Motorsport Games, which owns the license to exclusively produce video games featuring the NTT IndyCar Series, announced on Tuesday that it has suspended development of the upcoming title.
The news came via the company’s third quarter earnings call, during which management at the company briefed investors on the state of the business.
Executives outlined the status of Motorsport Games’ ongoing cost reduction plan, highlighting the ‘strategic sale’ of its NASCAR license to iRacing that was announced a month prior.
The most consequential part of the earnings call was the confirmation of reports that the company was reducing its size through layoffs and a closure of one of its major development studios in Australia.
That studio had been working on the planned IndyCar game, but development of that title has now been suspended for the time being.
“This quarter has continued to be one of business transformation,” said Stephen Hood, Chief Executive Officer of Motorsport Games. “We have continued to reduce costs under the previously announced 2022 Restructuring Program with the first signs of forward momentum starting to become apparent.
“This includes our recent announcement on the strategic sale of our NASCAR license, which we believe improves the business outlook by reducing our financial commitments and allowing the company to focus its limited resources on near-term projects that are anticipated to come to market.
“Additional cost-saving measures have included the recent closure of our Australian development studio, with corresponding global headcount reductions, and the suspension of the development of our previously planned IndyCar game, to decrease operating expenses whilst also removing projects that are underperforming or are unlikely to generate revenue.”
The original announcement that IndyCar would have its first sanctioned video game in nearly two decades came in July 2021, with an expected release date of 2023.
Since then, Motorsport Games has been through rough times, with its stock falling from $130 to just under $3 per share in the past two years despite a 1-for-10 reverse stock split.
A continued lack of updates about the IndyCar title suggested that the game would either be launched late or would be cancelled outright, but today was the first time the company has admitted that it is no longer making progress on the game.
iRacing cannot host a virtual Indy 500 event while Motorsport Games retains the license. Image: IndyCar / iRacing
Motorsport Games currently still holds the license for IndyCar, with the racing series seemingly waiting until the game company fails to deliver on previously agreed deadlines in order to force a breach of contract.
For its part, Motorsport Games is still officially planning on resuming development of the title in the future, as highlighted on the earnings call.
“Company’s plans to identify opportunities to resume development of its IndyCar title elsewhere within the business following the closing of its Australian studio.”
iRacing continues to have digital versions of the Dallara IR-18 chassis available within its platform, but has been forbidden from hosting digital versions of real events, such as the Indianapolis 500, since Motorsport Games acquired the exclusive license.
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