Digital Corner: SKB Team Manager

This time we look at SBK Team Manager, the first 3D World Superbike management simulation. At the outset, you get to choose your favourite model from competition bikes available from seven manufacturers competing in the 2018 Superbike World Championship (Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, MV Agusta, Yamaha). You’ll create a racing team of your own to challenge the official World SBK champions. Strategy and tactics play a massive part and finding the right balance through each round — while also managing budgets and staff day-to-day — manages to be difficult and rewarding in equal measure.

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You’re not a star rider in this game, but the tactician working behind star riders — and their exploits on the track. You will not only experience race events, but you will also manage your team in the build-up to those all-important race weekends: hiring talented engineers and crew members and training promising riders — you’ll even be responsible for ordering and testing new parts for your bikes. The ultimate goal here is to lead your team to victory and become the ultimate Superbike Team Manager.

You can upgrade and tune bikes to retain a competitive edge while signing sponsorship deals and carefully managing your team’s finances should enable you to improve facilities and, in turn, your team. The correct decisions will lead to steady progression and an eventual position amongst the World Superbike elite. The wrong ones will see your team struggle to establish itself, inviting pressure and inevitable questions of your management.

Boasting full 3D graphics and live races, the game stands out in the simulation genre; traditionally defined by 2D and text-based games. With slick presentation and a variety of ways to manage and view the race season, it’s easy to see it catering to both racing and management simulation fans.

The joint efforts of these two developers and their close collaboration with Dorna WSBK Organisation ensure an accurate representation of World Superbike racing.

SBK Team Manager was born out of a partnership between two independent game development studios — but both share a common vision. Founded in 2016 and based in Lac-Supérieur, Québec, Pixel Racers are squarely aimed at offering entertainment to motorcycle racing enthusiasts through video games. It’s a market too often neglected, certainly when compared to the bevvy of titles car racing fans have to choose from. Their fellow contributors to this democratisation of motorsport were founded in 2006 and based in Milan, Italy — and go by the name of Digital Tales. Digital Tales have been developing and self-publishing racing games for over a decade now. Their flagship product is the SBK Official Mobile Game, based on the FIM Superbike World Championship license, probably the most popular 3D motorcycle racing game for smartphones and tablets (with over 35 million downloads worldwide).

In their mission to bring the Superbike experience to mobile gaming, Digital Tales and Pixel Racers demonstrate to gamers that pure motorsport is not just about spectacular racing down on the track. Screaming engines and fast-paced action are, understandably a distraction, especially in video games. This game, perhaps as well as any other, highlights just how fundamental teamwork and strategy in the pit lane are to what you see on the track — neatly fitting the claim that races are won and lost in the pits.

The joint efforts of these two developers and their close collaboration with Dorna WSBK Organisation ensure an accurate representation of World Superbike racing. SBK Team Manager arguably offers the most realistic motorcycle management simulation on mobile to date. SBK Team Manager will be available for download on iTunes and Google Play at a special launch price for a limited period of time.