The Crew 2 focuses on a follower system in the latest installment of the “social driving game”. The goal: do crazy things to gain followers. Those who don’t participate won’t progress in the game.
Show more, gain followers: Inspired by social networks like Instagram or Twitch, one goal in The Crew 2 is to increase the number of followers. This happens all in real-time, followers come in live, releasing endorphins. You become popular and exciting, the number of followers increases. However, those who are boring gain few new subscribers. It has to be spectacular, it has to attract attention. The counter ticks with wins in races, cool overtakes, or stunts. A daring stunt on a bridge will secure you more followers than a seemingly boring ride in the desert.
Popularity becomes a real currency
Those who are popular are successful: Only those who collect followers in The Crew 2 unlock more races or disciplines. For example, 15,000 followers are required to advance from “Beginner” to “Popular”. Only then do cool new events or the rise to the Touring Car Championships await.
Just like on Twitch: In real life, it’s no different: those who reach more followers on Twitch rise into an elite circle, becoming Twitch partners, gaining advantages and offers. However, you must also be online constantly, entertaining your followers.
Dystopia like in Black Mirror: The Netflix series “Black Mirror” shows in perhaps its best episode, “Nosedive”, how the future might look. People rate each other, doing everything possible to be in the good graces of others. Those who don’t conform lose out, shutting themselves out. Because the number of likes results in a score. The higher the score, the more societal privileges one receives. One’s value determined mainly by the score. Thus, it becomes almost obsessive to show every special situation in life to others, striving only for that.
Every special situation is converted into potential likes. This creates a constant inner restlessness, one only compares oneself, wanting more. But could this not be exactly a goal of Ubisoft? A Games-as-Service racing game that it doesn’t let go? Because those who don’t participate in the follower system get less.
Just fantasy? In China, the Communist Party is working on a similar system. However, there, it is not “popularity” that matters, but being well-behaved and obedient. Those who behave poorly in the Chinese “Social Credit System”, such as not paying rent, fare dodging, or criticizing the government online, must live with restrictions in everyday life. The internet gets worse, certain career paths are denied, or even travel bans can be imposed.
The “M-Question” – Follower System in The Crew Mist or Motivation?
Do we need such a system in The Crew? Such a scoring system in games isn’t liked by everyone. But it seems to reflect the spirit of the times.
The commentator “Joe Banana” on Mein-MMO calls it nonsense:
This follower stuff is total nonsense. (…) there are some idiots sitting at Ubisoft thinking that the hunt for likes and followers is the new cool thing for today’s youth?
But studies show: Yes, many people use it. Teenagers feel pressured by the app “Instagram”, which uses similar mechanisms, to always be online, fearing missing out, as stated in an article from Mittelbayerische. The insane growth of Instagram, with the latest statistics showing that 15 million Germans actively use the app, demonstrates that it is deeply ingrained in today’s society, especially among youth. And a factor is the “addiction to it”.
Rewards trigger the brain
A clever move? The follower system in “The Crew 2” feels instantly familiar and triggers the reward system in the brain. The Crew 2 could indeed hit the nerve of the times and create a buzz with a unique system for a racing game, fostering long-term motivation. Even if the actual gameplay might not always be convincing, as players complain about unrefined driving physics.
Actually a known progression system: Similar systems are already known from MMOs where you collect experience points, level up, and unlock new content. The follower system is just that, modern and cool. Currently, the “follower system” is still quite rudimentary. But Ubisoft could score points with their “Games-as-Service approach” and expand this core feature in the future, bringing new impulses. And they are likely planning to go a step further:
The Crew 2 wants to connect the feature with real life: An integrated app should capture special moments that you can then share on Facebook and the like. Ubisoft refers to it in the blog post as an opportunity to “perhaps increase your number of real-life followers”. New features are expected to be introduced in the coming weeks. Who knows, will this also lead to more followers and unlocked items in The Crew 2?
What do you think, is this going too far? Or is the follower craze a motivating feature that should be enhanced in games? All important information about The Crew 2 can be found here:
