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

Nascar race at Circuit of the Americas, Sonoma, Watkins Glen, Charlotte Road, Road America, Daytona Road .....funny looking ovals
Beat me to it, mate. It would appear those sooking about ovals didn't bother checking out the video.

For mine, this title shows a lot more promise than the previous games. I'll be following with interest.
 
Having seen an actual gameplay video for this somewhere on YouTube with AI actually racing and not just in a train-track (as Austin Ogonoski had rightfully feared) I'm somewhat hopeful. Pretty graphics + rF2 engine is reason for hope, too. But yeah, let's not get our expectations out of whack.

In addition to the implications for future Motorsport Games games for BTCC and WEC, the other reason to care about this is that a really high quality AI experience in oval racing (with really solid car handling) has not existed since NR2003 -- nearly TWENTY years ago. Just weird. (I know iRacing sorta counts, but it also... doesn't). It's about time a game got close.
 
it's tempting, like almost all racing games, but I bought the Nascar Heat 4 ( or whatever it is) and find it bit frustrating , I find it quite easy to make mistake, or AI make a mistake, and race is over , not really fun , at least not for me

but if it's good/decent, I don't mind supporting the devs, even if it's a game I won't play much myself
 
Actual on track footage has me worried that it is more Heat v2.0 than rFactor.

Sure there is eye candy, but it is a racing game.
I personally don’t care about the off track stuff, for someone like me that’s money thrown away, I just want decent GUI and a good racing experience (does not even have to be the perfect sim, but it must perform well and have the right balance).

…would love to be proven wrong, always in for a good NASCAR experience.
 
Content creators got ahold of it tonight. Game is a complete mess. Makes me worried for the future of Motorsport Games. Aggressively snatching up licenses only to make borderline shovelware.

I was just about to link your video :D

the main problem or the BIG red flag I see with this game is that they put a year in the title, meaning this will be a yearly release and given studio 397's track record, expect many of these bugs to carry over year after year as 6 months of continuous patching must eventually end when they start on the next years edition
 
Honestly I hope they pull an NBA Elite 11 and either delay or cancel it. It's not unheard of.

After all the grandiose moves they have made in the years leading up to release of the first game, posturing themselves as the future of hardcore racing games and securing the licenses they have, releasing this in the state it's in would permanently tank their credibility/reputation.

I mean, this is what they felt comfortable labeling a release candidate and sending to Streamers. This is not an acceptable product to sell to people.

 
Beta, early, alpha or whatever, it looks like a steaming pile of lamma shat. I enjoyed the 18fps, flickering, spazzing light emissives, AI behaving like a tank sim - why go on.

One view of this screen :roflmao: turn off the lights, pull the curtains and head to the liquor cabinet.
lol, I want tight allover but with Biggie downforce :laugh:
edit: and this is gonna be released in 9 days? :roflmao:
5gvk.png
 
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Why didn't they make a real NASCAR game just with rFactor 2 (graphics and physic). Please S397 remove your name from this stuff, and leave Motorsport Games. I was afraid for all the simulators bought by Motorsport Games but this leaves me speechless. :(:mad::poop:
 
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Premium
Waiting for a good NASCAR sim since Nascar Racing 2003 Season.
But I have doubts this will be a contender...
You probably only have Iracing left which pretty much covers everything about NASCAR. Their AI (if you fancy offline) is imo on the way to be the best among all sims (and they only have AI since end of 2019, so still room to improve). However…there are the costs…
 

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