We were excited when Motorsport Games announced a new British Touring Car Championship game is in development. Originally, the first officially licensed BTCC game was slated for a 2022 release with an unspecified date.
Since the game was announced, no screenshots or gameplay footage have been shown. Worryingly, BTCC was removed from Motorsport Games’ 2022 release schedule, with the release date “to be determined.”
After months of silence, Motorsport Games will release an update on the BTCC game later this month.
New release date for BTCC game to be announced soon
Speaking during a Q1 2022 Earnings Call transcribed by The Motley Fool, Motorsport Games’ CEO Dmitry Kozko revealed that a new release date for the BTCC game will be announced soon.
“Later this month, we plan to provide additional news when our BTCC game will be expected to launch,” he said.
It’s a relief to hear the project hasn’t been canned after NASCAR 21 Ignition’s poor reception. It remains to be seen if BTCC still releases this year, but a 2023 seems more likely. That said, next year will be a busy year for Motorsport Games, with a new IndyCar, NASCAR, and Le Mans game releasing in 2023.
There will be no new NASCAR game in 2022. Instead, a Season Expansion will release for NASCAR 21: Ignition in September, followed by NASCAR 23 in mid-2023.
“The reason we're delivering a NASCAR season expansion as opposed to a new game title is because delivering great gamer-first experience as paramount to us,” Kozko explained in the Earnings Call. “And if we're going to reset the expectation of what the NASCAR title should be, we will need more time to work on that title.”
rFactor 2 BTCC cars and tracks
If you can’t wait until the new BTCC game comes out, officially-licensed BTCC content was recently released for rFactor 2 including two touring cars, Donington Park, and Brands Hatch.
As such, the BTCC game will likely inherit its physics technology and car models from rFactor 2. Either way, we’re looking forward to finding out more about the new official licensed BTCC game later this month.