Motorsport Games To "Accelerate Efforts" For Le Mans Ultimate Console Versions

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Image: Motorsport Games / Studio 397
Le Mans Ultimate is in the middle of completing its 2024 WEC season content. The game could come to consoles sooner than later, too, as Motorsport Games decided to "accelerate efforts".

Since its Early Access release in February 2024, Le Mans Ultimate has progressed steadily, with a long list of things still to do as of August 2024. The official WEC game has started releasing 2024 season content ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, with three more DLC packs set to follow.

Console versions of LMU have not been a priority thus far, but it looks like this is going to change. In its Q2 Financial Report, developer/publisher Motorsport Games implies that the prospect of Le Mans Ultimate on Xbox and PlayStation should gain more traction. MSG CEO Stephen Hood is quoted stating that "given the strong reception to our ongoing development of the Le Mans Ultimate game, we have decided to accelerate efforts to bring this title to games consoles and reach a larger audience."

It is likely that LMU's excursions to the European WEC rounds could have sparked this thought, as the game was playable at the events - an opportunity that many endurance racing fans took. As consoles are more accessible, the question about LMU coming to Xbox and PlayStation was most likely very present at the Le Mans Ultimate tent.

Most recently, the first DLC pack containing the Peugeot 9X8 Evo, Lamborghini SC63 and Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari Imola was launched for the game.


Major Revenue Stream Set To Disappear​

Additionally, it could be a way to open up another revenue stream for the company - and one that is very much needed.

As the Finanical Report states, MSG "expects to continue to have a net cash outflow from operations for the foreseeable future as it continues to develop its product portfolio and invest in developing new video game titles."

While the company did post an increase of "cash and cash equivalents of approximately $0.5 million, which increased to $1.3 million as of July 31, 2024", it also notes that this increase was "primarily due to $0.9 million in net proceeds received from a registered direct offering transaction that closed on July 29, 2024." Put a bit simpler, MSG sold a significant chunk of shares to "use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes", according to the corresponding press release.

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Image: Motorsport Games / 704Games

Furthermore, the latest SEC Filing of Motorsport Games points out that most of the company's revenue in Q2 was not generated by the sales of Le Mans Ultimate, but rather their NASCAR games - namely 55.5%. Considering that after the sale of the NASCAR license to iRacing MSG can only sell these games until the end of 2024, a major revenue stream is set to disappear for the company.

"Concurrently with the sale of our NASCAR License, we entered into an agreement with NTP pursuant to which we have a limited non-exclusive right and license to, among other things, sell our NASCAR games and DLCs that are currently in our product portfolio through December 31, 2024 (the “NASCAR New Limited License”)."
MSG Q2 2024 SEC Filing explaining the NASCAR license situation (found under "Item 2").

To combat this, Motorsport Games is "actively exploring several options, including, but not limited to: i) additional funding in the form of potential equity and/or debt financing arrangements or similar transactions; ii) other strategic alternatives for its business, including, but not limited to, the sale or licensing of the Company’s assets in addition to its recent sales of its NASCAR license and Traxion; and iii) further cost reduction and restructuring initiatives."

Would you like to see Le Mans Ultimate come to consoles? What are your thoughts on the update on Motorsport Games? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
About author
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

Comments

In all seriousness, they should get it out of Early Access before they create console versions.
And include a career mode which we haven't seen on the PC version yet or a road map of when it will be added in the game.

All in all, well done MSG, this should inject some much needed cash for them, quadruple what they would earn from the PC version.

Releasing updates and bug fixes isn't as easy as releasing them on the PC steam platform, all updates and fixes for console, have to go through Microsoft and Sony quality control before they are pushed out to console.
 
OverTake
Premium
To be fair, I don't read this as "we're gonna focus on the console versions now rather than the PC version", but rather like they will treat the console versions with a higher priority than before as it wasn't very high up on their list to begin with.

Remember, just two months ago, Hood said they would eventually release LMU on consoles "if there is enough demand for it. You cannot do that overnight by just taking rFactor 2 as it used to be."

I agree that they should get the PC version in order first to serve as a base for a console port. In general, I think the prospect of another proper sim on consoles is a good one - they are probably the most accessible way to start sim racing, after all.
 
@Studio397

UI in pit is still a mess for me (3440x2160p, 120Hz, 60FPS lock).

Also big FPS drops when i drive in/by pit with AI enabled in Imola, Bahrain etc.
Opponent detail already set to medium.

Also it would be good to have individual seat-settings for each car again!

But general performance and FFB is good for me and driving is huge fun.
Also new Imola is fun. Keep on improving!
 
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Honestly MSG is a joke shelves rf2 has a game/sim in EA has not even got it to a stage of release 1.0 now wants to move to console are you ******* kidding me. I see another failure coming on, always trying to do to much with such a small team. Is it Goodbye or Goodluck to MSG ?
 
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Seems a bit delusional.

Even if this is outsourced it will still require the base game is brought up to a standard worth porting, and it will all need to be financed. No doubt they will rush it and further harm their reputation (if possible).

They should probably take some time to reflect on the fact that the console platforms also have quality control above and beyond community complaints. I cant see either Microsoft or Sony being willing to put up with what MSG do to the PC market.
 
1620px-noisy-miner-chicksjpg.webp


lol being serious though people need to get over it, you are embarrassing, supposed to be seasoned hobbyist.

Pic: Noisy Miners, endemic in Australia.
 
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To be fair, I don't read this as "we're gonna focus on the console versions now rather than the PC version", but rather like they will treat the console versions with a higher priority than before as it wasn't very high up on their list to begin with.

Remember, just two months ago, Hood said they would eventually release LMU on consoles "if there is enough demand for it. You cannot do that overnight by just taking rFactor 2 as it used to be."

I agree that they should get the PC version in order first to serve as a base for a console port. In general, I think the prospect of another proper sim on consoles is a good one - they are probably the most accessible way to start sim racing, after all.
Surely there are only 2 platforms. PC and console. As a result, in this case, in order to increase priority of 1, you have to decrease the priority of the other, particularly one would think with regard to items that are platform specific, eg VR. (and probably a whole lot more that would be more PC centric features)

I also wonder how they judge "demand for console version"? It's not like anyone can wish list a console version. I don't see any chatter demanding a console version either, so I wonder how they even remotely know there is any demand? My guess is its just wishful thinking.

Having said all that, I don't begrudge a company from trying to make money. Its all the false promise that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
 
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Surely there are only 2 platforms. PC and console. As a result, in this case, in order to increase priority of 1, you have to decrease the priority of the other, particularly one would think with regard to items that are platform specific, eg VR. (and probably a whole lot more that would be more PC centric features)

I also wonder how they judge "demand for console version"? It's not like anyone can wish list a console version. I don't see any chatter demanding a console version either, so I wonder how they even remotely know there is any demand? My guess is its just wishful thinking.

Having said all that, I don't begrudge a company from trying to make money. Its all the false promise that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
On every social media platform, they are asked when console. Anyone who follows their social media accounts sees these comments every time so the demand is quite high. I think you guys here and the article itself doesn't paint a full picture of when we expect the console version.
I think someone with a thinking brain can figure out that most features would be in place before a console comes along. Nowhere has it even mentioned we'll be seeing the console version this year but only accelerated as the original thought of having it on console was an afterthought if they were to be successful with the PC game. They are outsourcing this console work as well. The team has been working on features people want and not trying to deliver it in a bad half ass state.
 
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On every social media platform, they are asked when console. Anyone who follows their social media accounts sees these comments every time so the demand is quite high. I think you guys here and the article itself doesn't paint a full picture of when we expect the console version.
I think someone with a thinking brain can figure out that most features would be in place before a console comes along. Nowhere has it even mentioned we'll be seeing the console version this year but only accelerated as the original thought of having it on console was an afterthought if they were to be successful with the PC game. They are outsourcing this console work as well. The team has been working on features people want and not trying to deliver it in a bad half ass state.
Oh well, maybe you are the only guy "with a thinking brain" around here. Although to be honest, you sound more delusional than anything else.
 
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I see the trolls who don't bother to read are out in force again...

Good to read that MSGS/S397 is doing so well with LMU they can afford to hire a team to port it to consoles, just like what Kunos did with ACC before it was ready to take out of the oven as well...
 
Premium
I see the trolls who don't bother to read are out in force again...

Good to read that MSGS/S397 is doing so well with LMU they can afford to hire a team to port it to consoles, just like what Kunos did with ACC before it was ready to take out of the oven as well...
well, I dont know what you read, But the article at the head of this discussion illustrates a disastrous financial position for MSG.
 
Surely there are only 2 platforms. PC and console. As a result, in this case, in order to increase priority of 1, you have to decrease the priority of the other, particularly one would think with regard to items that are platform specific, eg VR. (and probably a whole lot more that would be more PC centric features)

I also wonder how they judge "demand for console version"? It's not like anyone can wish list a console version. I don't see any chatter demanding a console version either, so I wonder how they even remotely know there is any demand? My guess is its just wishful thinking.

Having said all that, I don't begrudge a company from trying to make money. Its all the false promise that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I would say that there is a high probability that most of us on here have BOTH pc and console, thus we are most likely to get it on both systems - I for one certainly will be, I love the title and once it's a bit more polished I'll be even happier :thumbsup:
 
Good idea.. finally make some proper money.
As PC simracing is still a scattered niche, where it's difficult to get player base that's large enough to support development on a higher level.
You won't get iRacing's paying audience, you won't get AC's freebee players anyway.
For the price of a mid-tier GPU you can buy a working console, that's your running your game in 3 clicks.
I say get some extra (console specialized) developers and go for the PS5 and Xbox too.
We would all benefit from that in the end.
 
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No idea how they will get the UI running on console. LMU uses CEF (Chromium Embedded Framework) which is an embeddable web browser engine. It is enormous and I do not think it has been ported on consoles.
 
Would prefer to see the game fleshed out, bugs smashed and VR integrated...but glass is half-full and maybe pushing for a console release will also accelerate at least the bug fixing and content completion. Guess VR will just have to wait.
 
I don't know how many people are in the same position as I, holding out completely on the purchase of this title until it becomes a more fleshed out game. But I find what the article states (I couldn't read the Q2 report for some reason), quite worrying, as it seems to point that income avenues are closing down, and the cash liquidity is small for the expenses MSG has had for a long while.

If I had to bet, I would say that the game will leave Early Access moniker sooner than expected, lining it up with a console release, to try and inject much needed income, investment, and probably loans; by Christmas as latest. If it comes with a good bit of bug fixing, optimizations, and more options for using this game unlocked, it should actually be fine, although maybe cutting it too close with their financial limits. Crucial months ahead.
 
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