In response to complaints from the community regarding the lack of cockpit view in GRID 2, Codemasters reveal that only 5% of players actually used it.

Announced less then 12 hours ago and Codemasters are already receiving complaints about GRID 2. The main point of contention is the loss of in-car camera view that was available in the original. Though Codemasters say their decisions was justified.

“There seems to be some confusion about where we get our data from to help us make these decisions,” speaking to Eurogamer,executive producer Clive Moody said, “While we do use research and focus groups, the most important data source for us is the enormous amount of telemetry data we can obtain from our servers that tells us exactly how and what our players are doing across all our games. So it’s not a case of just a sample of people we’ve spoken to in research, it’s a fact that only 5% of Codemasters Racing game players ever used the in-car view.”

Considering the cost involved in implementing the in-car view – Grid’s was a fully fleshed out affair with detailed vehicle interiors, subtle head movements, and animated limbs – you can catch their reasoning for dropping it. And, that cost, as Moody explains, isn’t just financial: “By making this educated call, we can use the extra available memory to make the on-track racing a truly mind-blowingly immersive experience.

“We can author and run higher resolution vehicle models with more detailed geometry. We can feature higher resolution external vehicle textures and work further detail into our environment textures. We can dedicate more processing power to our improved physics systems, integral to the GRID 2 experience, and push other systems to the next level, such as particles and real-time lighting.”

It’s a shame for those 5% but when faced with that data it would have been difficult to justify its inclusion. Moody also points out that there will still be a bonnet cam for those players who use racing wheels.