When iRacing acquired rights to the NASCAR game licence from Motorsport Games last October, it announced that a new console game was in development and slated for a 2025 release.
While the new NASCAR console game hasnāt been announced yet, iRacing president Tony Gardner has revealed new details in a recent interview.
Monster Games working on NASCAR console game
Speaking with Insider Gaming, Gardner revealed that former NASCAR Heat studio Monster Games is working on the new NASCAR console game after the studio was acquired by iRacing back in 2022. Since then, the team at Monster Games has expanded from 20 to around 35 to work on the new NASCAR game, which will utilise tech from iRacing.
āTheyāre using our car models, our track models, a lot of our tech, [and] theyāve done a lot of integration on the back end,ā Gardner told Insider Gaming. āSo, when we update a track ā weāre bringing all of our NASCAR tracks up to, the latest spec, get them all current ā and they have developed a system where they can just import our tracks and things like that.ā
A new engine under the bonnet
While past games like NASCAR 21: Ignition ran on Unity, iRacingās new NASCAR console game will utilise Unreal Engine. While itās unclear if it will run on Unreal Engine 4 or 5, switching to this new engine should bring a generational leap in graphics.
However, as EA Sports WRCās well-publicised performance issues have shown, Unreal Engine is tricky to work with and requires a lot of optimisation work.
Alongside the new engine, Gardner hints at significant improvements for the driving model and career mode. With iRacingās expertise, we can likely expect the new NASCAR game to have a bigger focus on simulation than Motorsport Gamesā entries.
āWe want a real focus on the driving, as iRacing as a brand,ā Gardner said. āSo thereās going to be a lot of focus on good driving; Career mode is really important with a console game.
Gardner continued: āAnd so thereās, obviously, a lot of effort in that. I donāt want to give away too much about the game. You know, weāve got news coming, but, you know, the way the game works is with some fun new stuff in it, that I canāt talk about quite yet.ā
Since iRacingās NASCAR console game isnāt due to arrive sometime in 2025, we likely wonāt get an official 2024 NASCAR game. With the licence now in iRacingās capable hands, next year should mark a promising new era for NASCAR gaming after the disastrous release of NASCAR 21: Ignition.
Since then, the only officially licensed NASCAR games have been the Switch-exclusive NASCAR Rivals based on the 2022 Cup Series and the arcade spin-off NASCAR Arcade Rush released last year.
Are you looking forward to getting a new NASCAR console game in 2025? Let us know in the comments below.
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