Sim racers were concerned about the future of Le Mans Ultimate in the light of recent news regarding redundancies and a potential sale of Motorsport Games. MSG CEO Stephen Hood talks about the immediate future of the company.
Employees being made redundant and the possibility of the company being sold - Motorsport Games and Studio 397 had it rough recently, with many sim racers wondering about the future of Le Mans Ultimate as a result. The official WEC game is the only title the company is actively working on, and its 2024 content is not yet complete.
This led to some sim racers fearing that work on LMU would be halted following the recent layoffs, which led to MSG downsizing by about 40%. However, the scenario of no one being left to actually work on the game that some have painted does not come into play, as Motorsport Games CEO Stephen Hood told OverTake.
"Some of the more junior people were let go, but the core team we got now is quite tight", Hood explained. "We looked at what we needed to deliver - the GT3 cars, tracks, a version 1.0 - and the people who are still here are capable of doing that. We have to deliver these, because we were positively shocked by how many players bought the season pass. We thought it would be 5 or 8, maybe 15, but not almost 50% of all DLC sales."
A cash injection or full acquisition by one of said potential investors would allow LMU to grow further after the aforementioned content and updates have been delivered. But to set up the company for this, head count had to be reduced to balance the company's expenses and revenues. "In my mind, it's the final piece of this painful, uncomfortable puzzle of cleaning up the business ahead of investment or acquisition, because nobody wants to carry the extra weight. They want to get it under control, make sure the wheel is turning, and then grow strategically", Hood stated.
That does not mean that laying off people was an easy thing to do, as Hood continued: "First and foremost, I apologize to those individuals that were affected. None of those individuals who were let go I ever wanted to say goodbye to. We are very conscious about the impact that it has." Hood also underscored that they were not the ones who made the mistakes that led to this situation.
In short, MSG's mistakes from a few years ago still haunt the company to this day, eventually leading to this downsizing to give the company, Studio 397 and Le Mans Ultimate a chance to keep on going. Now, the focus is on doing things properly, as Hood repeatedly emphasized.
And that also means that "we're not going to turn up the servers and say subscriptions are the only way you can play LMU online now. That would be the Motorsport Games of old", Hood addressed a concern of many sim racers when subscriptions were first talked about. "We need to turn the page. And we are working day and night to turn this page."
Meanwhile, plans for rFactor 2 have not changed - not that there were any plans to do more with it before the redundancies. "It was either rFactor 3 or a Le Mans game", Hood looks back. "We were not working on rFactor 2 anymore, so that plan has not changed." Indeed, one could argue that the last really bigger update hit rF2 in October 2023 when the RaceControl online system was implented, which is now also present in Le Mans Ultimate.
Keeping an eye on the path of Motorsport Games, Studio 397 and Le Mans Ultimate certainly is going to be one of sim racing's very interesting storylines to follow as 2024 draws to a close. We will of course keep you updated on what is happening!
What are you hoping for regarding Le Mans Ultimate's future? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our Le Mans Ultimate forum!
Employees being made redundant and the possibility of the company being sold - Motorsport Games and Studio 397 had it rough recently, with many sim racers wondering about the future of Le Mans Ultimate as a result. The official WEC game is the only title the company is actively working on, and its 2024 content is not yet complete.
This led to some sim racers fearing that work on LMU would be halted following the recent layoffs, which led to MSG downsizing by about 40%. However, the scenario of no one being left to actually work on the game that some have painted does not come into play, as Motorsport Games CEO Stephen Hood told OverTake.
"Some of the more junior people were let go, but the core team we got now is quite tight", Hood explained. "We looked at what we needed to deliver - the GT3 cars, tracks, a version 1.0 - and the people who are still here are capable of doing that. We have to deliver these, because we were positively shocked by how many players bought the season pass. We thought it would be 5 or 8, maybe 15, but not almost 50% of all DLC sales."
Keeping The Lights On
This meant that the short-term mission for Motorsport Games and Studio 397 - which can basically be used as synonyms at this point as Hood pointed out again that MSG is essentially just S397 now - is to keep the lights on for Le Mans Ultimate. They also want to give the game a chance at a future: Hood confirmed that MSG is indeed in talks with potential investors.A cash injection or full acquisition by one of said potential investors would allow LMU to grow further after the aforementioned content and updates have been delivered. But to set up the company for this, head count had to be reduced to balance the company's expenses and revenues. "In my mind, it's the final piece of this painful, uncomfortable puzzle of cleaning up the business ahead of investment or acquisition, because nobody wants to carry the extra weight. They want to get it under control, make sure the wheel is turning, and then grow strategically", Hood stated.
That does not mean that laying off people was an easy thing to do, as Hood continued: "First and foremost, I apologize to those individuals that were affected. None of those individuals who were let go I ever wanted to say goodbye to. We are very conscious about the impact that it has." Hood also underscored that they were not the ones who made the mistakes that led to this situation.
"We massively effed up with NASCAR 21"
Hence, he also understands their frustration. After leaving the company in January 2022, Hood was brought back as CEO in 2023, "and everybody looked to me in a way of "Steve can come back, wave the magic wand - that I don't have - and save the business. It doesn't always work like that. We tried to make the right decisions to put the company back on the right track, but the numbers did not add up", recalls Hood. "We massively effed up with NASCAR 21: Ignition, and our communications after that were not good."In short, MSG's mistakes from a few years ago still haunt the company to this day, eventually leading to this downsizing to give the company, Studio 397 and Le Mans Ultimate a chance to keep on going. Now, the focus is on doing things properly, as Hood repeatedly emphasized.
And that also means that "we're not going to turn up the servers and say subscriptions are the only way you can play LMU online now. That would be the Motorsport Games of old", Hood addressed a concern of many sim racers when subscriptions were first talked about. "We need to turn the page. And we are working day and night to turn this page."
Le Mans Virtual "On Pause", No Change To rFactor 2 Plans
Another result of this is that Le Mans Virtual is on hold for now, although Hood still hopes to get the series and official Le Mans 24 Hours event back on the grid in early 2025. "We will do that once we have an investor or a new owner on board. Until then, it is on pause - it would be the wrong approach for driving revenue right now", Hood states. "We would love to do it again, but at the right time."Meanwhile, plans for rFactor 2 have not changed - not that there were any plans to do more with it before the redundancies. "It was either rFactor 3 or a Le Mans game", Hood looks back. "We were not working on rFactor 2 anymore, so that plan has not changed." Indeed, one could argue that the last really bigger update hit rF2 in October 2023 when the RaceControl online system was implented, which is now also present in Le Mans Ultimate.
Keeping an eye on the path of Motorsport Games, Studio 397 and Le Mans Ultimate certainly is going to be one of sim racing's very interesting storylines to follow as 2024 draws to a close. We will of course keep you updated on what is happening!
What are you hoping for regarding Le Mans Ultimate's future? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our Le Mans Ultimate forum!
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