NASCAR, the most popular motorsport in the United States, has worked with video game developers to design several video games. In 2003, EA Sports received an exclusive console license to produce NASCAR games, eliminating Papyrus and Hasbro Interactive as competitors. In May 2009, iRacing.com received a license to run NASCAR-sanctioned online racing starting in 2010. In June 2009 at the E3 Gaming Expo, NASCAR was revealed to be a part of the Gran Turismo series for the first time in Gran Turismo 5 for the PlayStation 3.
In 1994, Papyrus Design Group, an up-and-coming simulation racing developer (at the time) that was best known for the IndyCar Racing series, released the first installation to the NASCAR Racing series into the video game market. [1]
Over the next decade Papyrus teamed with Sierra Entertainment and continued producing games for their NASCAR Racing series. The NASCAR Racing games were universally praised for their accuracy in terms of physics and track feel, with NASCAR Cup and Xfinity (formerly Nationwide) Series drivers regularly practicing for upcoming tracks using the games. Prior to sweeping both races at Pocono in 2006, Denny Hamlin had only seen the track in NASCAR Racing 2003 Season .
Electronic Arts, through their EA Sports banner, developed NASCAR games for the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Nintendo 64 under names such as NASCAR 98 , NASCAR 99 , NASCAR 2000 and NASCAR Road Racing. Also, a big hit for the company was NASCAR Rumble , a spin-off of the normal NASCAR racing games. The company expanded into NASCAR games for PC, Game Boy Color for their 2000 game, and the PlayStation 2 for their 2001 game, the last under the old name. For 2002, the series was renamed NASCAR Thunder , and by 2003, has simultaneously been released on GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, and PlayStation.
EA Sports decided to split their old "Thunder" titles into two separate racing lines; one for consoles focused on gameplay, and one for PC, which attempted to focus on technical accuracy in the spirit of the old Papyrus/Sierra lines – indeed the PC game used many former members of the Papyrus development teams (although David Kaemmer was not involved). The games were given differing names, as to not confuse the two, with the console series renamed NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup (released in 2004, a reference to the new NASCAR playoff format) and the PC series renamed NASCAR SimRacing (released in 2005). Sweeping gameplay changes meant that the "Chase for the Cup" name was dropped from the 2006 edition of the console game. Instead, the game was titled NASCAR 06: Total Team Control . The new name is derived from the new feature by which a player who has teammates in the field can actually switch to their teammates' cars and control them during a race. It was released on August 30, 2005. Released on September 6, 2006, NASCAR 07 was EA Sports' tenth game in the series. NASCAR 09 was the final game in the EA Sports NASCAR series. It is available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well as PlayStation 2. The NASCAR series took a different approach in 2009, as EA introduced NASCAR Kart Racing on the Wii console. It was later announced that EA would not make a NASCAR 10, and the series is currently on hiatus because of a drop in sales and now has lost the license they had with NASCAR since 2003.
Starting in 2010, EA's license to make NASCAR games expired. Gran Turismo 5 features NASCAR in the game with cars from 2010 season and some tracks on the NASCAR schedule; 2011 season cars were added later in an update. Also, iRacing.com and NASCAR started an Online Racing Series which started in 2010 and the NASCAR Peak Antifreeze Series later that year. iRacing and NASCAR had a close partnership and by the start of the 2014 season, the simulation had every car make/model that has run in Sprint Cup from 2013 and 2014 seasons and every track that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on the simulation. Other games that came out with NASCAR licensing after 2010 included Days of Thunder: Arcade (based on Days of Thunder ), which is a game sold as an Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network game for the Xbox 360 and PS3.
In 2010, Eutechnyx began creating games based on NASCAR starting in 2011 with NASCAR The Game: 2011 . [1] NASCAR The Game: Inside Line was released on November 6, 2012. Afterwards, Eutechnyx made two new games: the first NASCAR licensed video game for iOS, and NASCAR The Game: 2013 for Steam. Eutechnyx switched publishers for NASCAR '14 to Deep Silver after having Activision publishing previous games of the NASCAR The Game series. DMi Games replaced Eutechnyx for NASCAR '15 on January 1, 2015.
Dusenberry Martin Racing took over the NASCAR license and began developing new games in 2016, as well as releasing a Eutechnyx-developed update game for the 2015 season. DMR is an American-based company located in the NASCAR Plaza building in Uptown, Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is headed by former Hasbro Interactive CEO Tom Dusenberry (developers of the NASCAR Heat series) and Ed Martin, former executive at Papyrus, Hasbro, Atari, EA Sports, and most recent licensee Eutechnyx. [2] [3] [4] [5] DMR partnered with NASCAR Heat developer Monster Games to create NASCAR Heat Evolution . [6]
In 2017, DMR rebranded to 704Games and hired former NASCAR Media Group President, NASCAR Senior Vice President and DMR chairman Paul Brooks as CEO. [7]
Other NASCAR games include Hasbro Interactive's NASCAR Heat ; Papyrus' NASCAR Legends , which took players back to the 1970 season, featuring a different point system, and many different tracks. There is also a pinball game: 3-D Ultra NASCAR Pinball . This game was based on the NASCAR Racing 3 engine; EA Sports' NASCAR Revolution (released between NASCAR 99 , which came out in 1998, and NASCAR 2000 , which came out in 1999); and NASCAR Rumble , an EA game incorporating some of the features of Nintendo's Mario Kart series, but with NASCAR car designs. Gran Turismo 5 featured NASCAR as one of several new licenses that was included in the game. [8] NASCAR has also partnered with Roblox experience "Jailbreak" twice in both 2021 and 2023 and has created their own experience titled, "NASCAR SPEED HUB." [9]
This list includes games that have a NASCAR license but are not based specifically around it (such as racing simulators with other series/disciplines of racing worked into them, or which have mods which add NASCAR cars and/or tracks).
EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) with pictures or endorsements, it soon grew up to become a sub-label on its own, releasing game series such as EA Sports FC, PGA Tour, NHL, NBA Live, and Madden NFL.
Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a driver must understand all aspects of car handling that make real-world racing so difficult, such as threshold braking, how to maintain control of a car as the tires lose traction, and how properly to enter and exit a turn without sacrificing speed. It is this level of difficulty that distinguishes sim racing from arcade racing-style driving games where real-world variables are taken out of the equation and the principal objective is to create a sense of speed as opposed to a sense of realism like the Need for Speed series.
NASCAR Thunder 2004 is a racing simulator by EA Sports, released on September 16, 2003 and available in separate versions for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows. This was the last NASCAR game for the PlayStation. It was succeeded by NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup.
NASCAR Thunder 2003 is the sixth edition of the EA Sports' NASCAR racing simulator series. Developed by EA Tiburon and Budcat Creations and published by EA Sports. It was released for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox on September 18, 2002, and for Microsoft Windows on October 21. The product features Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the cover. It was the first time the NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award recipient was featured on the cover, although he did not win the award for the first time until the following year. Dale Earnhardt appeared in the game as a driver as a result of entering his name as a Create-A-Car driver's name; he did not appear in the previous game due to his death. He appeared as a legend in subsequent games.
EA Sports NASCAR, alternately known as NASCAR Thunder, is a series of NASCAR video games published by EA Sports. The series began with NASCAR 98 and NASCAR 99 in 1997 and 1998. EA Sports released NASCAR Thunder 2002 in 2001, and ever since then, Jeff Gordon (2002), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2003), and Tony Stewart (2004) were on the cover. In 2004, they changed the name of the game to NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup and added the new features to make the game more up-to-date with the recent changes to NASCAR. Kevin Harvick was on the cover. The next year, they changed the name yet again to NASCAR 06: Total Team Control. Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson were on the cover. The new features were swapping cars with teammates and voice-recognition support for use with the crew chief. The following year, the game was titled NASCAR 07 and features Elliott Sadler on the cover. The new features include a new speed blur effect and an all-new momentum system, used to describe drivers' strong and weak racetrack types. In 2004, the feature was a "Grudges and Alliances" feature in which if the player hits a car, they could retaliate. The feature received a mixed reaction.
NASCAR Thunder 2002 is a 2001 racing simulator video game developed by EA Tiburon and published by EA Sports that came out for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. It is the fifth game in the EA Sports NASCAR series of video games following NASCAR 2001, and is the first of the series to have a new title.
Eutechnyx Limited is a British video game developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Since 1997, the company has focused on racing games. They are known for their largely panned video game Ride to Hell: Retribution, work with the NASCAR The Game franchise, and as a developer on various other racing titles and games.
NASCAR 09 is the twelfth simulation installment in the EA Sports NASCAR series and the sequel to 2007 game NASCAR 08. It is developed by EA Tiburon and released on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in June 2008, and for mobile phones in September of the same year. Jeff Gordon is the cover athlete for NASCAR 09 for the first time since NASCAR 06: Total Team Control. Through the career mode, "Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup", Gordon leads a mentoring program, a new feature offered in NASCAR 09.
NASCAR Kart Racing is a kart racing video game that was released for the Wii console on February 10, 2009. The game features fourteen real NASCAR drivers and ten fictional drivers. The cover drivers are, from left to right, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Jimmie Johnson. Other drivers featured in the game are Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler, and Matt Kenseth. Joey Logano and Richard Petty are unlockable drivers in the game, either by winning an amount of trophies or discovering their cheat code. The fictional drivers in the game are Maurice L'eclair, Monica Torres, Kelly Kates, Linda Leadbetter, Shakes McDaniel, Thriller Tadwell, Billy Backfire, Bobby Backfire, Luke Trigger, and Terri Winsome.
NASCAR The Game: 2011, also known as NASCAR 2011: The Game, is a 2011 racing video game, developed by Eutechnyx and published by Activision. It is the first edition of the NASCAR The Game racing simulator series. Developed by Eutechnyx and published by Activision, it was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 29, 2011, then for Wii on May 24. It is the first NASCAR game since the contract between EA Sports and NASCAR expired, and the first by Activision Blizzard since NASCAR Racing 2003 Season.
NASCAR The Game: Inside Line is the second edition of the NASCAR The Game racing simulator series, and the sequel to NASCAR The Game: 2011. Developed by Eutechnyx and published in the United States by Activision, it was released for PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 on 6 November 2012. A PC version for Windows was released in July 2013 entitled NASCAR The Game: 2013. All the 23 Sprint Cup Series race tracks are featured in the game, with the addition of various Cup Series drivers, teams and cars. The game's cover features NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. his first cover since NASCAR Thunder 2003.
Gran Turismo 6 is a 2013 racing simulation video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the sixth main installment and the eleventh overall in the Gran Turismo series. The game was released worldwide on December 6, 2013. Gran Turismo 6 received a positive reception and was a financial success. New features included the addition of more cars and tracks, improvements to the car customization options, and partnerships with the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Ayrton Senna Institute, the FIA, and NASCAR. Gran Turismo 6 is the first game to feature officially FIA-certified content.
NASCAR '15 is a NASCAR video game, the fourth installment in the NASCAR The Game series and an update to the preceding NASCAR '14. Developed by Eutechnyx, and published by new NASCAR video game licensee Dusenberry Martin Racing, it is available on the seventh generation PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 consoles as well as Microsoft Windows. Physical copies of the console version were available at GameStop stores, with digital downloads then-available on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. Steam is selling the game for Windows PC.
NASCAR The Game, occasionally abbreviated as NTG, is a discontinued series of NASCAR video games developed by Eutechnyx, which held the NASCAR license from 2011 to the end of 2015. The first installment, NASCAR The Game: 2011, is the first NASCAR game to have been released since EA Sports relinquished the license after NASCAR 09 in 2008.
There have been numerous video games which have included the drivers, teams, cars and circuits from the Supercars Championship, the leading touring car category in Australia. Several of these games were officially licensed by Supercars. From 2011 to 2014, an online championship sanctioned by Supercars was contested on iRacing. In 2017, Supercars launched an esports competition, now known as the Supercars Eseries, using Forza Motorsport 6 and Forza Motorsport 7 until 2018 and iRacing from 2019.
NASCAR Heat Evolution is a racing video game developed by Monster Games and published by Dusenberry Martin Racing. The game was released in North America on September 13, 2016 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. It is the follow-up to the 2015 release of NASCAR '15 Victory Edition and the first developed by Monster Games since NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona was released in 2002.
704Games Company is an American video game developer and publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company acquired the license to be the exclusive developer of NASCAR video games in January 2015 and has since released six console games and a mobile game.
NASCAR Heat 2 is a racing video game by Monster Games and published by 704Games. It is the sequel to NASCAR Heat Evolution, and was released on September 12, 2017, for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows via Steam. Kyle Busch is featured on the cover. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series are featured in the game for the first time since EA Sports' 2008 release, NASCAR 09. Truck and Xfinity stand-alone tracks, including Eldora Speedway and Gateway Motorsports Park are also featured. All three series are playable online, and in career mode, the player can ascend the ranks to conquer the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
NASCAR Heat 3 is a racing video game simulating the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series and feeder competitions. It was developed by Monster Games and published by 704Games. It is the sequel to NASCAR Heat 2, and was released in North America and Europe on September 7, 2018 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows via Steam. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron are featured on the cover. The game features a new fictional Dirt late model series titled the Xtreme Dirt series which is part of an enhanced career mode.
NASCAR Heat is a series of NASCAR video games developed and produced by Monster Games and 704Games, who has held the license to publish NASCAR video games since 2015. The first game in the series to be published in the series was NASCAR Heat Evolution, and the latest game to be released in the series was NASCAR Heat 5.