We wrote previously about Motorsport Games and highlighted why we don't like them but stated that we hope that they're in it for the long run and not just trying to make a quick buck.
We actually want them to succeed and release high-quality games to push the entire sim racing genre forward but it seems like things are not going well at the moment.
IndyCar license
IndyCar gave notice to Motorsport Games a few days ago for termination of their IndyCar license agreement due to Motorsport Games not producing the 2023 Indycar game during the 2023 IndyCar season. This essentially means that Motorsport Games won't be releasing an official IndyCar game and the license may be given soon to another developer.
iRacing had the IndyCar license previously and their annual Indy 500 event was hugely popular. Hopefully, this new change in the agreement between IndyCar and Motorsport Games will bring the license back to iRacing.
Layoffs
The license agreement announcement came a couple of weeks after Motorsport Games cut around 40% of their workforce in a bid to reduce their operating expenses. This is of course not good news for other games that are in development but we're unsure of exactly which games will be affected by these layoffs
Games in development
Motorsport Games has lost the IndyCar license and won't be releasing that game. However, other games in the pipeline are planned for release that may or may not get cancelled as well.
Le Mans Ultimate
We're looking forward to this game and the videos and screenshots that we've seen so far are promising. It seems like Studio-397, the guys behind Factor 2 are making good progress and the recent layoffs may not have affected them. The game is scheduled for release on 20 February 2023.
British Touring Car Championship
This game was supposed to have been released in 2022 but has been pushed to 2024. Factor 2 does have BTCC content but that's not the same thing as a dedicated game. We don't have any more information on this game but we don't have any hopes of it being released in 2024.
Final thoughts
We had a bad feeling about Motorsport Games back in January this year and it seems like we may have been correct. Motorsport Games most probably bit off more than they can chew and are feeling the consequences.
We don't have much faith in them but we do have faith in Studio-397. They may have been bought by Motorsport Games but they've proven that they can revitalise rFactor 2 and have shown good progress with Le Mans Ultimate.
It may not be looking good for Motorsport Games but we'll be happy if iRacing gets the IndyCar license back and we're really excited about Le Mans Ultimate.
