Gaming News

JDM: Japanese Drift Master is getting a companion with a distinctly different engine. In an announcement published on Steam, its developers introduced JDM: Ph4ntom Driver, a standalone action-oriented arcade racer inspired by Japanese street culture and folklore. The project began as an expansion before growing into a separate game, the announcement says. Its premise trades the original game’s focus for a more fantastical formula: drivers confront demons by turning their cars into weapons, with no guns or swords involved. The developers describe Ph4ntom Driver as an accessible but demanding arcade experience, with agile cars and a rebuilt physics system. Its signature Nitro-Drift combines drifting and boosting, intended to make the cars easy to control while leaving room for experimentation and mastery. Combat is built around momentum and impact. Players will ram supernatural enemies with reinforced, JDM-inspired cars; the announcement also refers to Hakai, a supernatural power. The available vehicles are described as stylised and non-licensed, collected through progression. The setting is a Spirit World entered after dramatic circumstances that the player accidentally set in motion. Once lush, the land has become dark and oppressive following a demonic invasion. The stated goal is to keep moving, find allies and eventually confront the demon king Shouten Douji. The game uses the open world of Guntama, redesigned and stylised as this supernatural realm. Its inhabitants include creatures drawn from Japanese folklore, among them Kodama, Oni and Omukade. The announcement says players may recognize locations from Japanese Drift Master in their altered form. The planned campaign is described as lengthy, with its story told through hand-drawn manga and a dialogue system. Multiplayer is also planned, but the developers say further details will come later; no launch timing is supplied in the announcement. The studio also stresses that the spin-off will not end support for Japanese Drift Master. It says the livery system is still expected soon, with further surprises planned. The developers add that a recent physics update for the existing game reflects work on Ph4ntom Driver, while features built for Japanese Drift Master have been adapted or recreated for the new project. For players, the clearest point of distinction is not simply a new setting but a new relationship between driving and combat. The car becomes both transport and the central tool for survival, while the campaign structure offers a narrative route through the altered open world. For streamers and players following the series, the contrast between the two games gives the spin-off a clear identity. But the announcement leaves key questions open: multiplayer details are pending, and it provides no release date. For now, the confirmed picture is of a more cinematic, arcade-led branch of the JDM universe—not a replacement for Japanese Drift Master. The new project broadens the JDM label into supernatural action racing while its developers say the original game remains in active support.