Codemasters have just announced the fourth game in the DiRT franchise! OK actually the sixth, because they did make DiRT Showdown and DiRT Rally. But this upcoming game has a four in the title. DiRT 4.

Anyhow, DiRT 3 was one of my favourite racing games ever and I'm very excited indeed for a true sequel. There's no real details on release schedule or features quite yet. The above trailer has logos for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, so no Switch version I guess.

The one new feature that Codemasters do mention in their press release is their new level-editing tool "Your Stage".

DiRT 4 features a game-changing system called Your Stage; an innovative rally route creation tool that allows you to produce an almost-infinite number of unique stages at the press of a button. You choose your location and set the route parameters, then Your Stage does the hard work to create a unique rally stage that you can race, share with your friends, and then challenge them to beat your time. Your Stage allows experienced rally players to create longer, more technical routes, whilst newcomers can create simpler shorter routes as they hone their skills.

EDIT: It seems that I skimmed through that press release way too fast. The game will be released in June 2017.

If it's somewhere between Dirt 3 and Dirt Rally I will be happy, cause for as much as I hate the aesthetic of those numbered dirt games and the lack of WRCesque stuff and all the fucking Ken Block nonsense, I am really not good enough at Dirt Rally to have much fun with it.

Dirt rally plays amazing imo, Barely played the older ones as my wheel doesnt support them. Glad they're getting to make a new one.

Im honestly more excited for the psvr dirt rally update which is coming next month though. Racing games are just immensely more fun in vr to me.

Most fans of the series prefer their DiRT games more realistic but I prefer the more arcadey flavour from DiRT 2, which Forza Horizon heavily borrowed from. Looking forward to how the new game turns out.

Really interested in what this game is. I kinda hope they strip out the gymkhana stuff, even though I had some fun with it, and focus their attention elsewhere. This is such a strange thing coming so soon after the last game.

Yeah, the Gymkhana stuff sucked.

All I know is if that footage of the tracks is in game that shit looks sexy.

I'd just be happy with a dedicated Rally X mode.

Dirt 3 had a great infection multiplayer mode where you have to crash into other drivers to infect them. It was awesome and I hope they bring that back. I know people didn't like the gymkhana stuff but this mode was worth it. Silly fun FTW.

Mix DiRT 2 and DiRT Rally and you have the perfect off-road racing game. Let's hope that's how they choose to go.

I hope this means I'll be able to nab Rally for dirt cheap this year. I'm too afraid of being garbage at it to get it, even when it's like 50% off.

I hope this one airs on the side of the numbered games rather than Rally. I love Dirt Rally, but it's almost too difficult for me to enjoy. I don't know that I've ever finished a clean Pikes Peak run.

@falconer: Don't worry about sucking at Dirt Rally because you will suck at Dirt Rally at first (I did).

I'm hoping for this to be like Dirt Rally 2. Honestly just some new location for Dirt Rally would keep me happy.

Absolutely loved Dirt 3. I can only hope that has a similar vibe. Dirt Rally had me interested, but the supposed higher difficulty is what scared me off.

I can't be the only one that love the gymkhana stuff...am I?

If they adapt what they did with Dirt Rally into a numbered addition then I'm fucking down. That Your Stage stuff sounds like it could be great.

I've never played a Dirt game, but they've always looked pretty fun. I'll be interested in checking this one out.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/01/dirt-4-preview-announcement-trailer/

Ars played an early build and got some additional details. In short, it's built on the same engine as Rally, but there will be more forgiving difficulty settings.

@falconer: A quote from the article you linked "The handling, for instance, remains the same as in Dirt Rally, with a few extra tweaks and additions to make it even closer to the real thing". Ok that combined with the procedural generated tracks & over 50 cars has me excited.

I wonder how many trailers in games, or pre-game cutscenes, have had that old chestnut of barely showing glimpses of a car in darkness, then it accelerating into the light? Seems a bit lazy by now.

Don't get me wrong, great to see Dirt 4, but that trailer was kind of dull.