Motorsport Games Delays Indycar Title Past 2023

Indycar on rF2.jpg
Over the weekend, we learnt that Motorsport Games is delaying its much-anticipated Indycar game further. No longer releasing in 2023, those looking forward to the title are not happy.

Image Credit: Studio 397

It has become a running gag that Motorsport Games is yet to release a game fully developed under its own control. And it is even further from creating a successful simracing title.

Well over the weekend, we found out that the studio is not going to release a good simracing title for at least another year. During an investor call on Friday focusing on earning in Q4 of 2022, the management team announced that the much-anticipated Indycar game won't be releasing in 2023.

A snippet of the call posted to Twitter sees Dmitry Kozko, Chief Executive Officer of Motorsport Games, about the current state of the game. Despite "making strides" in the game's development efforts, the team believes it "will not be in a satisfactory position to release to the community this year."

INDYCAR game cover.jpg


Following the news, Indycar iteself responded to Racer Magazine stating: “We are evaluating this information and remain thoroughly committed to bringing the best quality video game products to the INDYCAR community.”

Will the Indycar game ever release?​

Whilst Motorsport Games said the Indycar game is well along in its development and will be ready for 2024, can we really be sure?

This particular title, along with the previously delayed BTCC game, was set for a 2022 release and has been delayed several times since its announcement. From financial struggles to the invasion of Ukraine, countless setbacks have befallen the Motorsport Games development team.

However, the main blockade on this game's path to release is the health of its studio. At the same time as setting up a call with investors detailing the good, the bad and the ugly, Motorsport Games released their Full Year 2022 Financial Results. Going over the company's fourth quarter and full year accounts, there is one glaring issue that could spell disaster for not just the Indycar racing game.


Scroll down past the good news of DLC packs released for rFactor 2 and improvements to NASCAR 21: Ignition. Skip over the bad news of a more-than-four-million-dollar net loss in Q4 of 2022 alone. And you'll arrive at the announcement that a total 2022 revenue of $10.3 million led to net losses in excess of $36 million.

Given the studio doesn't have a successful and current title to rely on, Motorsport Games is in a difficult situation. Negative cash-flow means they are spending more money than they can make. To top off the bad news for Indycar, BTCC, Le Mans Virtual and NASCAR fans, the financial document states the company currently holds around $6 million in cash. The company goes on to mention that "we do not believe we have sufficient cash on hand to fund our operations for the remainder of 2023" and that further investment is needed.

Last year, we reported on the news that MSG lost its entire board of directors. Around the same time, employees of the company were threatening to leak source code for unreleased games due to unpaid salaries. Based on this latest development, will we be seeing more stories along these lines in 2023?

Do you think we will ever see a Motorsport Games Indycar title release?
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Angus Martin
Angus Martin
Motorsport gets my blood pumping more than anything else. Be it physical or virtual, I'm down to bang doors.

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Comments

dussard
Today the arrival of a game dedicated to an exclusive license seems to me a bad strategic and financial choice. Except perhaps for Formula 1, the queen discipline in terms of media coverage - financial but not spectacle. I don't see the point of us producing a multitude of arcade games in the hope of making a commercial hit! that time is over! you have to listen to the players ... the real ones ... today there is a lot of competition and for everyone from the arcade with Forza Gran turismo, from the Simu arcade with ACC, AMS 2, Dirt Rally 2 from the simu real with Rfactor 2 and Iracing .... new things to come with assetto corsa 2 rennsport WRC for me the real fan players and not those who will spend 2 hours on the controller on their consoles then move on because repetitive etc ... in my opinion, it is necessary to exploit what works at a lower cost on an existing platform DLCs on rfactor 2 an indycar 2023 dlc with all the lasercan circuits and official liveries at 45 euros the same for the official nascar sprint cup 2023 with the new generations of car + all the laser scan circuits at 45 euros ... official competitions a bug-free professional multiplayer every day media coverage to promote the same for the btcc although these are almost complete still 1 car which should arrive soon and some circuits ! developing a game takes a very long time and people don't want to wait years anymore. just look at the debacle of nascar ingnition you have to act quickly and finally a total flop ....
nascar 2023 rfactor 2 dlc
an indycar 2023 rfactor 2 dlc
a dlc Btcc 2022-2023 rfactor 2
offline and online championship....
much cheaper than starting from scratch from an existing base faster and surely more profitable than believing that we will spend 60 euros for more **** ... then if it is a hit, just produce a console version ....and mobile phone
 
B
Premium
I would say Indianapolis being officially licensed in AMS2 after the talks over the IR18 should prove that they are in good terms...
Click to expand...
Not sure about that.... Renato himself stated Reiza don't have an agreement with IndyCAR and had no prospect of it happening anytime soon... My guees is they need to make changes to clear any IndyCAR an any IndyCAR licencees concerns before it gets released. Looks similar to the their F1 issue in AMS1.
 
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Richard Wilks
dussard said:
Today the arrival of a game dedicated to an exclusive license seems to me a bad strategic and financial choice. Except perhaps for Formula 1, the queen discipline in terms of media coverage - financial but not spectacle. I don't see the point of us producing a multitude of arcade games in the hope of making a commercial hit! that time is over! you have to listen to the players ... the real ones ... today there is a lot of competition and for everyone from the arcade with Forza Gran turismo, from the Simu arcade with ACC, AMS 2, Dirt Rally 2 from the simu real with Rfactor 2 and Iracing .... new things to come with assetto corsa 2 rennsport WRC for me the real fan players and not those who will spend 2 hours on the controller on their consoles then move on because repetitive etc ... in my opinion, it is necessary to exploit what works at a lower cost on an existing platform DLCs on rfactor 2 an indycar 2023 dlc with all the lasercan circuits and official liveries at 45 euros the same for the official nascar sprint cup 2023 with the new generations of car + all the laser scan circuits at 45 euros ... official competitions a bug-free professional multiplayer every day media coverage to promote the same for the btcc although these are almost complete still 1 car which should arrive soon and some circuits ! developing a game takes a very long time and people don't want to wait years anymore. just look at the debacle of nascar ingnition you have to act quickly and finally a total flop ....
nascar 2023 rfactor 2 dlc
an indycar 2023 rfactor 2 dlc
a dlc Btcc 2022-2023 rfactor 2
offline and online championship....
much cheaper than starting from scratch from an existing base faster and surely more profitable than believing that we will spend 60 euros for more **** ... then if it is a hit, just produce a console version ....and mobile phone
Click to expand...
I'll tell you why thats a bad idea, first, the "success" of anything on PC won't dictate if something is released on consoles, because consoles are where the big profits really are.

And second, a dedicated game has the advantage of appealing both to casual players as well as the more serious ones. Now try to imagine anybody that is used to the ease of use of a game like the codies F1 come to rf2, get dlc for it, setup the game, setup a championship with said dlc, etc etc....
 
John B. Ellis
Premium
I'll admit I'm ignorant of the finer details of the exclusive license between IndyCar and MSGM; for example, does the license cover the entire history of the IndyCar franchise or just the current iteration? If I were a developer, I would determine which IndyCar eras or formulas are still up for grabs and offer to bring that content to market. Regardless of our own personal preferences (current vs. historic, etc.), I'd wager the sim racing community would rally behind a quality IndyCar title or DLC from any era. In M & A parlance, the time is perfect for a white knight to offer an attractive alternative to the larger community of simracing shareholders.
 
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M
boxer said:
Not sure about that.... Renato himself stated Reiza don't have an agreement with IndyCAR and had no prospect of it happening anytime soon... My guees is they need to make changes to clear any IndyCAR an any IndyCAR licencees concerns before it gets released. Looks similar to the their F1 issue in AMS1.
Click to expand...
Renato said they were in good terms and they decided to avoid ruining the relation over their F-USA replica. During the same talks IMS granted AMS2 license for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which was promptly introduced in AMS2. I think this is clear proof the relation is good.
Renato also said their decision to maintain good relationship and avoid the IR18 "replica" to be published is permanent and in hope that in the future there could be more profitable cooperation which could mean either that they are hoping that in the future once the MSG exclusive is over they can get a license or maybe they are aiming at historical content being granted by IMS. No one knows for sure
 
M
John B. Ellis said:
I'll admit I'm ignorant of the finer details of the exclusive license between IndyCar and MSGM; for example, does the license cover the entire history of the IndyCar franchise or just the current iteration? If I were a developer, I would determine which IndyCar eras or formulas are still up for grabs and offer to bring that content to market. Regardless of our own personal preferences (current vs. historic, etc.), I'd wager the sim racing community would rally behind a quality IndyCar title or DLC from any era. In M & A parlance, the time is perfect for a white knight to offer an attractive alternative to the larger community of simracing shareholders.
Click to expand...
The contract is online on the SEC site as MSG has obligations to make it public since it is in the stock exchange.
My reading of it is that it does not include historic content but I am not a lawyer.
Actually there are 2 separate contracts: one for the IndyCar game and one for the related esports activities.
 
B
Premium
MadDriver11 said:
During the same talks IMS granted AMS2 license for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which was promptly introduced in AMS2. I think this is clear proof the relation is good.
Click to expand...
Still clearly IndyCar gave them a warning. One IndyCAR needs to ensure the license fee stands for something and second they may have been approached by a licensee... either way Reiza stopped the release of the car at least for now. For sure that wasn't totally voluntary. They announced it and pull it. In return IndyCAR got some $$$$ for the Indy track... It's a business... IndyCAR proficts from the licence fees. The success of the game is not their problem. Regarding this topic a late game is better than no game all... (How many years have we gone without a IndyCAR game? My guess it's been decades).. And on top of that the studios that buy licensees deserve to be protected from 3rd party look a likes. People may not like it but if it was our money on the line we would expect the same. I think Reize releasing a pontential historic IndyCAR is a great idea... I would welcome that.
 
M
boxer said:
Still clearly IndyCar gave them a warning.
Click to expand...
Clearly not. They actually tried to find a way to allow Reiza to have license but it was not possible under the current IMS obligations under the contract with MSG. And that is what Reiza already explained in their forum. The only thing they could grant is IMS license.
 
R
Wayne Hutchison said:
iRacing is just waiting for the chance to release the Indycar game that MSG was supposed to do. They already have all of the content licensed, and they just last year released World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing for XBOX/Playstation https://www.iracing.com/world-of-outlaws-dirt-racing-available-now-for-playstation-and-xbox/ so they know how to do that too. Once they get the green light from Indycar I'm sure they could have a standalone game out in a matter of months...
Click to expand...
Yeah, a "Indycar Heat" series.
Seriously, i would.be ok with that if it was available on PC. What a shame World of Outlows is only for consoles...
 
R
dussard said:
Today the arrival of a game dedicated to an exclusive license seems to me a bad strategic and financial choice. Except perhaps for Formula 1, the queen discipline in terms of media coverage - financial but not spectacle. I don't see the point of us producing a multitude of arcade games in the hope of making a commercial hit! that time is over! you have to listen to the players ... the real ones ... today there is a lot of competition and for everyone from the arcade with Forza Gran turismo, from the Simu arcade with ACC, AMS 2, Dirt Rally 2 from the simu real with Rfactor 2 and Iracing .... new things to come with assetto corsa 2 rennsport WRC for me the real fan players and not those who will spend 2 hours on the controller on their consoles then move on because repetitive etc ... in my opinion, it is necessary to exploit what works at a lower cost on an existing platform DLCs on rfactor 2 an indycar 2023 dlc with all the lasercan circuits and official liveries at 45 euros the same for the official nascar sprint cup 2023 with the new generations of car + all the laser scan circuits at 45 euros ... official competitions a bug-free professional multiplayer every day media coverage to promote the same for the btcc although these are almost complete still 1 car which should arrive soon and some circuits ! developing a game takes a very long time and people don't want to wait years anymore. just look at the debacle of nascar ingnition you have to act quickly and finally a total flop ....
nascar 2023 rfactor 2 dlc
an indycar 2023 rfactor 2 dlc
a dlc Btcc 2022-2023 rfactor 2
offline and online championship....
much cheaper than starting from scratch from an existing base faster and surely more profitable than believing that we will spend 60 euros for more **** ... then if it is a hit, just produce a console version ....and mobile phone
Click to expand...
The vision aroung Nascar Ignition was the best one : creating a solid software around a solid physics engine and a modern graphic engine. That would have been a perfect base for many games to come. The execution went really wrong, we don't know what happened.

The basic strategy was perfect, but something in the details went really wrong and unclear being technical aspects, organisational aspects or financial aspects. It would be really interesting to know what happened, which aspect was a failure. Basically it was just improving the Nascar Heat formula and MSG failed.

Launching a new gen game as a DLC for an obscure PC game (yes, rfactor2) isn't a strategy, it's a suicide.
 
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M
Jebus said:
So, speculation.
Click to expand...
Nope the official information from Reiza. By the way, IMS being now a track included in AMS2 is fact and the fact it has been included after the talks with IC is also a fact. Then you can make the conspiracy theory you want out of them.
 
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Jebus
MadDriver11 said:
Nope the official information from Reiza. By the way, IMS being now a track included in AMS2 is fact and the fact it has been included after the talks with IC is also a fact. Then you can make the conspiracy theory you want out of them.
Click to expand...

Care to give a link to a post where Renato says that Reiza was ordered to ditch the generic indy car? I haven't seen such post and I visit Reiza forums all the time.

Dunno what that conspiracy crap is you try to attach into this. I'm interested because if it was a part of some license deal not to release the generic indy then they won't probably do it ever. But if it was kind of a goodwill gesture, or playing safe, from Reiza's part then it's a different situation.
 
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M
Jebus said:
Care to give a link to a post where Renato says that Reiza was ordered to ditch the generic indy car? I haven't seen such post and I visit Reiza forums all the time.

Dunno what that conspiracy crap is you try to attach into this. I'm interested because if it was a part of some license deal not to release the generic indy then they won't probably do it ever. But if it was kind of a goodwill gesture, or playing safe, from Reiza's part then it's a different situation.
Click to expand...
There you go:


You can see also the conversations before in the same thread.
As mentioned they chatted (according to Reiza it was IC contacting them back after much much earlier requests to discuss licenses fell without response for long time), Reiza decided that the best course of action following their objections was to preserve the good relation and came back from the same chat with Indianapolis Motor Speedway license.
No lawyers involved, hands slapping and whatnot.
 
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Durge Driven
RichardHessels said:
WOw the amount of long reads here..... You guys got nothing better to do?
Like driving sims really you like.
Click to expand...

I said nothing in entire thread only posted Bob Marley video so excuse the long post.
I try to answer your question.

They are like mongrel dogs with a dirty stinky old bone. :x3:
Just won't let it go. rF2 is a anomaly, no sim in history has ever been savaged as bad.

Thing is in what world do they think anything will change, I told ISI they need to start work on gmotor3.0 early access. It was clear to me way back then that rF2 would never ever sell enough product to pay for itself. ISI put their whole lives on the line for rF2. Remember they were not interested in offline or AI or pretty things, they said so 100 times.

So why do they go on knowing these facts and they are facts make no mistake and have been for years.

They keep fixing things, like AI just got big improvements apparently I have not tested. It won't matter what they do they will never stop they will just attack another area till rF2 is dead and buried.

When I put utube of Bob Marley "everything will be all right" I am not writing off negative people. I am saying that's life whatever happens be happy no matter how bad things get.


Funny thing highest positive % for AMS2 it's 90% while the lowest for rF2 is 80%
So 9 out of 10 are positive about AMS2 and 8 out of 10 are positive about rF2.
So all you haters out there tell me, what do I deduce from that 1 person ? :roflmao:
 
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