What you need to know
- A new report suggests that the team behind a promised official Indycar game originally due this year has been laid off in its entirety.
- Motorsport Games only yesterday it emerged had lost the license to the UK’s BTCC series, another game it was supposed to be making.
- The NASCAR license has already left the company for iRacing as it looks like curtains for Motorsport Games.
Why am I here for the second day in a row talking about Motorsport Games? Well, following the news from the UK that they’d been unceremoniously stripped of its license to make the BTCC game by the series organizer, there’s more bad news emerging relating to the Indycar project.
The report comes courtesy of Insider Gaming’s Mike Straw, who says the team working on the Indycar game has been laid off.
In an update to my story on the IndyCar game: the entirety of the IndyCar dev team has been laid off at Motorsport Games. We should know more about the game later today, but it’s increasingly likely it’s dead unless it’s sold off.November 7, 2023
Straw goes on to state in further posts that Indycar is still legally guaranteed a payment from Motorsport Games in 2024, the year we were supposed to see the game finally release following delays. Indycar has reportedly also made a decision on how it wants to proceed but is currently unable to make a statement.
For starters, the main sadness is that hard-working, talented video game developers have been laid off yet again. Something is clearly wrong at Motorsport Games, a company that scooped up premium licenses and has absolutely withered in recent times.
The company’s last NASCAR game was essentially a disaster, and that license has already found a new home with the team at iRacing. TOCA withdrew the BTCC license yesterday, and now we’re hearing the Indycar game is likely dead in the water.
It’s a sad tale, especially for those affected first-hand. The digital racing world was sold a dream, and it’s since been absolutely shattered.
