F1 2021 brings players back into the intense atmosphere of F1. With a new story mode, adjustments to online play, and a new feature that puts players into the ongoing season, F1 2021 is a big step for the franchise. But with these additions and the recent release of the game, there have been some issues that players have run into. To address one common complaint, F1 2021 has temporarily disabled 3D Audio for headphones on PS5 in the latest patch.
F1 2021 was released in July 2021 and is the first game in the series published by EA since 2003's F1 Career Challenge. Often after releases of video games, developers create patches to resolve the problems that players discover in their playtime. This change to the game on PS5 comes from Patch 1.06 and is live now on PlayStation and PC and soon to be live on Xbox.
In this update, EA and F1 2021 announced a number of adjustments and changes. This includes everything from gameplay to excessive GPU usage during certain loading scenes in the game's story mode Braking Point. Of these updates, the disabling of 3D Audio for headphones on PS5 is likely the most impactful change to players looking for an immersive experience. This feature, when enabled, allowed for players to better replicate being inside the cockpit of an F1 car. Fortunately, the patch makes sure to note that this option will return as soon as the audio issues are resolved. The previous patch for the game put ray tracing on hold similarly and it has since resolved the issue and brought it back.
Judging by the Codemasters forum, players have reported a number of different issues pertaining to audio. One of the more common reported problems deals with AI car's engines creating sounds that last too long. It seems that, for some reason, these issues have gone away for players that deactivate the 3D audio. For the time being, players will have to live without the feature in F1 2021 while the developers work out the issue.
F1 2021 has added a bunch of features to the franchise that emphasized realism and immersion. Players are able to continue the ongoing season with Real Season Start as well as follow a narrative-driven story through F2 and into F1. These additions are a great indication for the series and likely will open up the series to a wider audience than just players looking for a simulation racing series.
But the balance between expanding features and keeping the core game as great as its previous iterations must have been difficult. And, in this industry, there are no guarantees that players will appreciate the change. Either way, PS5 players of F1 2021 are in a holding pattern when it comes to 3D audio.
F1 2021 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: EA
