The State of "Sim-cade" Racing Games
By: Bryce L. Jackson
I’ve grown disappointed in my preferred style of racing games: The sim-cade racer. For the unfamiliar, these are racing games that simulate more complex racing characteristics like tire wear, various track conditions, and detrimental effects of damage sustained to the car like engine wear, body damage, etc. Racing games that are a bit more cerebral than Need for Speeds and the Forza Horizons et. al. of the industry. This is not a knock against the arcade racing games, but I want more things to be concerned about. but not full sims like iRacing but I’m not talking about Asseto Corsa, Gran Turismo, or Forza Motorsport. I’m left longing for my racing games from sanctioned auto racing leagues. The mess created by Motorsports Games’ mismanagement of the NASCAR and IndyCar licensing and the decline of Codemasters’ Formula 1 games under the EA banner have been disappointing and left a void in the space.
This era was great, but it’s time to let them rest.
- NASCAR Thunder 2004
I want racing games that match my racing fandom back; games that take me through the full racing calendar with all the tracks I know as a driver, owner, or both. As of late games in the sub-genre have been mediocre at best and at worst, NASCAR 21: Ignition. From the NASCAR side of things, it feels dire at the moment. After stringing fans along with false hope for years, Motorsport Games finally sold the NASCAR license to iRacing who promises to make a console version in 2025. Nothing screamed “It’s over” to me more than the news that the NASCAR game that they wanted to release for the 2023 season was still in the early design phase… in late 2022. But as a fan, this just means another rebuild from the foundation of the brand. Another yearslong project to build a stable Cup series schedule, damage model, AI racing behavior, etc. Then later down the road, bring back at least the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series, or others to the games. In the past, that has been a multi-game process, and under a new developer, it should be again.
Call me crazy, but I miss racing the Trucks the most.
-Nascar Heat 3
I haven’t even started on the travesty of the IndyCar game that was under development and was supposedly close to being released before everything fell apart. I was especially excited for that game because I longed for an IndyCar game. I never played the one game that they had in 2000. My only “experience” with mimic IndyCars were the terrible movie tie-in Driven game and the Al Unser Jr Arcade Racing game on the Mac in the 90s. IndyCars made an appearance in Project Cars 2, but I had major personal issues with that game and never got to unlock them. Unfortunately, my excitement for finally racing an IndyCar always had the looming shadow of Motorsports Games that was continuously reeling from issues with NASCAR 21: Ignition.
IndyCar game, we hardly knew ye.
-Cancelled IndyCar Game by Motorsports Games
When it comes to Codemaster’s Formula 1 games, they exist, but that’s just about it. Under the Electronic Arts, the core game features that F1 fans have come for have been mostly stagnant. The absence of meaningful changes year to year has led to sales of F1 22 and F1 23 to dro. The MyCareer and MyTeam mode’s UI and most car development upgrades have remained mostly the same aside from slight tweaks to match the year’s aesthetics. More effort is going into the free or paid Podium Pass cosmetics and F1 Life and F1 World features that were introduced in F1 22 and F1 23 respectively, but players mostly bounced right off them after the obligatory first look. With the F1 games, it’s not a lack of games that is the problem, but a lack of creativity. Console players especially want more control over how they can customize their car and the season schedule. There’s probably a convoluted explanation for why Formula One Management wouldn’t want Codemasters to allow certain changes to their car, but such restrictions stifle the game. In my eyes, a game developed under the EA banner that hosts Need for Speed, THE landmark car customization game, should allow players options to change elements of the car that would be realistic to how F1 teams change elements of their cars throughout the year. The issue is EA is trying and flailing to monetize the F1 games like their other sports titles when the fanbase has no interest in partaking.
The F1 games are fine, but they need a new upgrade.
-F1 23 Las Vegas Track Reveal
I’ve grown tired of living off of nostalgia from the EA Sports era of NASCAR games. They were great for the time, but some of those games are old enough to drink now. I could probably count on one hand the number of drivers from those games that are still active today; maybe two hands, depending on if Jimmie Johnson is set to race that weekend. The cars in those games are now 4 generations old and the platforms they were on are 3 console generations old. The sport, the calendar, the points system, key elements of the sport have changed. Current drivers like Ross Chastain and Carson Hoecevar have frequently referenced those games. I care about the state of this sub-genre of games because I understand how these games can be a tool to teach newer and younger fans how these racing series work. IndyCar understood that too because when its game was still in development, it was always targeting a release around the Indy 500. NASCAR is seeing another growth in popularity after multiple viral moments and the Netflix show NASCAR Full Speed. Some of those new fans could be interested in playing dedicated NASCAR video games. There needs to be an up-to-date game that reflects how the sport looks now and not a reskin of a game that came out in 2020 and was a mess when it was released.
I’d love to race COTA, the Roval, the Chicago Street Course, etc. But I need the games to be good and released within the last 3 years.
-NASCAR Heat 5 Next Gen Update
iRacing in association with Monster Games at the helm for the next NASCAR game gives me some hope that the game will hit the low bar of being functional. However, with the state game development, simcade racing fans are at minimum a year from seeing anything about this new game. F1 24, is promising a revamped MyCareer mode, but it wasn’t specified if this was the Driver career mode, the MyTeam, or if Codemasters is packaging it all into one mode. And it’s releasing in May; earlier than usual, which makes me a little nervous, but may be inconsequential. IndyCar is sadly back on the shelf, but at least iRacing has the license back for PC players. But the new generation of racing fans needs something to feed that newfound passion for the sport in between Racedays.