EA Sports’ upcoming F1 25 is the latest video game title to embrace lidar, setting a new standard for realism in racing games. Developed in collaboration with Codemasters, the game introduces several key updates ahead of its May 2025 release—most notably, the integration of lidar scanning. This addition promises to enhance not only the visual fidelity of each track but also the driving experience itself. The scans capture fine-grained surface details such as track bumps that influence car handling, as well as off-track features like the cherry blossoms surrounding the Suzuka circuit in Japan.
F1 25’s use of lidar is part of a broader shift in the gaming industry toward harnessing 3D scanning and geospatial data to create immersive, highly realistic environments. Developers of titles like Call of Duty, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Fortnite have embraced photogrammetry and 3D scanning to enhance visual fidelity and authenticity. Tools like Epic Games’ Unreal Engine now offer native support for these technologies, giving studios powerful capabilities to integrate real-world assets directly into game worlds.
This trend is still in its early stages, but it’s accelerating rapidly—and it’s likely to converge with augmented and virtual reality, where spatial precision will be key to delivering truly immersive digital experiences.
Lidar News will continue to follow these developments closely. If you’re interested in how 3D scanning and geospatial data are shaping the future of interactive, immersive digital worlds, be sure to subscribe below to stay up to date.
