The discipline of drifting has become very popular around the world in recent years, to the point of having its own motorsport competitions. It’s called Formula Drift, and some big names have entered, including Vaughn Gittin Jr.

But drifting doesn’t just attract professional drivers, as many fans from all over the world adore this discipline.

For those who love virtual gliding, we’ve got sim-racing to keep us happy. It’s not exactly the same as being in a drift car, but it does have the advantage of being fun.

In what follows, we’re going to take a look at drifting in sim-racing with the various titles available to us. Unfortunately, there aren’t many of them, but we’ll make do with what we’ve got.

The best drifting titles on platforms

Let’s get to the heart of the matter, and talk about sim-racing titles devoted to drifting. To tell the truth, the list is rather meagre, especially if we consider only games from world-famous studios. That’s why many fans of the discipline have developed drifting titles, but these are mainly indie games, or mods for other sim-racing titles.

In what follows, we take a look at a few games. The list is broken down by platform, with those from Sony and Microsoft.

Drifting game on PS4 and PS5

Need For Speed

It’s true that the Need For Speed saga has been in decline for quite some time, as EA and Criterion have failed to bring out the 2000s bangers Most Wanted and Underground. Those were the good old days for NFS fans, and it’s very likely that we’ll never see such car games again.

Nevertheless, if you’re looking for some drifting fun, the latest NFS games aren’t half bad. Sure, the story mode is a little shaky, but the driving is still arcade-oriented, and you can drift with more or less any car you like.

What’s more, Need For Speed still offers missions and sliding challenges in its games, which is enough. You’ll find these titles, namely Heat and Unbound, and even Payback, for not too much money on the stores or in physical versions.

CarX

CarX is probably a racing game that has flown under the radar, and that you’ve never heard of. It’s available on several platforms, including Sony’s, and lets you race drift cars that are pretty realistic, with many cars to choose from.

The catalog of cars is extensive, even complete, with customization pushed to the limit. Whether it’s the aesthetics or the performance of the cars, you can modify your machine as you see fit.

The principle of CarX is simple: you have servers just waiting for drivers, and there are plenty of them. Mountain roads, city circuits and countryside are just a few examples of the scenery on offer in CarX.

In terms of physics, I think the cars behave well, with the obvious emphasis on oversteer.

Drift game on Xbox

Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 was a big hit when it was released in 2021, and it’s still a big hit almost 4 years later. The recipe is simple: hundreds of cars (almost 1,000!), magnificent landscapes in Latin America and a soundtrack that touches on several musical genres. What more could you ask for? I know, drifting!

Car customization really comes into its own on FH5, allowing you to configure your vehicle to suit the type of event you’ll be racing. This means you can put together a Formula D car quite easily, and the game invites you to do just that.

FH5 offers plenty of drifting challenges in its vast world, and you won’t be disappointed if you like cross-country. Incidentally, you can also find this title on PS5 if you’re with Sony.

CarX and CBC

These two titles are also available on Microsoft platforms, notably Xbox and PC. What’s more, as far as setup sim-racing is concerned, you shouldn’t have too many problems with it, and that’s also the case with Forza Horizon 5.

Drift game on PC

Assetto Corsa

AC is a racing simulation game where the emphasis is on realism. Here, you race as if you were in a real racing car, on a virtual track only. This sim-racing title is prized by the racing community, and for good reason: it’s a true racing simulation.

If you like drifting, in addition to other motor racing activities, Assetto Corsa is just what you need on the PC. It’s no coincidence that professional drift drivers use it for training, which should give you an inkling of the title’s potential.

With a sim-racing setup, you can turn your races into real drift qualification sessions. Traversing, tandem, smoke and endless gliding are the perfect recipe for total racing immersion. And as dessert, you’ve got an active community providing mods and cars, as well as tracks, for literally everyone. Assetto Corsa is quite simply a must-have for sim-racing, and drifting by extension.

The drift story

Drifting, now a key discipline in motorsport and sim-racing, has its origins in the Japanese roads of the 1970s and 1980s. It was at this time that Kunimitsu Takahashi, a motorcycle racer who had become a car driver, began to adopt a controlled gliding technique to take corners better and, above all, faster.

However, it was a certain Keiichi Tsuchiya who popularized the practice on the mechanical enthusiast scene. In the 1980s, Tsuchiya used drifting not only as a driving method, but also as a way of showcasing his prowess. Drifting soon spread to local competitions and street races, particularly on mountain roads where the angle of the car and the driver’s precision are more important than pure speed.

In the 1990s, drifting left the country’s borders via specialist magazines, videos and the JDM culture. The arrival of organized competitions such as the D1 Grand Prix in Japan in 2000 marked a turning point for drifting, which became a sport in its own right, with its own rules, judging criteria and international stars. This led to the birth of Formula D and the Drift Series.