Gaming Factory Announces JDM: Ph4ntom Driver Yokai Racing Spin-Off
Gaming Factory is moving a street-racing series into fantasy combat in a single spin-off rather than folding that shift into the existing JDM: Japanese Drift Master, which Game Spark says will still receive a livery system and further updates.
Key Facts
- Gaming Factory announced JDM: Ph4ntom Driver on October 15, and its Steam store page went live the same day.
- The game is planned for PC via Steam, and its release date and price are undecided.
- JDM: Ph4ntom Driver is set in Gunkon Prefecture, a spirit-world version of the fictional Guntama Prefecture from JDM: Japanese Drift Master.
- Players fight yokai by using their cars as weapons, and a supernatural power called Hakai adds a score element.
- The single-player campaign uses hand-drawn manga cutscenes and a conversation system, and a multiplayer mode is planned.
Reporting from 3 sources: Automaton, Denfaminicogamer, Game Spark.
Gaming Factory announced the open-world racing game JDM: Ph4ntom Driver on October 15, with a Steam store page going live the same day. The PC game is set in Gunkon Prefecture, a spirit-world version of the fictional Guntama Prefecture from JDM: Japanese Drift Master, where oni and yokai have overrun the land. Players use modified cars as weapons, ramming enemies at high speed or drifting to swing the rear end, since the vehicles carry no swords or guns. A supernatural power called Hakai adds a score element. The single-player campaign tells its story through hand-drawn manga cutscenes and a conversation system, and a multiplayer mode is planned. The release date and price are undecided, and Japanese is supported. The project began as an expansion for JDM: Japanese Drift Master but became a standalone spin-off after the team changed the game's fundamental mechanics.
The spin-off keeps cars as the only weapon. Because no machine carries swords or guns, fights come down to ramming speed and drift control, and drifting and boosting can be done at the same time. A trailer shown by IGN includes scenes of cars destroying red crystal-like objects placed on roads, which the sources describe as a survival task alongside defeating enemies. Players meet the Demon King Shoton-Doji in a decisive confrontation.
Exploration yields new vehicles and parts, and the car designs are original but drawn from the earlier game and fitted to this setting. The campaign is built as a single-player mode, with cutscenes in a drawn manga style and a conversation system like the one in JDM: Japanese Drift Master, and the sources describe it as voluminous. Multiplayer details will come later. Gamers can start here without the earlier title, though the game hides references for returning players.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.