With things continuously changing at Motorsport Games and lawsuits being threatened by developers, many gamers are wondering what is going to happen to current properties. One specific game is NASCAR 23.
The follow-up to NASCAR 21: Ignition, NASCAR 23 is scheduled to be the next full game released by the studio after it only released a 2022 update to NASCAR 21 last year. However, a large amount of the team has been moved to work on the upcoming IndyCar game slated for a spring 2023 release. This has left things up in the air regarding NASCAR 23.
“Someone did ask [during a recent meeting] what it meant for NASCAR 23 and they said they’re not sure as it’s still in the design phase,” a source close to the game’s development said.
When pressed about why there aren’t designs, it was said that there were, but then things changed within the company.
“The lead designer left as well as team changes going on, and now it’s being built on the back of KartKraft and IndyCar,” they said.
One current employee tells Insider Gaming that the dedicated NASCAR development team currently sits in the single digits. What’s more, they don’t believe NASCAR will even see a release this year.
Will NASCAR 23 Release?
Another source speculated that if it does come, it’s likely going to be a game built similar to IndyCar but models would be swapped along with other changes to replicate the NASCAR experience.
Based on the latest product timeline from Motorsport Games, NASCAR 23 is scheduled to be launched in “mid-2023”. That would place it at a June or July release. With the game still in the designing stage in January, it raises questions about what will ultimately happen with the title.
The same source who said the lead designer had left compared what’s happening now to what happened last year with the NASCAR 22 update.
“It feels similar to last year with ’22 when they decided to make it a DLC which was originally gonna be paid,” they said about NASCAR 23. “Then about a month before the announcement and release it changed to a free update.”
Want more Insider Gaming? Check out our story on what PlayStation 5 update 7.0 is set to include.
