Being free is the best way for a game to get some attention, and yet another Steam release is taking advantage of this promotional strategy. This time, it's Initial Drift Online, a game that will be of particular interest to fans of Initial D or Japanese drift racing in general.
Initial Drift Online is free on Steam until January 18 at 1 PM ET, and claiming the title will make it free to keep together. After the promotional period, the game will revert to its typical price of $4.99. Initial Drift Online focuses on racing through Japanese mountains and making deliveries to earn cash. Surprisingly, it bills itself as an MMO, offering server-based multiplayer races and a global ranking system.
Another ambitious claim on the Steam page is that Initial Drift Online offers a "semi-open world," setting it apart from the typical in-and-out race structure of Initial D arcade games and similarly straightforward racers. The map features the road to Irohazaka (where the game's dealership is located), Mt. Haruna, and Mt. Akagi.
All three locations should be familiar to Initial D fans, although Mt. Haruna goes under the fictionalized name of Mt. Akina in the manga...
