The Driver series is making a return, but not in the way most fans would expect. Ubisoft is bringing back the open-world driving games as a live-action show that will be airing on their upcoming streaming platform Binge.
Driver is a series of games that follow the adventures of undercover agent and ex-racecar driver John Tanner as he travels the globe to contend with a crime syndicate. Developed by Reflections Interactive (now known as Ubisoft Reflections,) its first release was known for pushing the PlayStation 1's technology to its limits and the series wound up being a rival to Grand Theft Auto. One of its other notable releases was the third game in the series, Driv3r, which actually wound up in a scandal where they gave major European reviewers early copies of this highly-anticipated (but very buggy) game in exchange for glowing reviews. The last major entry in the series, Driver: San Francisco, was released in 2011 and released two smaller games afterward for the Nintendo 3DS and mobile. The series did wind up creating the Watch Dogs series, which originally began life as a Driver sequel.
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Ubisoft says that the show will be developed by Ubisoft Film & Television and will air exclusively on Binge.com. Binge is a streaming platform that was announced by Ubisoft during E3 2021 that will "showcase original premium content inspired by the most popular video game worlds and content creators." Ubisoft has been stepping up its efforts in branching out to film and television, with the Film & Television division having launched their first independently-produced film Werewolves Within back in June. As for their other big IPs, Ubisoft has teamed up with Netflix to create films and series based on Tom Clancy's The Division, Beyond Good and Evil, and Assassin's Creed.
Binge is expected to release sometime in 2022 for all Internet-connected devices, and the Driver show has no set premiere date. If you're looking for other racing games, Forza Horizon 5 is planned to release this year.