NASCAR 25 Is "The Game We Have Always Wanted To Build"

NASCAR 25 screenshot.jpg
Image: Monster Games
In the lead-up to the release of the upcoming NASCAR 25 console game in collaboration with iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations and Monster Games, the team behind the title have begun releasing dev diaries.

The team behind iRacing have their roots as Papyrus Games, a studio entrenched in the official NASCAR licence since 1994 when NASCAR Racing was released on PC and the original PlayStation two years later. As pointed out in the first dev diary by iRacing executive vice president Steve Myers, rarely does a studio have a partnership that extends all the way back to three decades.

When Motorsport Games sold the NASCAR licence to iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations, work began almost immediately to develop a title set for release next year on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Monster Games - who have developed NASCAR titles as recently as 2019 with NASCAR Heat 4 - are working on the game right now and have their next game World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing 24 releasing September 17.


In the first dev diary, game production director Matt Lewis touched upon the expectations the team had set for themselves:

“NASCAR 25 honestly is the game we all always wanted to build. We have talked about a lot about other team members and how we have all sort of over lapped and crisscrossed our entire career but the ability to finally sort of just put all the pieces together, take all the core elements of what makes all of our teams great and really deliver the game that we’ve always wanted to make even 20-25 years ago is amazing for me. It almost feels like a full circle moment, we all started years and years ago, we’ve all been doing this for a really long time, but it’s super special to put this team together and be able to deliver it.”

Myers goes on to point out that a large portion of the team have worked on many of the most beloved officially licenced NASCAR titles both from Monster Games and the days of Papyrus, including NASCAR Racing 2003, Dirt to Daytona, or the NASCAR Thunder titles. So with all of these people at the helm plus iRacing's laser-scanned tracks and physics, the team are confident of delivering a successful product.


What are you hoping will be in the NASCAR 25 game? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
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Luca [OT]
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Comments

They should hold a mixed field, 500 lap Formula One/NASCAR Cup race at Bristol, Tennessee. And maybe one at Darlington, too.
 
:thumbsdown: Still going around in circles for hours with the gas pedal floored. Mind numbing.
Ive never driven around an oval, and even I know that theres so much more to it then that... The high speed games of cat and mouse, drafting/slipstream, all of the hundreds of angles that can be taken, team strategy etc. It's an entirely different (and not exactly inferior) skillset.
 
It makes zero sense to me to make this spiritual successor to these great games... only on console ? That tells me its purely a money grab because if all you cared about is what they claim to care about in that promo video then wouldnt putting the game into the hands of the people who have massive sim rigs like myself? Not just controller players aka the most casual races there are. What a stupid silly idea. Look at their first console game they released last week. I paid 65 bucks for it and boy is it terrible.... Exo cross is a total failure. Have a feeling this is gonna be more of the same.
 
It makes zero sense to me to make this spiritual successor to these great games... only on console ? That tells me its purely a money grab because if all you cared about is what they claim to care about in that promo video then wouldnt putting the game into the hands of the people who have massive sim rigs like myself? Not just controller players aka the most casual races there are. What a stupid silly idea. Look at their first console game they released last week. I paid 65 bucks for it and boy is it terrible.... Exo cross is a total failure. Have a feeling this is gonna be more of the same.
It will be released on Steam, which indicates it’s not only for consoles.
 
Premium
Always on the look for an up to date Nascar Game / Sim and after many years in iRacing I did enjoy regularily trying it out which added that extra flavour to my overall Sim Racing experience:)

As always though, will read / watch reviews before purchasing, and it's great to know it will be released on Steam;)
 
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I felt the same way until I got a copy of the original Nascar Heat in 2001 and discovered what a visceral driving feeling it was crowded by other cars at breakneck speeds.
The came Nascar 2003 even more so plus some amazing mods like US Pits TransAm or the incomparable GTP from Redline.
This will definitely tempt me.
This is EXACTLY my experience too. I thought oval racing would be ultimately unchallenging and very boring. Then I too got Nascar Heat (original 2001) and quickly learned there was a lot of skill in not wiping off speed through bends where not all bends are the same.

Taking the right line to maximise cornering speed, being very smooth, trying to negotiate traffic, drafting and all this whilst also maintaining smooth speed transitions. Trying not to wipe out too wide and throw yourself into the barriers or creep too narrow and touch the inside verge. Initially I found it took a lot more concentration than circuit racing because it was a whole set of completely different skills.

The original Nascar Heat (2001) really opened my eyes to the sport and it was a hell of a lot of fun. I am definately interested.
 
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Ive never driven around an oval, and even I know that theres so much more to it then that... The high speed games of cat and mouse, drafting/slipstream, all of the hundreds of angles that can be taken, team strategy etc. It's an entirely different (and not exactly inferior) skillset.
It's fairly easy to drive fast on an oval, but it's really hard to drive faster than the rest of the field. Sometimes, a win depends on going only a few kph faster and reaching these few kph is the challenge.
 
This is EXACTLY my experience too. I thought oval racing would be ultimately unchallenging and very boring. Then I too got Nascar Heat (original 2001) and quickly learned there was a lot of skill in not wiping off speed through bends where not all bends are the same.
People who think NASCAR is just turning left and putting your foot down on the throttle have never tried racing at Darlington. That's a really hard track to master.
 
It will be released on Steam, which indicates it’s not only for consoles.
They've backtracked from saying it will be released on PC. They are "evaluating" it.

 
It's fairly easy to drive fast on an oval, but it's really hard to drive faster than the rest of the field. Sometimes, a win depends on going only a few kph faster and reaching these few kph is the challenge.

It's even fairly easy to get to alien one lap pace on an oval in comparison to a road course... However it's the tyre wear and consistency that makes a difference, as a mistake on one lap can ruin the next 5...

It may not be the best form of racing to watch live, especially on one lane ovals... However there's a lot going on in these races that take a lot of experience in order to master... Drivers like SVG aren't just stepping in and winning ovals... It takes time...
 
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Premium
The original Nascar Heat (2001) really opened my eyes to the sport and it was a hell of a lot of fun
My first online race was in it a 72 lapper at Lime Rock, wish I could remember the mod used, it's netcode was very good for the time.
 
Let's hope that you are able to mod the game as you did back in 2003 (and before) and add your own skins, etc.
 
NR2003 delivered so much and non of the other titles since have really gave me that same feeling so i can't wait!
 
It will be released on Steam, which indicates it’s not only for consoles.
they had to issue a full on press release saying "YES PEOPLE we are serious this is A CONSOLE ONLY release. Maybe we will do something for PC in the future but this is solely CONSOLE." I have no clue why they have a steam logo but they said April 4th absolutely NO PC release is planned.
 
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/had to issue a full on press release saying "YES PEOPLE we are serious this is A CONSOLE ONLY release. Maybe we will do something for PC in the future but this is solely CONSOLE." I have no clue why they have a steam logo but they said April 4th absolutely NO PC release is planned.
Ok, calm down buddy. It's just a game. It doesn't take much to trigger you, doesn't it?
 
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OverTake
Premium
I really really want a proper "next gen" career mode. Not many games/sims worked on bringing that forward to really immerse drivers. There had been some good elements on nearly all of the career modes we had so far, but I hope for another step forwards in development there :)
 

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