This past October saw the release of NASCAR 21: Ignition, the first title in Motorsports Games’ ultimate outline for the future of NASCAR simulation games. However, the first game in the new franchise did not go well. NASCAR 21: Ignition did not score particularly well amongst the gaming press, and our own overall impressions of it left us wanting a lot more. Six months after the release of NASCAR 21, Motorsports Games has outlined the next steps for its racing franchise.
In a letter to the NASCAR 21: Ignition community, Motorsports Games NASCAR brand manager Jay Pennell has stated what the publisher and developer plans to do with its NASCAR games license, and NASCAR 21, going forward. First, Pennell stated that the latest patch for NASCAR 21: Ignition, which is slated to fix issues with players appearing under cars in Career mode and enable cross-generation gameplay, has been delayed. Previously scheduled for April, the next patch will go live in June.
Pennell also acknowledged the problems with NASCAR 21: Ignition and noted that the franchise needs a bevy of changes going forward. However, Pennell stated that the effort and resources needed to make those wholesale changes can’t be made in the calendar year of 2022.
The plan is for Motorsports Games to release a Season Expansion Pack for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC platforms in September 2022. The expansion will feature the full 2022 NASCAR Cup Series team and driver rosters, the 2022 schedule, three new next-gen cars, and aero packages, amongst others. Three supplemental DLC packs for the expansion will be released between October to December 2022. The fall of 2022 will also see the release of a new NASCAR game for the Nintendo Switch.
As far as the future of upcoming games is concerned, Pennell noted that the next game will not “inherit the tech debt of NASCAR 21: Ignition as its base.” The next NASCAR game will feature the work done by Motorsports Games’ other properties, including rFactor 2, and still utilize the Unreal Engine. Pennell stated that the plan is to release the next Motorsports Games NASCAR game in mid-2023.
