The dominoes continue falling for Motorsport Games and building up for iRacing. Barely a month after NASCAR let go of its licensing agreement with Motorsport Games, IndyCar has followed suit. Now without gaming licenses for two of its biggest clients, the company also risks seeing them both go to the doors of iRacing, a competitor. NASCAR has already announced that iRacing will be producing a new game that will be released in 2025.
As things appear, IndyCar too might take a step in the direction of the new partner, after it terminated its contract with Motorsport Games last week.
iRacing is open to working with IndyCar whilst undergoing work on its NASCAR game
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IndyCar and iRacing aren’t strangers to each other. Towards the end of 2022, IndyCar chose to conclude its association with long-term partner iRacing in favour of Motorsport Games. Though the move had widely been criticised at the time, IndyCar had hoped that the move would result in them having a game by 2023. In a statement to racer.com, the racing series said in the wake of the new partnership, “We also remain confident our partnership with Motorsport Games will produce an engaging, realistic and enjoyable title feature for the NTT IndyCar Series.”
I don’t understand this decision by @IndyCar to not continue a decade long partnership with @iRacing. This is such a gut punch for that community. After all both brands accomplished together, including during the past few challenging years…🤷🏼♂️ https://t.co/fXl7D2K2gy
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) December 21, 2022
Just a year after the confident statement from the Penske-owned series, matters have turned around completely. Facing severe losses in its operations, Motorsport Games was forced to halt its development of the IndyCar game following which the series filed for agreement termination. Now that the contract is in the bin, iRacing appears to be wanting to get back into its seat.
In an email to reporter Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, iRacing VP, Steve Myers mentioned that his company would be open to working with the promotion again. He wrote, “We would love our previous IndyCar [simulator] rights back for our iRacing product, but I’m guessing they still have much to consider.” Despite his interest, Myers was also wary of the additional resources and time that developing an IndyCar game would take. Considering the same, he wrote that it would take at least two years for the completion of the development of a potential game.
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Back in 2022, Motorsport Games was on the receiving end of a lawsuit filed by its investors who claimed the company’s executives of securities fraud. As a result, the majority of the board resigned in the same year. Following the hit, the company reported a net loss of $35.9 million for the year 2022. Several gears shifting behind the scenes, Dmitry Kozko, then CEO, was replaced by Stephen Hood. In an attempt to steer the company back to the profit zone, Hood forgo the license with NASCAR.
He said in his company statement at the time, “After careful consideration, it became apparent that it is in the best interest of Motorsport Games to concentrate our resources around alternative assets and revenue growth opportunities. We believe that this is a continued shift toward quality.”
When they lost the NASCAR license, the company still had IndyCar in its pipeline. Unfortunately, they have had to part ways with that project too. Penske Entertainment said of the company in its statement, “Significant work and collaboration has gone into the development of our title with Motorsport Games. We’re disappointed they do not have the resources to continue development. “
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With the NASCAR license going to iRacing, IndyCar might possibly look in the same direction after Steve Myers expressed his interest. But the timing of the project delivery might once again prove to be a thorn. For now, we will have to wait for a move from IndyCar.