British Touring Car Championship Game and Esport Series Confirmed, Scheduled for 2022

kjb
Here is another video about Mototsports games. Towards the end of this they mention that they lost the BTCC license not sure how true it is as I haven't heard that anywhere else. It would makes sense in light of how they have no release date for the BTCC games
Yeah. I just watched that video and says how IndyCar and NASCAR are trying to pull out as well. I'm partially wondering if it's somewhat linked to iRacing purchasing 704Games and starting being involved in the console market with the World of Outlaws game.
 
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Yeah. I just watched that video and says how IndyCar and NASCAR are trying to pull out. I'm partially wondering if it's somewhat linked to iRacing purchasing 704Games and starting being involved in the console market with the World of Outlaws game.
It might very well be part of it.
 
kjb
Towards the end of this they mention that they lost the BTCC license not sure how true it is as I haven't heard that anywhere else.
BTCC didn't think so when I spoke to them for our original article...
We’ve spoken to BTCC regarding the game, and were told that no specific details are available at this time but that both BTCC and Motorsport Games remain committed to the title.
 
I really wanted that Indycar game too. This company and their ambitions seemed to good to be true when I first heard of them.

This just makes iRacing look more attractive to me, I would rather that developer have a monopoly on wec, indycar, btcc, etc. Sim racing on console sucks.
 
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BTCC didn't think so when I spoke to them for our original article...
I still have doubts. Alan Gow has typically been on contact with Codemasters, according to himself and Dan Cammish a few years ago. So the switch to Motorsport Games for him at least, will have been quite a leap of faith into the unknown and as Alan has always been skeptical of the money involved and wanting the full field represented in a game, MSG have clearly put a promise of big £'s on the table to secure that. As recently as 2019 Alan Gow said there was no business case for a BTCC game:

“Our take is very simple – We’ve always been in contact with Codemasters and I’ve had a relationship going back with them into the 90’s,” said Gow.

“At the moment there is no business case for a game because producing a game nowadays is much more expensive than it ever has been. Back when we produced the [original] TOCA Touring Car game I think they had three young developers in front of a computer, they spent about six months doing it and that’s it. Now it is much more complex so it is a much more expensive proposition, and the business model has totally changed.

“We’re always in contact with Codemasters and with other game producers too about one day producing a game but at the moment it doesn’t work for us financially."


But there are so many doubts to their financing and stuff that seem to be coming out more and more, is there any more money to come?

They're also recruiting an awful lot of people in the UK, in what on paper would seem like very important roles, executive producers, senior game designers, physics engineers etc. A total of 46 key roles in the UK are currently in active recruitment phase. Then there's the Russian sanction side of things which may be hurting them, of the 133 people the company employ according to LinkedIn, 48 are based in Russia. That HAS to be hurting them.

So either the development is in serious turmoil and we won't be seeing it for at least another year, or we are never going to see it and BTCC's commitment to the title is misplaced based on promises from MSG that will never be fulfilled.
 
If Motorsport Games is some sort of money scheme, and the license holders bail out, who is moving to what other studios? I can see NASCAR and even Indycar going with iRacing and Monster Games. I can't see who would want to be BTCC and WEC, it won't be EA. Nacon?
 
Well, this is concerning.


If Motorsport Games is some sort of money scheme,
Honestly for all the rather sketchy stuff they've done I honestly don't think they're attempting to scam anyone. The whole thing just seems like a company, in this case Motorsport Network, wanting to expand their portfolio and seeing an opportunity in racing games despite having no prior experience in that area. I think where they went wrong was thinking it would be as easy as buying a couple studios and the rights to a handful of popular but long neglected (in the gaming realm) racing series'. Clearly as we have seen it certainly has been a very steep uphill battle on loose soil.

As for Austin, while he can and does often bring up very valid points he also has a tendency to speak from his nether regions. That's all I'll say in regards to that...

and the license holders bail out, who is moving to what other studios? I can see NASCAR and even Indycar going with iRacing and Monster Games. I can't see who would want to be BTCC and WEC, it won't be EA. Nacon?
I wouldn't be shocked if iRacing just bought the entire company, licenses and all.
 
If Motorsport Games is some sort of money scheme, and the license holders bail out, who is moving to what other studios? I can see NASCAR and even Indycar going with iRacing and Monster Games. I can't see who would want to be BTCC and WEC, it won't be EA. Nacon?

EA would be the most likely mainstream publisher to take BTCC at least, given Codemasters history and relationship with the series.
 
Honestly for all the rather sketchy stuff they've done I honestly don't think they're attempting to scam anyone. The whole thing just seems like a company, in this case Motorsport Network, wanting to expand their portfolio and seeing an opportunity in racing games despite having no prior experience in that area.
I'm not convinced that it's 100% on the up, it's owner has set up 78 companies in 28 years, 48 of which are now inactive.


It may not be a scam, but it does stink of something not being 100% legitimate.

Then again I might just be sceptical of Russian billionaires who's source of wealth is cloudy to say the least.
 
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You'll have to explain this one a bit - is it a case of Motorsport Games' eyes being bigger than their belly and wanting all the things before they've produced anything much, or do they have limited amount of resources to be working on 5/6 different serie and those disciplines now having no confidence in MG's ability to produce a worthwhile product?

Surely if the underlying physics engine is top notch, then it doesn't really matter what you plug into it and the rest is just window dressing?
 
You'll have to explain this one a bit - is it a case of Motorsport Games' eyes being bigger than their belly and wanting all the things before they've produced anything much, or do they have limited amount of resources to be working on 5/6 different serie and those disciplines now having no confidence in MG's ability to produce a worthwhile product?

Surely if the underlying physics engine is top notch, then it doesn't really matter what you plug into it and the rest is just window dressing?
It's probably a combination of both. They've clearly had a big investment on the back of some big promises, spent the money on acquiring all the licenses for series' people want to see in game form, and now don't have any teams in place to actually make a go of it. Their jobs listings on LinkedIn seem to confirm this in at least a partial degree. Mostly UK based positions but all very important in the grand scheme of game development, which is probably why we haven't seen or heard anything of BTCC, because there isn't a team working on it.

Having a good physics system is a small part of the puzzle. Everything else absolutely matters as well, plus something like ISIMotor, probably isn't optimised at all for console usage, and as a huge market for individual licensed racing games will be console, it needs to work and work well in those scenarios.

At the moment, with the rumours going around regarding Motorsport Games, their silence on the matters speaks volumes to me. For their own PRs sake you would expect them to come out and clarify issues around the NASCAR license rumours, BTCC dropping off the release roadmap and so on.
 
At the moment, with the rumours going around regarding Motorsport Games, their silence on the matters speaks volumes to me. For their own PRs sake you would expect them to come out and clarify issues around the NASCAR license rumours, BTCC dropping off the release roadmap and so on.
It's interesting how this wasn't even properly discussed in their investor's call. It's a product with some fanfare about it so would be something that would be a key revenue source. Yet there's nothing. It's odd.

Watching the first race makes me want a BTCC game. Hope somebody else actually does it.
 
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EA would be the most likely mainstream publisher to take BTCC at least, given Codemasters history and relationship with the series.
Indeed, can't see anywhere else for a BTCC game other than back with CM. Question is if they'll think it's worthwhile for a standalone game though, or if they would want to just include it in GRID as one step on the ladder.
 
Indeed, can't see anywhere else for a BTCC game other than back with CM. Question is if they'll think it's worthwhile for a standalone game though, or if they would want to just include it in GRID as one step on the ladder.
Alan Gow wouldn't want the latter, he's said in the past it would have to have all the teams, drivers and rounds to be worth considering. So unless it goes into Grid as an entire series then it'll be standalone.

At least that's would he said in 2020.
 
I could see a BTCC game working along the same lines as some of the Tony Stewart games, maybe have a couple of support series like Ginetta Juniors or something in there. Not sure if it would be a big enough draw for EA to be interested, a smaller studio probably.
 
Indeed, can't see anywhere else for a BTCC game other than back with CM. Question is if they'll think it's worthwhile for a standalone game though, or if they would want to just include it in GRID as one step on the ladder.
And miss out on a whole new game to release more DLC for?
 
Indeed, can't see anywhere else for a BTCC game other than back with CM. Question is if they'll think it's worthwhile for a standalone game though, or if they would want to just include it in GRID as one step on the ladder.
As much as I would love to see it I don't think BTCC is worthy enough of a standalone game. I think it would have to be a modern version of TOCA that incorporates multiple series from around the world. My ideal fantasy version of that game would be BTCC, DTM, Japanese Super GT, Aussie V8 Supercars, and IMSA.
 
Alan Gow wouldn't want the latter, he's said in the past it would have to have all the teams, drivers and rounds to be worth considering. So unless it goes into Grid as an entire series then it'll be standalone.

At least that's would he said in 2020.
The question then is if the series is popular enough to make a game like that financially viable to develop.

F1 is.
WRC is.
World Rallycross isn’t (which is why it was packed into DiRT games).
 
As much as I would love to see it I don't think BTCC is worthy enough of a standalone game. I think it would have to be a modern version of TOCA that incorporates multiple series from around the world. My ideal fantasy version of that game would be BTCC, DTM, Japanese Super GT, Aussie V8 Supercars, and IMSA.
Proper DTM or GT3-series#600 DTM?
 
There is a footnote for BTCC and aren't the NASCAR games red enough?

View attachment 1132659
Thanks to their NASCAR 21 patch for 2022, this isn't even accurate now. NASCAR isn't getting a full game anymore.
FRc2YPgXMAE3wsq.jpg
 
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