Motorsport Games loses IndyCar license
Motorsport Games has lost the license to make video games based on the IndyCar series, the corresponding SEC filing reveals, constituting another blow for the struggling company after it had already lost the NASCAR license to rival racing simulation maker iRacing in October 2023.
IndyCar entered into a licensing agreement with Motorsport Games in 2021, but the studio was unable to get a game up and running since then.
Motorsport Games, headquartered in Miami, faces difficult times.
Motorsport Games
Motorsport Games is behind the rFactor sim racing platform, which has been used for several high-stakes sim racing events over the past years, such as the virtual edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which saw several big names from motorsport participating, among them IndyCar driver Romain Grosjean and Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen. Events hosted on rFactor have been infamously unstable, leading to Verstappen calling the latest virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans a “clown show” and vowing to never participate in it again as long it was using this platform.
Verstappen is a known fan of iRacing, so it looks like he may be getting his wish, as Motorsport Games and rFactor seem to have become total pariahs in the sim racing world over the recent months.
In 2022, Motorsport Games faced a lawsuit by investors, who accused executives of securities fraud, and saw most of its board step down later in the year. In the summer of 2023, the studio posted a loss of over $8 million USD for just the second quarter of the ongoing financial year.
With both NASCAR and IndyCar pulling back from their licensing agreements, the company has lost two of its biggest assets.
