Driving Empire by Voldex/Driving Empire

Driving Empire (priorly known as Wayfort) is an open-world driving game that was released on July 11, 2019. It was created by under the former development group name Empire Games (previously known as Wayfort), which has since been rebranded as Driving Empire by Voldex. As of now, its one of the most popular and played driving experiences on Roblox. The game's map is focused on a fictional city, known as Wayfort, in the state of California.
On December 22, 2022, the game officially announced its full partnership with the game development company, Voldex Games (Video is private).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GEfb1VOshQ 
Since the experience's creation in June 2019, it has garnered over one billion visits, 13 million favorites, and 1.5 million likes. 
== Gameplay ==
The experience focuses on an immersive driving and racing experience with vehicles such as cars, boats, helicopters, and motorcycles, similar to another Roblox driving game, Vehicle Simulator, which also has these types of vehicles. As of now, the game features a selection of over 250 vehicles, from a wide range of classics to hypercars. Players can earn cash by driving around the map or winning races. Players also have the ability to customize the appearance and upgrade the performance of their vehicle with the cash they earn. A unique feature this game has is the ability to teleport to different dealerships or races around the map. 
=== Vehicles ===
The map features three types of dealerships, the Cars & Motorcycles Dealership, the Boats Dealership, and the Planes & Helicopters Dealership. In any of the three dealerships mentioned, players will walk up to the main front desk, which will open the GUI towards purchasing vehicles for that specific dealership. The player can sort through the GUI by price, year, top speed, handling (lowest to highest), and by new vehicles, track vehicles, or by vehicles with body customization, or that have openable doors. The Cars & Motorcycles Dealership is the only dealership inside this game that serves the main spawnpoint for players upon joining. However, any of the vehicles bought from either the Boats Dealership or the Planes & Helicopters Dealership will require the Mobile Customization gamepass as there has been no special building provided for customizing these types of vehicles.
In the Cars & Motorcycles Dealership, this is pretty much where the player can purchase cars and motorcycles. The dealership features a wide selection of sports cars, supercars, track cars (which can only be obtained via track cars gamepass), classic cars, and a motorcycle that only costs around $16,000. There is also a section for limited vehicles. The vehicles listed here are for vehicles that are sold in a short period of time. Players who purchase these types of vehicles will also have a serial number attached to it. 
In the Boats and Planes & Helicopters Dealerships, the selection of vehicles are not wide in variety and mostly contain 1 to 3 vehicles for purchase. In the Boats Dealership, there are two small boats costs around $12,000-$99,000, and a Yacht that is priced around $50 million. The Yacht is currently the most expensive vehicle in the entire game. In the Planes & Helicopters Dealership, there are only two helicopters available for purchase, one being small and inexpensive, and the other being big and pricey. 
==== Licensed Vehicles ====
Previously on April 19, 2023, a chunk of the vehicles from Pagani Automobili S.p.A. were removed due to copyright reasons. This would change on November 24, 2023 as Voldex announced a new update (and considered it their biggest update that the game has ever received) where they would team up with the company to bring back the models they removed to the game. A blog post for the update was featured on Voldex's official website. The updated featured 7 "licensed" models from Pagani, which were the 2022 Pagani Huayra Codalunga, 2020 Pagani Huayra Imola, 2021 Pagani Huayra R, 2020 Pagani Huayra Tricolore, 2023 Pagani Utopia, 2013 Pagani Zonda Revolución, and the 2019 Pagani Zonda Revo Barchetta (which replaced their original one-off model they created previously). However, considering they were licensed vehicles, customization was extremely limited as players were only allowed to customize with the preset paint colors for the car's body. Though, according to one of the Voldex developers, they are currently working on providing additional customization options towards the licensed vehicles very soon.
This was the first time in Roblox history where a Roblox game asked a company to have their product be featured in their game without the company having to ask them to be featured or making a game for them/being a sponsored event or a brand game. For example, Hyundai Mobility Adventure or the McLaren F1 Racing event. This was done after the game reached 1 billion visits, which the goal was reached a week before they released the update.
A couple days after the update, on November 27, 2023, an announcement was made on their twitter page regarding that they would transform the game towards having licensed and authentic vehicles. Based on the post, Voldex has already signed several license agreements and is in discussions with dozens more manufacturers to bring their iconic models straight into Driving Empire. Additionally, all current models that featured one-off designs of the real car would eventually be phased out with the licensed cars as they are currently aiming for a fully-licensed lineup in the future.
==== Customizing ====
In Driving Empire, the player also has the ability to customize the appearance and upgrade the performance of their car. This can only be done by going to the back of the Cars & Motorcycles Dealership where the player will find a garage there or by using the mobile customization gamepass. For the appearance section, there are mostly cosmetic changes from painting the body to the rims, license plate customization, wraps, bodykits (for particular vehicles), and Police mode (which can only be unlocked via police job gamepass). Any changes made the to appearance section will not make a substantial difference to the performance of the car. Performance on the other hand will allow the player to upgrade the performance of their car, thereby making the vehicle quicker and faster. The performance upgrades range from, engine and aspiration to braking and drivetrain. Though, unlike the appearance section, most of the upgrades have to be purchased with the in-game cash earned. 
=== Racing ===
The map currently features four types of races, a Drag Race, Highway Race, Cross Country Race and Circuit Race. The player will be rewarded with in-game currency after finishing any of the races. The only races that reward the player the most cash for finishing are Circuit and Cross Country; however, the majority of players that grind on this game mostly do Circuit. The Drag Race is currently the most popular race among players. On February 3, 2023, the game added a new "Time Trial" mode, in which players have the ability to see their split times when passing a checkpoint, their personal best race time and vehicle whenever they finish a race in "Time Trials" mode, and a quick restart button, which is used to start the race over. Its to be noted that players will not earn any money for completing a race in the "Time Trials" mode. The PvP mode for the updated racing system was also updated to be referred as, "Exhibition" .
In Drag, there is only a maximum of two players. Once they have been positioned, either player has to cross the finish line before the other one does. Considering the finish is only a short distance away from the starting point, the strategy for the player here is to have a vehicle with quick acceleration along with manually practicing their boost timings, which can help them reach the finish line quicker. 
The Highway race on the other hand is quite similar to the Drag Race, only the finish line is at a much longer distance. There is a maximum of eight players that can participate in this race. The player will not only require a vehicle with quick acceleration but also a high top speed. Manually practicing their boost timings is also recommended for this race if the player wants to get to the finish line faster. 
On Circuit, there is a maximum of ten players that can participate in this race. They will be teleported inside of a built-in race track in the map, known as Joya Costa Speedway. The race will instruct them to complete a maximum of two laps on around the track before finishing. The key here is to have a vehicle that will have good traction, braking, and handling, considering the track is faced with a bunch of turns. 
Cross Country, the fourth race in the game, has a maximum of 22 players that can participate in this race. It is a good combination of Circuit Race's sharp turns and Highway's long distance, running mostly around the entire map (but not through downtown Wayfort). The key here is to have a good vehicle with good traction, braking, and handling at the throughout the race and quick acceleration and a high top speed for any long straightaways they'll face.
Drawbridge Sprint, the fifth race in the game. Like the Circuit Race, there is a maximum of ten players that can participate in this race. They will be teleported on to the main road outside of the location. This race basically runs through a drawbridge that opens during the race and then transitions onto a highway bridge crossing over a large body of water. It then goes through the town, and finishes at the outskirts of the city. Similar to Cross Country, they'll need a vehicle with good traction, braking, and handling throughout the race and quick acceleration and a high top speed for any long straightaways they'll face.
=== Jobs ===
The experience also features jobs such as, citizen, criminal and police (which can only be unlocked via police job gamepass). The citizen team is the default team players are placed on upon joining the game. The criminal team is quite similar to the citizen team, however, you are equipped with items used to eliminate the opposing team, the police. The police are also equipped with items used to eliminate the opposing team, however, they are also equipped handcuffs which can be used to arrest players with bounty inside the game.
=== Housing ===
The new Housing feature was added to the experience on February 17, 2023. It was made for players to purchase and spawn houses in the new Neighborhood location. The experience features eight different home blueprints that the player can purchase ranging in plot size and garage space. The most expensive home in the blueprint shop is a large plot mansion for $17.4 million. Once they've purchased a home blueprint from the shop, they can go to the neighborhood and claim a house plot to spawn their house. Inside the houses, the player can interact with many of the items such as doors, lights, beds, sinks, and other miscellaneous commodities. They can also invite friends to become roommates and hang out within their home.
=== Crates ===
Crates were added to Driving Empire on February 3, 2023. These are purchased with in-game cash or Robux and used to unlock exclusive vehicles. There are currently two different crates types. The Standard crate, which costs $58,750 in-game cash each roll and the Premium Crate, which costs R$649 each roll. Once purchased, it will roll through the various cars for selection. Afer the arrow hits the car, the player will receive it automatically in their inventory. If the player rolls a vehicle they already own, they will be given a percentage of the vehicle's price from the dealership. Currently, the standard crates are the only crates to feature several vehicles from the dealership that can be bought with in-game cash. 
==== Criticism ====
On February 24, 2023, the game announced a new update featuring 13 new vehicles and a new premium crate. This update received a negative response from the community due to the fact that all the 13 vehicles could only be obtained from the premium crate, along with players angered over the fact that the premium crate costed R$649 with very low odds towards getting a good car. This has led to players in the Discord and Twitter to run amok and protest against the developers at Voldex for creating this update. Some of the players in the Discord were either handed out mutes or banned from the server. Furthermore, some players have decided to send emails to the real-life car brands that are being offered inside the new lootboxes, about their intellectual property's unauthorized use. The game's update has also led to Bourgist, the original creator of the game, to leave the server in order to avoid harassment and death threats by the players.https://twitter.com/Roblox_RTC/status/1629220444963487746?s=20 
== Subscriptions ==
The following subscriptions are available for purchase pertaining to this experience, as of December 2024:
 Driving Empire subscriptions
Title 	Price (USD)	Subscription benefits
Basic Lotus Bundle 	$7.99/month	
*Cash Multiplier: Earn more cash while playing
*Exclusive Car: Access a unique vehicle only available to subscribers
*Exclusive Chat Tag: Stand out in chat with a unique subscriber tag
Premium Lotus Bundle	$9.99/month	
*Cash Multiplier: Earn more cash while playing
*Monthly Cash Bonus: Receive a monthly cash bonus
*Exclusive Car: Access a unique vehicle only available to subscribers
*Exclusive Customizations: Unlock special car customization options
*Exclusive Chat Tag: Stand out in chat with a unique subscriber tag
== Trivia ==
* This is currently one of the most played driving experiences on the platform.
* On 2024, they have found a decal that Voldex posted with the Tix icon. It probably means they are on The Classic.
** However, the icon was taken from the kill effect called Tix from the survival game BEAR*.
* According to Bourgist, the Voldex Games partnership was made 4 months in advance before the official announcement. 
* On August 29, 2020, the game (under the Wayfort name) was undergoing rebranding changes, mainly to target a wider audience on the platform. Players were requested to vote on either, "Driving Champions" or "Driving Empire". As a result, the majority of players voted on "Driving Empire", which eventually became the official name as of December 4, 2020. 
* The game map throughout its Wayfort and Driving Empire eras has gone through four different variations before ending up with the one that was released on December 23, 2021.
* The game during its Wayfort era was under the ownership of Phoninian until November 2019, when he decided to abandon the project to perhaps focus on making his own driving game, Vehicle Legends.
* The experience's Lamborghini models were removed on September 28, 2022, due to the company themselves issuing a takedown request to Roblox. 
* Driving Empire was one of the 3 experiences to have their Koenigsegg models be removed. Along with that, all game thumbnails that advertised their Koenigsegg models were temporarily removed. However, the car company themselves have not taken action yet. 
** According to LxstNick, the community manager for the Driving Empire, said that this was a temporary removal and the models are expected to return soon if everything goes smoothly. 
** Players are still able to spawn and drive the Koenigsegg models they owned despite the temporary removal.
* As a result of the players emailing car companies, brands such as Bugatti, Ferrari, and Pagani have taken action, causing Voldex to permanently remove their models from the game. 
* On May 8, 2023, Voldex made a complete announcement on the Driving Empire Community Discord addressing the responsive action of removing car models, plans to create a new standard of vehicle design and replacing most of the current cars in-game with the new design standard, and the lack of communication between the community and developers. 
== References ==
Category:Adventure experiences