or using their unique ability to deploy spikes that puncture racers’ tires. Additionally, they can earn points for helping their teammates, so if you ram a driver who later gets arrested by someone else, you’ll still get points. Police cars can also teleport between police stations scattered throughout the city, meaning they can strategize and cut off escape routes.
But it’s not just the police who have an ace up their sleeve: the competitors are equipped with an EMP device that can temporarily disable any police car caught within its radius. Both police spikes and driver EMP spikes have cooldowns, so be careful not to waste them. In the interests of fair fighting, cars in this mode are class-limited, and tire wear and fuel are ignored. So it’s about driving skill and strategy, not raw vehicle stats and durability. Each round lasts about 10 minutes, and the team with the most points after two rounds wins.
Developer CarX Technologies said the development team had dreamed of creating a cops and drivers mode before the game’s 2022 launch, but it was too labor-intensive and intricate to develop in conjunction with the open world offered by the rest of the game. And the inclusion of unique features and visual effects clearly shows how much work has gone into this mode. Police cars have flashing lights and sirens, arrests are accompanied by voice messages from the police radio channel, and collisions and EMP activations feature unique glitch-like effects.
The gameplay of this mode is in stark contrast to the rest of the game, in which you travel around the fictional Sunset City and its outskirts, taking on local racing clubs, each with their own unique identity and narrative. You fine-tune your car, from the bodywork and brake discs to the engine and suspension, gradually improving it to qualify for the fight against tougher opponents.
A lot went into developing this core gameplay loop, which then needed to be refined for each platform CarX Street was released on. The game was first released on mobile devices in 2022, then on PC in August 2024, and finally on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S earlier this year. The cross-platform approach resulted in success, achieving over 1 million sales on Steam and consoles. After successfully launching the game on all platforms, the development team was able to focus on the development of the novel mode, which began about six months ago with the first concepts and prototypes.
It was meant to be like everything else in the game, and the main theme was always police chases. However, after extensive internal testing, the development team realized that police chases alone were not enough. This created unique abilities that resulted in the addition of spike strips and EMP.
It’s protected to say that the result achieved its goal of introducing a mode with completely different gameplay, but this was not the end of the game’s evolution. CarX Technologies remains connected to its community and receives regular feedback to support guide updates and novel content, and this isn’t stopping any time soon. Based on this feedback, they have previously mentioned that their future plans include additional competitive multiplayer modes, a dedicated highway network added to the open world map, and a full story campaign with quests.
In addition to the novel mode and other planned updates, CarX Street is currently available for sale on Steam and Xbox, and has just launched a special promotion on PlayStation. There’s never been a better time to get behind the wheel. If you want to join the community, you can follow CarX Technologies on Instagram, X/TwitterOr Facebook. You can also check official website to keep up to date with the latest information on all their games.
