NASCAR 21: Ignition Releases in 10 Days to High Expectations from Fans

NASCAR 21 Ignition Coming Soon 01.jpg
With just over one week to go until NASCAR 21: Ignition is released, there is optimism in the NASCAR community based on what Motorsport Games has revealed so far about the upcoming title.

A few months ago, when it seemed like Motorsport Games had a major announcement every few days, one of the biggest pieces on news surrounding the game developer and publisher was the reveal of NASCAR 21: Ignition. The concept of a racing title using the Unreal 4 engine for visuals and rFactor’s physics engine for the driving experience seems like a sim racer’s dream come true.

The title focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, and Motorsport Games has been deliberate in distancing themselves from the NASCAR Heat game series. The Heat series had developed a reputation for underwhelming fans of NASCAR, and the hope is that Ignition represents a rebirth of the official title of one of the most popular auto racing series in the world.


Reception of the subsequent game teasers and trailers on the official Motorsport Games YouTube channel has been overwhelmingly positive, with each receiving 95% or more likes. The team has also given the public a few peaks behind the curtain as far as the development of the cars and tracks, and an introduction to some of the members of the development team.

NASCAR 21: Ignition was even playable for NASCAR event attendees recently. Motorsport Games brought the game to select races in recent months for fans to try. While some cell phone footage shot at the live demos has popped up on YouTube, it’s difficult to say whether the title will live up to its potential. Questions have been raised about the level of customization possible in Ignition, and some footage seems to hint at flaws in the AI. But, with the full game not yet shown and many post-release updates surely still to come, there is optimism in the community that NASCAR 21: Ignition will be the game fans have been waiting for.

NASCAR 21 Ignition Coming Soon 02.jpg


NASCAR 21: Ignition is scheduled for release on the 28th of October on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Be sure to check back with RaceDepartment for a full review shortly after release. Let us know what your expectations are for this title in the comments below.
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

I wish Steam and other online game stores would institute some kind of "basic quality check" for these game releases. Any game that is submitted for sale and fails the test doesn't go up for sale at all and is barred from resubmitting for the quality test for at least 3 months. If you don't have the moral compass to delay your game due to incompletion (funds, time restraints, incompetency), then the store will do it for you. Swindled customers who buy your incomplete games shouldn't count as trying to get a cash infusion to finish the same game.

This "submit a s*** alpha version because I can update it later over the next year" BS needs to stop. Doesn't matter if you can get refunds or not, it's the principle of the whole thing: people pay for a finished game, not a turd of a title and a bunch of broken promises. Worst thing about this era in gaming.
 
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For those who struggle to get their wheel working (or end up with the accelerator on the clutch pedal):

Configure your wheel and pedals to rFactor 2 and save your settings as something memorable like “Nascar ignition”

These will be saved somewhere like H:\Steam Games\steamapps\common\rFactor 2\UserData\Controller

Copy this over to H:\Steam Games\steamapps\common\NASCAR 21 Ignition\NascarNext\Content\Physics\Assets\Controllers

Then select the wheel profile “nascar ignition” in the options.
 
For those who struggle to get their wheel working (or end up with the accelerator on the clutch pedal):

Configure your wheel and pedals to rFactor 2 and save your settings as something memorable like “Nascar ignition”

These will be saved somewhere like H:\Steam Games\steamapps\common\rFactor 2\UserData\Controller

Copy this over to H:\Steam Games\steamapps\common\NASCAR 21 Ignition\NascarNext\Content\Physics\Assets\Controllers

Then select the wheel profile “nascar ignition” in the options.
While it's nice that there is a work around, this should absolutely not be necessary to be able to use a basic function of the game.

For those that don't own rf2, basically they have to buy rf2 or wait till mg sort the game out, in order to play.
 
While it's nice that there is a work around, this should absolutely not be necessary to be able to use a basic function of the game.

For those that don't own rf2, basically they have to buy rf2 or wait till mg sort the game out, in order to play.
True (i was just trying to be helpful with something that took a while to solve)

I had expected so much more from this title. I am wondering who at Motorsport Games thought it was a good idea to launch it in its current state.
 
While it's nice that there is a work around, this should absolutely not be necessary to be able to use a basic function of the game.

For those that don't own rf2, basically they have to buy rf2 or wait till mg sort the game out, in order to play.

You are right, but you do not have to buy RF2 for the workaround because there is a demo you can download via Steam.
 
I am gonna take different angle on this post.

Motorsport games is publicly traded company on Nasdaq.

The financials are not looking good and if this continues with absolute garbage games like this Nascar attempt.

They could be out of business in 2 years.

View attachment 511473

Financial metrics quarter over quarter are getting worse.

-negative net income doubled previous quarter
-operating income doubled
-decrease in total revenue
-net income negative

basically they are burning money

Sorry for bumping this but look at this chart now

holy shiit

qcLJpDa.png
 
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Sorry for bumping this but look at this chart now

holy shiit

qcLJpDa.png
Just a value based on trust in the future ability of the company to generate enough cash for the investors. The decisions of saling the shares at low price are based on financial analysis , on the previous figures (current results), on sheep effect, although they should be based before everything about the business plan (and its credibility). There's a lot of irrationality there.

Previous figures, the results, are more interesting but not enough as there is no notion of ba1ance which would show the financial state of the company, which would give us a better idea of the future of the nascar franchise and of rfactor2.
 

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