NASCAR announced Thursday that iRacing has acquired the NASCAR Team Properties’ (NTP) exclusive simulation-style console racing games license from Motorsport Games Inc.

The license will transfer from 704Games, a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorsport Games, to iRacing, which will begin developing a NASCAR console game expected in 2025.

iRacing is a separate company from NASCAR but holds the rights to online realistic simulation games that are subscription based. The games are based on real NASCAR tracks, drivers, and teams. The company has a longtime partnership with NASCAR dating back to 2010.

NASCAR’s history with gaming began in 1994 when Papyrus Design Group was the sole developer and released NASCAR themed games until 1997 when EA Sports received a NASCAR license and began developing its own games for Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Nintendo 64 with titles like NASCAR 98, NASCAR 99, and NASCAR 2000 all of which became wildly popular. The games eventually transitioned to PC. In 2009 the company released its final version, NASCAR 09.

EA then announced that they would not be continuing the series due to low sales and the NASCAR license expired in 2013. This was followed by a short-lived run by British game developer Eutechnyx which made NASCAR based games such as NASCAR The Game: 2011. In 2016 Dusenberry Martin Racing took over the NASCAR license. That company was rebranded to 704Games in 2017 and 704Games was acquired by Motorsports Games in 2021.

To date there have been 2 game releases from the company: NASCAR 21: Ignition, and NASCAR Ultimate Heat Edition+.

Motorsports Games has tried to weather controversies that included a March 2022 lawsuit from investors that accused four Motorsport Games executives of securities fraud, and in November 2022, the developer saw most of its board of directors step down.

In addition, in 2021, Motorsports Games announced an agreement with IndyCar to develop an IndyCar video game series. That hasn’t happened with IndyCar CEO Mark Miles admitting that Motorsports Games had “put a lot into it” “But they are struggling to have the resources to finish the job.”

In January 2023, Motorsport Games held the fourth annual Le Mans virtual 24-hour endurance race, an equivalent to the real-life 24 Hours of Le Mans event. The race took place in Motorsport Games' sim racing video game rFactor 2 and featured notable motorsport drivers, such as Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen and former Formula One driver Romain Grosjean. The event was plagued with server issues and disconnections and featured a lot of criticism from participants. Verstappen described the event as a "clown show."

The past August reports surfaced that NASCAR was looking to revoke Motorsports Games exclusive license to develop console games which was to have been in force until 2029. That news came after Motorsports Games reported a loss of $8.2 million for its second-quarter earnings and said it had $1.4 million cash on hand at the end of July.

iRacing was founded in 2003 by Dave Kaemmer and John Henry. Now the CEO of iRacing, Kaemmer previously cofounded the Papyrus Design Group.

“When we were approached with the option to acquire the license for the simulation-style NASCAR console game, which was the console game and franchise that we were dreaming about doing, it was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” said iRacing president Tony Gardner. “Having the ability to build a NASCAR console game is a privilege we promise to execute with the utmost care. We look forward to working diligently with NASCAR industry stakeholders to deliver a product that provides an amazing experience for the gaming community and NASCAR fans worldwide.”

iRacing has grown into a key technical partner of the sanctioning body as its “official simulation partner.” iRacing runs dozens of NASCAR official series on iRacing with thousands of people participating daily from late models to Cup cars, including the $100,000-to-win eNASCAR Coca-Cola KO iRacing Series and the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the Massachusetts-based company’s simulation and engineering abilities have helped NASCAR develop new cars and tracks, including the NextGen car, Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, and Chicago Street Race, among others. With this acquisition, iRacing can extend its expertise broadly to include NASCAR Team Properties.

Perhaps iRacing biggest contribution came during the sport’s shutdown from COVID in 2020 when the iRacing Pro Invitational Series came about as racetracks were shuttered. It gained attention from mainstream media as drivers raced from their homes via “sim rigs.”As the only game in town at the time, viewers who had never watched a race tuned in. Six of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series events on Fox and FS1 ranked as the highest-rated esports TV programs of all time.

“With all the NASCAR game experience, console experience, resources and technology assets we already have in place,” Gardner said. “We are in a fantastic position to hit the ground running building a great NASCAR game franchise on the various platforms.”

Whether the new console simulation games will become as popular as they once were remains to be seen. But there is little doubt that with iRacing they will have a better chance to do so.