Drone racing is one of the latest sports to gain popularity and it doesn’t seem to have any danger of falling off, given the amount of new and improved drones constantly hitting the market. LuGus Studios have tapped this new market early by creating the world’s first commercial drone racing simulator called Liftoff. Currently in Steam Early Access, players are tasked with racing the drone around various realistic courses and stadiums ranging in difficulty. I had the opportunity to sit down with two of the devs at Gamescom 2016 to try it out and ask them a few questions.

One of the first things the guys said to me before letting me take control is that I will crash and that it’s incredibly realistic, therefore very difficult. Actual professional drone racers use Liftoff to hone their skills without the risk of physical and financial damage, which shows just how true it is to the real experience. It’s also a considerably smaller investment for bidding racers, with a £14.99 price tag compared to the hundreds of pounds a decent quadcopter could set you back in real life.

That’s not all Liftoff is though. Despite being a seemingly accurate simulation, the entertainment value is there too. I was handed a controller identical to the ones used in the professional sport, with the left joystick controlling the pitch and thrust while the right stick was in charge of the turning. Sounds simple, but I only just managed to take a single corner before crashing into a tree and plummeting to the ground, landing upside down while one of the devs assured me I was still doing better than most of the other journos that had checked out the game. It can be controlled with a standard controller connected to your PC, but LuGus Studios wanted to provide the most authentic experience possible at the event.

Even though it’s in Early Access, there’s a considerable amount of content there. Since launching in November of last year, there’s been consistent weekly updates introducing features like a workbench to configure your drone setup, a track builder, multiplayer, various modes like obstacle courses and time trials and a multitude of hardware configurations. LuGus also announced their first ever Liftoff tournament taking place during the Gamescom period in which players are competing for the fastest lap around the Pine Valley course. The top ranking pilot on the leaderboard for Pine Valley at the end of Gamescom will be deemed victorious and rewarded with a goodie bag. Expect many more of these tournaments to come as the game continues to grow.

It’s not an easy game to jump into, but after spending a few hours with it the devs claim you’ll be able to pick up the basics and slowly be able to navigate your way around the easier courses before naturally progressing to the more complex ones as you improve. Definitely a case of practice makes perfect, but it doesn’t feel mundane; I didn’t want to leave the Liftoff booth at Gamescom, I experienced “one more go” syndrome and most likely overstayed my welcome. While it’ll never quite replace the real thing, it’s a great entry point for bidding quadcopter pilots and fun at the same time for casual players. Plus, they’re considering adding VR support so that’ll be interesting very nauseating.