JDM: Japanese Drift Master is preparing to introduce one of its most requested features since its 2025 launch, with an expanded Paint Shop update that adds a comprehensive livery creation system.
Gaming Factory confirmed the feature is nearing completion after two major redesigns over the past year, with development restarted twice to address performance concerns, unexpected bugs, and limitations that affected the customization experience.
The team explained that bringing liveries to JDM: Japanese Drift Master presented significant technical challenges because of the game’s extensive vehicle customization system. Players can replace hoods, side skirts, bumpers, and complete body kits, all of which can change a vehicle’s appearance and dimensions. Supporting this level of customization alongside a detailed livery editor required several different approaches before a solution could be finalized.
The expanded Paint Shop will introduce several improvements to the existing Car Painter, including rim painting and gradient customization. Players can paint single-piece and three-piece rims, though stock rims will retain their original appearance and cannot be modified. The Car Painter interface has also received a visual update to make its controls easier to navigate using a gamepad.
Gradient customization lets players combine a starting color with an ending color to create more distinctive paint jobs. Additional controls will let players adjust gradient angles and positions, and modify saturation and brightness to achieve their preferred look.
The biggest addition to JDM: Japanese Drift Master is the new Liveries section in the Paint Shop, which lets players create custom vehicle designs using up to 5,000 individual sticker and decal layers. Available designs will range from basic geometric shapes and patterns to logos and other decorative elements, with each sticker offering controls for scaling, rotation, and horizontal and vertical expansion.
Players can also enable symmetry, flip decals, and choose whether individual stickers appear on vehicle windows. The editor will support the same gradient customization options as the Car Painter, allowing multiple colors to be incorporated into individual decals. Each sticker will occupy its own layer, which can be rearranged to bring designs forward or move them behind other elements.
Completed liveries in JDM: Japanese Drift Master can be saved as presets, with each design stored as a separate file on the player’s drive. A multiplayer sharing feature will also allow players to inspect another driver’s vehicle during a session and copy its currently equipped livery, automatically saving the design as a preset in their own Paint Shop.
Some limitations apply to how these designs can be transferred between vehicles. Liveries are created for specific car models and their installed body parts, meaning a design can be applied to another configuration of the same vehicle. Still, it will not automatically adjust to accommodate different bumpers, hoods, or other components. Players may need to modify copied designs to ensure everything lines up correctly manually.
The expanded Paint Shop update for JDM: Japanese Drift Master is targeting the very end of this week, with the patch undergoing console certification at the time of the announcement. The team currently expects the update to arrive simultaneously across all platforms, although any changes to the schedule will be communicated through its Discord channel and social media. A community contest celebrating the new feature is also planned, allowing players to compete for the best custom livery.
The development update also briefly discussed Ph4ntom Driver, a spin-off of JDM: Japanese Drift Master that originally began as a potential expansion for the game. As development progressed, the project required too many changes to the original formula, so the team decided to turn it into a standalone release.
JDM: Japanese Drift Master is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. For more on the simulator’s story, cars, and recent updates, be sure to check back to Simulation Daily.
