Motorsport Games’ spending spree continues with the acquisition of Studio397.

[Bram Hengeveld]

A few weeks ago Motorsport Games was something of an enigma in the simracing world having produced a handful of Nascar titles but recently things have changed. Having burst onto the scene recently announcing the acquisition of Australian developers Black Delta they have quickly followed up with yet another studio acquisition, this time in the shape of Studio397.

Love it or hate it rFactor 2 does a lot of things right, like the physics and overall driving experience but there are certainly areas which could be improved, I don’t need to name them all here but graphics is an example of something which fans of the title have been hoping for a drastic improvement on for quite some time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but it’s not the best in the industry.

The hope is that with the seemingly endless resources that Motorsport Games have at their disposal, they will iron out all the quirks and accelerate the development of the title. They already have some impressive licenses which could be leveraged such as BTCC and the aforementioned Nascar, so the potential for some exciting content to emerge is promising.

However, the hardcore sim racers will be waiting with bated breath to see what direction this new sim racing giant will take the studio. In previous communications MSG President Stephen Hood has said: "The BTCC title will not be a hardcore high-end racing simulation, but will also not be an arcade game". Read into that what you will.

rFactor2 is a beloved sim and we can only hope that this acquisition will propel the title to new heights.

What do you guys think about the news? Are you looking forward to seeing how Motorsport Games integrate with Studio397? Let us know in the comments.

 

[CDwyer]

Motorsport Games: "All your sims, are belong to us"

 

[BorisK]

The MG developer said already that he's aiming to make the game more accessible for the novice players, but at the same time to keep it simulative for the current playerbase.
Let's hope for the best, because this can turn very bad.

rF2, like all games originally based on the ISI engine (R3E, PC2, AMS2), have all possible assists for any player level. I've played rF1, GTL and Race07 myself, on a keyboard with some assists enabled, and enjoyed it. Another thing is that, for example, rF2 is not very friendly to newbies (rF1 was more loyal to them). In my opinion, PC3's attempt to please everyone would be successful if all the components of a real simulator were preserved (pit stops etc.).
As for the topic - the S397 has an excellent groundwork for NASCAR and Touring (both formulas and GT and let's hope that this is "not just a business".

 

[G-Slev]

racedepartment, all your simracing news 24h late !

You sir are a clown. The racedepartment team do this for free out of love and passion for simracing.

Show some basic respect.

 

[G-Slev]

Saw something on Discord about it, I think it's the same group
Alonso is also a major shareholder it seems

The radiolemans/radioshow ltd team point blank refuse to have anything to do with motorsport.com - to the point that they refuse to even mention them in their shows or on their platforms.

 

[gianlucaP]

ì

 

[G-Slev]

Thanks for the compliments, that's actually pretty impressive considering we are working 24/7 on building a great esports racing platform for the entire simracing community to enjoy (soon).

...and most of us very much appreciate the hard work you are all putting in Bram.

(and you never know, the sale of Studio 397 might mean you can actually run RF2 on your system!)

 

[Slapped]

racedepartment, all your simracing news 24h late !

Well, I'd rather have solid news 24 hours late than speculation 24 hours earlier, but maybe that's just me.

As far as this acquisition is concerned is the most worrying thing for me is:

He also said, and this is an important part not to leave out, they will also cater to the hardcore sim siche.

The use of the word "also" in this context seems to imply that it will be secondary to the main mission, so to say.

Have the devs not learned that simcade basically faceplants these days. From SteamDB for example:

Dirt 5 all time peak players: 824. This was four months ago, and since then it's barely been able to break 200 concurrent players

GRID 2019 does better, it had a peak of 1038 concurrent players on release, but has since failed to attract more that 500 players even on the days with DLC drops

PC3 manages 1218 at the point of release, but since then it kind of averages around 150.

On the other hand rFactor2 has been consistently averaging 1250 concurrent players for the last year

ACC has been averaging well over 4000 concurrent players since November 2020

AC, since October 2020 has averaged 8000 concurrent players.

Of course this does not take into account console usage

 

[Case_]

He also said, and this is an important part not to leave out, they will also cater to the hardcore sim siche.

Visions of Project Cars 3 and Dirt 4... (And with Dirt 4, it's even literally the same guy.)

 

[dussard]

Positive point
Large group having the means to develop games quickly with prestigious official licenses and the latest technologies (graphics engine etc...) KUNOS ACC style
(Partners: ACO, WEC, LE ManS, NASCAR,BTCC)
Simulation acquisition: rfactor2, kartkraft (simulation)
Negative
Recent statements:
Simulation accessible to as many people as possible: for greater profitability and satisfy shareholders and profitable acquisitions
The future BTCC simu-arcade
End of modding to be expected: The goal is to earn maximum money with DLC, subscription etc...
End of the development of rfactor 2 to be expected within 1 year or 2 years...

The pure and hard simulations will satisfy the "hardcore" simracers but unfortunately it's too unprofitable to believe the game developers (very positive reviews but average sales ...)

So rather than doing arcade games for the gamer who just wants to have fun (forza gran turismo) and/or make pure and hard simulations for others (rfactor2 iracing) ,

game developers want to systematically at the moment lay us simu-arcades in the hope of reaching the largest number of players (PC-consoles)
Personally I left the world of consoles for the PC for 5 years and invested in rather high-end hardware it is in order to always get closer to the sensations of reality and not play pseudo simulations.
EA sport which buys codermasters
Motorsport game which buys studio 397 and black dela
Is this the end of the "small" studio - the locking of certain licenses for several years
(porsche for more than 10 years with EA sport)

It's not very reassuring

 

[kart1]

 

[MPortnoy]

"The hope is that with the seemingly endless resources that Motorsport Games have at their disposal......."


If they indeed have endless resources then please develop rF3 already instead of trying to polish that turd called rF2.

 

[Jonathan Young]

I'm cautiously optimistic. RF2 has great physics and feel but I don't like very much else about it, so I almost never play it. If an influx of cash can help them polish it then I'm all for it.

As for the BTCC game, I'm OK if it's not super hardcore, but hopefully it's going to be at least at the level of the most recent F1 game. That level of simulation for a touring car game would be good enough for me to part with cash for it for sure....

Personally I wish someone would invest in Raceroom. Great sim with great content, just needs a complete graphical overhaul..

 

[Daniel Monteiro]

The radiolemans/radioshow ltd team point blank refuse to have anything to do with motorsport.com - to the point that they refuse to even mention them in their shows or on their platforms.

Just like RaceDepartment also doesn't talk about or advertise other simracing championships or communities, and vice-versa, unless they have a deal together or an exchange of interests. It's just business

Have the devs not learned that simcade basically faceplants these days. From SteamDB for example:

Dirt 5 all time peak players: 824.

(...)

Of course this does not take into account console usage

Thank you for having included all the information, including the last phrase In reality, the playerbase of all those games that don't do well on steam in terms of player numbers are mainly games sold for the "simcade" audience... which mostly play them on consoles, and sales are normally higher than the sales of "sims" on steam/pc.

Again, it's just business

 

[thepharcyde]

Let's hope they don't decided to abandon RF2 and focus on another game.
That would be an utter kick the ball sack and would lose me as a customer forever

 

[G-Slev]

Just like RaceDepartment also doesn't talk about or advertise other simracing championships or communities unless they have a deal together or an exchange of interests. It's just business




Thank you for having included all the information, including the last phrase In reality, the playerbase of all those games that don't do well on steam in terms of player numbers are mainly games sold for the "simcade" audience... which mostly play them on consoles, and sales are normally higher than the sales of "sims" on steam/pc.

Again, it's just business

.

 

[bozakn]

I would be perfectly happy if they would just move on to rF3 and leave rF2 as it is.
I don't need Unreal engine, I don't need console support and I don't care about the novices/newbies.
This was primarily developed as a hard core sim for the enthusiasts.
With it's older brother(rF1), this was the only commercial sim that had that old school vibe, and the rudimentary UI everybody hated was the biggest confirmation of that.
Money is devouring everything these days, even the passionate ones.

 

[Shincha20]

Positive point
Large group having the means to develop games quickly with prestigious official licenses and the latest technologies (graphics engine etc...) KUNOS ACC style
(Partners: ACO, WEC, LE ManS, NASCAR,BTCC)
Simulation acquisition: rfactor2, kartkraft (simulation)
Negative
Recent statements:
Simulation accessible to as many people as possible: for greater profitability and satisfy shareholders and profitable acquisitions
The future BTCC simu-arcade
End of modding to be expected: The goal is to earn maximum money with DLC, subscription etc...
End of the development of rfactor 2 to be expected within 1 year or 2 years...

The pure and hard simulations will satisfy the "hardcore" simracers but unfortunately it's too unprofitable to believe the game developers (very positive reviews but average sales ...)

So rather than doing arcade games for the gamer who just wants to have fun (forza gran turismo) and/or make pure and hard simulations for others (rfactor2 iracing) ,

game developers want to systematically at the moment lay us simu-arcades in the hope of reaching the largest number of players (PC-consoles)
Personally I left the world of consoles for the PC for 5 years and invested in rather high-end hardware it is in order to always get closer to the sensations of reality and not play pseudo simulations.
EA sport which buys codermasters
Motorsport game which buys studio 397 and black dela
Is this the end of the "small" studio - the locking of certain licenses for several years
(porsche for more than 10 years with EA sport)

It's not very reassuring

Yeah, I see your point.

But being all negative you should rather acknowledge arcade and semi-sims now not only eyeing on hardcore simulations, but buying them off.

So why do they do this?
Because they think they can quite down the need for realistic race environments?

Or do you think they try to broaden their influence?

I personally think it’s the latter, and if they fail to do so there will be, sooner or later, a company to challenge their forfeit goals...

So think again, they HAVE to do it right this time around, or they will fail for the time to come.

 

[Case_]

Just like RaceDepartment also doesn't talk about or advertise other simracing championships or communities unless they have a deal together or an exchange of interests. It's just business

More like being childish and insecure, but calling it "just business" makes it sound more important for sure.

 

[Daniel Monteiro]

More like being childish and insecure, but calling it "just business" makes it sound more important for sure.

I agree



About the anouncement, whatever helps to potentially change a tyre model into something that isn't optimal at minimum tyre pressure in 2021 is welcome

 

[mrbungle83]

Great acquisition! Imagine owning a piece of history like RF2, Sim racing's finest Antique.