Overview
Initial D The Arcade is a 2021 arcade racing game based on the Initial D series. It is the tenth Initial D arcade game, although it is separate from the Arcade Stage series. Unlike previous games, which used proprietary game engines, the game makes use of Unreal Engine 4.
Unlike the previous one-on-one experience of the Arcade Stage games, Initial D The Arcade features up to four players racing at any one time. Despite this, one-on-one battles are still available, with several appearing in the story. The game was also the first to use a different player avatar model as opposed to the same ones reused from Arcade Stage 4 to Arcade Stage Zero.
This game was first playable on the 23rd and 24th of July 2020, in its location test, or "Ignition". More information was revealed on the 11th of December 2020 in its first "official live broadcast". It was officially playable again from the 8th through to the 18th of January 2021 during its final test. The game had a second broadcast on the 19th of February 2021 before its nationwide release in Japan on the 25th of February 2021. An export edition was released in Asia starting from the 29th of July 2021.
On 25th February 2023, the official community Twitter account announced that it would be expanding the operation of the game into other countries. On 29th August 2023, the game was released in China with the collaboration between Sega and Wahlap. A location test was held at a convention before the official release. This includes a full Chinese localization of the game unlike the export version and login via WeChat's QR scanner instead of an Amusement IC card. However, the Chinese release runs separate from Sega's servers and uses an older version from season 2.
Players with a save file from Arcade Stage Zero on their Aime card were given continuous play rewards. These rewards include a full tune car ticket for each fully tuned car previously owned, titles based on the player's charisma level and fame, an Arcade Stage Zero avatar t-shirt and hoodie, avatar and dress up tokens based on the player's mileage. Players with a Sega World Driver Championship save file were given a t-shirt and hoodie and one full tune car ticket based on their driver level.
