People are racing drones through neon-lit stadiums, free drone-racing sim lets you try it yourself

Racers are piloting drones through stadium-sized courses in preparation for the Drone Racing League Allianz events this summer. The competition commences in June and will be shown on ESPN, Sky Sports, and Prosieben MAXX. There are already a few neat videos on the DRL YouTube channel showing drone-cam footage of some of the courses.

The drones are radio controlled by 'jockeys' who wear headsets that feed them video of their drone's perspective. They make piloting look easy, but as far as I can tell from playing the free DRL training simulator, it isn't. This 1GB demo features multiple courses, though you'll have to create a (free) account to play. There is a virtual in-game currency called 'Props', but it doesn't do anything yet, and as far as I can tell from playing for a bit, all of the maps and modes are free. You can play with mouse and keyboard but a control pad is strongly recommended.

If you're really good you could enter the DRL Tryouts, which end this Sunday. The best players will be invited to a live sim racing event for a chance to win a $75,000 contract. Here's some footage of the sim in action.

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.