 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: MSGM | |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2018 Miami, Florida, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Revenue | US$15,075,530 (2021) [1] |
| US$−33,161,991 (2021) | |
| Total assets | US$50,703,203 (2021) |
Number of employees | 189 (2021) |
| Parent | Motorsport Network |
| Website | motorsportgames |
Motorsport Games is an American video game developer, publisher and esports event organizer based in Miami, Florida. [2] Motorsport Games is part of the Motorsport Network.
Motorsport Games was founded in 2018 and on August 14, 2018, Motorsport Games acquired 53.5% equity interest in 704Games, at the time the current rights holder to the NASCAR video game series. [3] as a result, Motorsport Games became the official developer and publisher of the NASCAR video game racing franchise. [4] [5] In the same month, Motorsport Games collaborated with Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) to launch the Le Mans esports series competition. [6]
In September 2019, Motorsport Games released the NASCAR Heat 4 game. In May 2020, 704 Games replaced Monster Games as developer for NASCAR Heat 5 , [7] which was released on July 10, 2020. [8] [9]
In March 2021 the company announced that it was acquiring Studio 397 and its rFactor 2 sim racing platform. In March 2022 it was announced that rFactor2 had been appointed the official sim racing platform of the all-electric FIA Formula E championship. [10]
In August 2021 Motorsport Games announced that former President of EA Sports and former CEO of Liverpool Football Club Peter Moore had joined the Board. [11]
In 2020, during the COVID-19 Pandemic Motorsport Games produced several official esports events for NASCAR, [12] 24 Hours of Le Mans, [13] FIA Formula E World Championship and FIA World Rallycross Championship, [14] [15] [16] eNASCAR Heat Pro League [17] [18] and Virtual Race of Champions. [19]
In March 2020, Motorsport Games collaborated with Codemasters and Monster Energy, the sponsor of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, to create the World RX Esports Invitational which was held in April 2020. [20]
In June 2020, Motorsport Games, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and the FIA World Endurance Championship organized the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual race on the rFactor 2 gaming platform as a placeholder for the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans which has been postponed from June to September 2020 as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in France. [21] [22] [23] It was watched by 14.2 million television viewers and reached 8.6 million views, [24] [25] and was the recipient of several awards such as Autosport Pioneering and Engineering Award at the Autosport Awards. [26]
Motorsport Games completed its Initial public offering (IPO) in January 2021, ended up raising $69 million which was used for acquiring the remaining equity interest of 704 Games, [27] [28] and for acquiring KartKraft and Studio 397. [29] [30] [31]
In February 2021, Motorsport Games announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire game assets and code of PC kart racing simulator, KartKraft from Black Delta for an undisclosed amount with an aim to form a new studio called Motorsport Games Australia where the development of KartKraft will continue, [32] [33] [34] [35] and completed the deal in March 2021. [36] On March 3, 2021, Motorsport entered into an agreement with Luminis International to acquire Studio 397 the developer of rFactor 2 which was completed two months later. [37] [38] [39]
In July 2021, Motorsport Games announced that it will combine the Unreal graphics engine and the rFactor physics technology for developing NASCAR 21: Ignition which was released on October 26, 2021. [40] [41] [42] [43] The combination of the rFactor and Unreal engines will also be used for all the upcoming titles produced by Motorsport Games, [41] like the British Touring Car Championship game due in 2022. In the same month, Motorsport Games entered into a license with IndyCar to develop both IndyCar video game series, with a planned launch date in 2023, and events. [44] Also in June 2021, Motorsport Games announced the development of a dedicated video game title for the 24 Hours of Le Mans through a licensing deal with that race's parent organizations, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and the FIA World Endurance Championship, due in 2023. [45] [24]
As of November 2022, the BTCC game originally scheduled to have been released in 2022 was officially delayed to a 2024 release. [46]
On December 9, 2022, Motorsport Games announced an equity purchase agreement with NYC-based Alumni Capital in the amount of up to $2 million in company stock, with options up to a total of $10 million expiring December 31, 2023. [47]
In October 2023, it was announced that Motorsports Games was no longer working on a future NASCAR title, as the license to produce NASCAR video games would be transferring to iRacing, who have a long-standing relationship with NASCAR, with a title planned for 2025. [48] Motorsport laid off 40% of their workforce in November 2023. [49] The same week, TOCA, the rights holder for the BTCC, announced that it would be ending its partnership with the company "due to ongoing fundamental breaches of the agreement by Motorsport Games". [50] Over a week later, IndyCar terminated its agreement with the company, citing Motorsport Games' failure to deliver a game within the 2023 season. [51]
On March 28, 2022, U.S. federal judge Stephanos Bibas accepted a motion by investors Innovate 2 Corp., Continental General Insurance Company, and Leo Capital Holdings LLC to sue Motorsport Games in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. In the filing, the investors accuse four Motorsport Games executives of securities fraud, claiming that the executives provided misleading statistics to the remaining investors of 704Games about the company's financial situation and the sales performance of its main product, the NASCAR Heat franchise. The investors allege that the information they received allowed Motorsport Games to buy out the remaining shares of 704Games at a significant discount to what Motorsport Games offered at their IPO, at which point the NASCAR Heat series accounted for a majority of Motorsport Games' total net revenue, estimated at 99%. [52]
In November 2022, Motorsport Games received a notice of non-compliance with Nasdaq listing rules after its board of directors resigned over funding disputes. The company reported losses of $7.5 million against revenue of $1.2 million in the third quarter of 2022. [53]
In January 2023, Motorsport Games organised the fourth annual Le Mans virtual 24-hour endurance race, a parallel to the real-life 24 Hours of Le Mans event. The race took place in Motorsport Games' sim racing video game rFactor 2 and featured notable motorsport drivers, such as Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen and former Formula One driver Romain Grosjean. The event was plagued with server issues and disconnections, which lead a lot of backlash from participants. Verstappen described the event as a "clown show", [54] and online content creator and participant Jimmy Broadbent stated that this would ultimately "damage sim racing" as a medium. [55] Several days after the event, an anonymous employee threatened to publicly leak the source code for NASCAR Heat 5, NASCAR 21: Ignition, KartKraft, and the unreleased IndyCar game unless unpaid wage payments were made. [56]
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.
Sébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French professional racing driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, having won 37 races. He won four successive championships under Champ Car World Series sanction from 2004 to 2007. Later he competed at the IndyCar Series from 2011 to 2021. He also entered 27 races in Formula One for the Toro Rosso team during 2008 and the start of 2009.
Gil de Ferran was a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500. He also finished runner-up in the American Le Mans Series LMP1 class in 2009, with his own de Ferran Motorsports.
A number of video games have been made of Le Mans 24 Hours. The race, the Circuit de la Sarthe, and competing cars have been featured in racing games such as the Gran Turismo series.
Motorsport.tv is a global streaming OTT platform specialized in motor racing and motoring content, live and on demand launched in September 2018. It is a fully integrated video ecosystem developed and operated by Motorsport Network to specifically cater to different motor racing and automotive audiences.
Jonathan Ernest Kane is a British racing driver who has competed at various levels of motorsport. He currently drives for Strakka Racing in the Le Mans Series.
Colin James Braun is an American racing driver. He is the 2014 and 2015 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge Champion and currently drives the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 for Meyer Shank Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Driving the ARX-06, he was part of the winning team of the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the Xfinity Series. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Maximilian Alexander Chilton is a British racing driver who last competed for Carlin Motorsport in the IndyCar Series, before announcing his retirement from IndyCar in February 2022. Prior to IndyCar, he competed in Formula One, driving for Marussia F1 in 2013 and 2014. In 2012, he raced in the GP2 series for Marussia-backed Carlin Motorsport.
rFactor 2 is a computer racing simulator developed by Image Space Incorporated and released for Windows in 2012. Like its predecessor rFactor, rFactor2 is designed to be modified and used by professional racing teams for driver training and race car development. Much of its source code is derived from rFactor Pro, which is also used by professional racers and most of the Formula One teams and NASCAR manufacturers.
Zakary Challen Brown is an American businessman and former professional racing driver, currently residing in England. He is the Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing. Born and raised in California, Brown raced professionally around the world for ten years before developing his skills in motorsport's business and commercial worlds.
Conor J. Daly is an American racing driver. He is best known for competing in the IndyCar Series, last driving the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He also competes occasionally in NASCAR, and has also raced in the GP2 Series, and Road to Indy.
Tom Leonard Blomqvist is a British racing driver. He competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Meyer Shank Racing. Blomqvist also competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship with United Autosports in the LMP2 category. Blomqvist won the 2022 and 2023 24 Hours of Daytona with Meyer Shank and the 2018 24 Hours of Spa with BMW Motorsport. Starting with the 2024 IndyCar Series, Blomqvist will be a full-time driver for Meyer Shank Racing. He is the son of 1984 Swedish World Rally Champion, Stig Blomqvist.
James Alan Broadbent is an English social media personality, commentator, and racing driver. He has over 900,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, with content related to gaming, sim racing, and real life racing. Broadbent most recently competed in the 2022 Praga Cup, in which he won the team's and driver's championships in with his entry Team87 and teammate Gordie Mutch. He also commentates for the Gran Turismo World Series esports tournament.
Edward Jones is an Emirati-born British racing driver who competes part-time in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, driving the No. 20 Oreca 07 for High Class Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 24/26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Primarily an open wheel racing driver, Jones previously competed in the Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula Three, Indy Lights, IndyCar Series and FIA World Endurance Championship.
Callum Benjamin Ilott is a British racing driver currently competing in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship racing for Jota Sport in the Hypercar category.
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.
Motorsport Network is an American media and technology company headquartered in Miami, Florida and London, UK. The company's proprietary brands, websites and OTT operations focus on motor racing and consumer automotive content serving and presenting content to audiences worldwide. The privately held business was founded in 2015 with the acquisition of Motorsport.com and now operates international digital, videogame, print, e-commerce & event businesses.
The 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual was an esports 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) vehicles held on a simulated version of the Circuit de la Sarthe from 13 to 14 June 2020. The Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the FIA World Endurance Championship and Motorsport Games organised the race as a placeholder for the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans that was postponed from June to September as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in France. It was hosted on the rFactor 2 gaming platform and operated from Paris' Studio Gabriel. The race featured 50 teams of four drivers each sharing one car. The entry list was divided into two categories of vehicles: LMP and GTE. There were 30 teams in the LMP class and 20 in the GTE category.
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.
eNASCAR was launched in 2018, by the parent company, NASCAR, to act as the Esports arm of the auto-racing body. The organization primarily uses the iRacing game via a PC platform for organizing its competitions, but has previously used other systems, such as those created by Xbox and PlayStation, and other games. As of 2022, eNASCAR officially sanctions three leagues.