The Crew Motorfest's RC Frenzy mode introduced miniature vehicles, custom-built physics, rooftop traversal, and a top-down camera mode, forcing developers at Ubisoft Ivory Tower to rethink the entire island of Oʻahu from a completely new perspective. That's a tall ask for a game with over 10 million players.

When the devs began exploring ideas for The Crew Motorfest's ninth season, the team wasn't searching for a new supercar or another motorsports discipline. Instead, they found inspiration in something much smaller: remote-controlled cars.

In this interview, Gameplay Director at Ubisoft Ivory Tower, Paul Narducci, digs into the inspirations and specific details of the game mode.

What sparked the idea to introduce RC cars into The Crew Motorfest, and how early in Season 9 planning did this concept take shape?

Paul Narducci, Gameplay Director: It started from a very simple idea and test, that universal childhood memory we all have with RC cars. Whether it was a toy you owned, a video game you played, or a cartoon you watched, almost everyone has a story with RC cars. From a creative standpoint, we kept asking ourselves: what's a motorized fantasy we haven't explored yet in Motorfest? And RC cars kept coming back to the table after tests that showed this kind of experience could really work.

What really sealed it was the realization that our open world, with all its hidden alleys, small rivers, backyards, and rooftops, was basically a perfect RC playground that nobody had ever experienced at that scale.

What were the biggest design challenges in making the open world feel fresh and engaging at a miniature RC scale?

Paul Narducci: Three years ago, the [game] world wasn't built with RC cars in mind, so we had to look at it through a completely different lens. At hypercar speeds, a lot of the detail in Oʻahu simply doesn't register when you pass them at 400 km/h, it flies past you. But at RC scale, every curb, every gap between fences, every small body of water becomes a design element.

The challenge was identifying which parts of the existing world worked naturally and which needed to be adjusted or extended to create satisfying RC moments, especially for the RC Frenzy playlist, which regroups 10 events all dedicated to the RC fantasy. We also had to make sure the world felt genuinely large around the cars; that sense of scale is what sells the fantasy.

How does the handling model and physics system for RC vehicles differ from standard cars in the game?

Paul Narducci: Everything was built from scratch. We couldn't simply scale down an existing vehicle's physics. RC cars have a completely different behavior with the ground, the water, or even in the air: the suspension behaves differently, the grip reacts differently, and the weight distribution is unique.

On top of that, we added mechanics that don't exist anywhere else in the game: jumps, flips, and driving on water. Each of those required their own dedicated physics solutions. The result is a handling model that feels unique: lighter, more reactive, more playful, but still rewarding to master.

What were the key challenges in designing gameplay around verticality, such as rooftop traversal and large jumps, for RC cars?

Paul Narducci: Verticality opened a whole new dimension of design that we don't typically work with in traditional racing events except for specific experiences like Hoonigan or Hollywood Action.

Rooftop traversal, for example, required us to think about how players read elevation changes at speed from a low camera angle, and how to make jumps feel spectacular without making them feel random or unfair.

The key was making sure that big jumps were always readable. Players needed to anticipate them, feel the build-up, and stick the landing in a way that felt earned. We also had to be careful that verticality added excitement rather than frustration. There's a fine line between a thrilling jump and an annoying one, and we spent a lot of time on that calibration, all combined with the new handling system.

How did the team approach redesigning tracks and environments to support the smaller scale and new perspective?

Paul Narducci: It was really a two-track approach.

For the RC Frenzy playlist specifically, we designed dedicated spaces that were purpose-built for the RC experience, environments where every element was crafted with that scale and perspective in mind, including the very special top-view events.

But we also spent a lot of time curating and adapting existing parts of the open world because we strongly believed that one of the most powerful things about the RC experience was letting players rediscover places they already knew.

That meant sometimes widening a passage slightly, adjusting a surface, or adding small environmental details that only make sense at RC scale. It was a meticulous process, but the result is a world that feels like it was always meant to be explored this way.

What technical and design considerations went into implementing the top-down camera mode, especially for multiplayer and split-screen?

Paul Narducci: The top-down camera came from a spontaneous test. We locked the camera above a race during a session just to see what would happen, and the reaction in the room was immediate. It worked.

But turning that moment into a fully featured mode required serious technical and design work. From a design perspective, we had to rethink how players read the track, anticipate corners, and manage opponents when they can see the full track from above.

It changes the strategy completely.

How did you integrate RC cars into existing progression systems and playlists without disrupting overall game balance?

Paul Narducci: We were very intentional about giving the RC experience its own dedicated space, the RC Frenzy playlist, so it wouldn't feel forced into systems that weren't designed for it.

At the same time, we wanted RC cars to feel like a natural part of the Motorfest ecosystem, not a separate mini-game bolted on. The progression rewards, the unlock structure, the way events are introduced, all that follows the same philosophy as the rest of the game.

We also made sure that two RC vehicles would be accessible throughout the season as free rewards, so that even players without the Year Pass or the DLC pack could get a taste of the experience.

How did you balance variety across races, stunts, and challenges while keeping the RC mechanics intuitive?

Paul Narducci: The ten events in RC Frenzy were designed to progressively introduce and layer the mechanics. You don't get everything thrown at you at once.

Early events let players get comfortable with the handling, the scale, and the new camera before more demanding challenges push them toward mastering jumps, flips, or the top-down perspective.

Variety was important. We didn't want every event to feel like a slight variation of the same thing, but each event needed to feel accessible on first approach. The RC mechanics are intuitive enough that most players will find their footing quickly, but there's enough depth there that mastering them takes skill and practice.

How did you differentiate the handling and feel between the different RC vehicles, particularly across asphalt and off-road use cases?

Paul Narducci: Just like with our full-scale vehicles, we wanted each RC car to have its own personality.

The differentiation comes through suspension tuning, grip levels, weight distribution, and how each vehicle responds to different surfaces, especially as each detail is animated and fully represented visually. An RC built for asphalt is going to feel tight and precise, with quick steering response and strong grip through corners. An off-road RC needs to absorb rougher terrain, handle looser surfaces, and feel more planted over jumps.

Those differences are subtle but meaningful. Experienced players will absolutely feel them and adjust their driving style accordingly. That variety also gives players a reason to build and explore their RC collection rather than sticking to a single favorite.

Did developing RC gameplay require new tools, workflows, or pipelines internally, especially for physics and environment interaction?

Paul Narducci: Yes, in several areas.

The physics system was built from the ground up, which meant our 3C designers had to adapt themselves and their process to author and tune RC-specific behavior, things like how the cars interact with water surfaces, how flips are triggered and resolved, and how the suspension responds to micro-terrain details that would be invisible at full scale.

Environment interaction also required new thinking. Objects and surfaces that were never designed to be driven on suddenly needed to behave correctly when an RC car hits them. It was a technical expansion of our pipeline, and the team rose to that challenge in a way that I think will benefit the game beyond Season 9 and the RC lineup.

Paul Narducci, Gameplay Director at Ubisoft Ivory Tower on The Crew Motorfest