After year apart, IndyCar inks deal with iRacing after terminating Motorsport Games deal

After a one-year break to IndyCar's longstanding sim racing relationship with iRacing that goes back more than a dozen years, the pair have reached a new multi-year licensing agreement that, according to a release, will add more flexibility and a more expansive experience for users of the platform.

"The IndyCar series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are racing properties that need to be included on iRacing," said the platform's president, Tony Gardner, in a release. "There is no better way for fans to experience sim racing than on iRacing, and whether it's the IndyCar series' Indy 500, NASCAR's Brickyard 400 or IMSA's Battle on the Bricks, there is nothing like racing at Indianapolis.

"I am so pleased to be able to bring these events back to the iRacing community."

Why IndyCar, iRacing split a year ago

Penske Entertainment's split with iRacing at the end of 2022 was brought on by IndyCar's exclusive licensing agreement with Motorsport Games it signed in the summer of 2021 for MSG to create and distribute the series' first mainstream console game in nearly two decades and serve as the series' go-to gaming platform. Due to the exclusivity language in its deal with MSG, IndyCar was unable to re-up with iRacing when its previous deal expired.

Among avid gamers used to racing Indy cars on the platform, the loss of the ability to broadcast IndyCar events, run current cars at its current venues and host the iRacing Indianapolis 500 -- one of the premier annual events iRacing hosts virtually each May -- was a disappointment in IndyCar's quest to deliver its product to a more mainstream gaming audience.

Those sentiments were only further backed up throughout the year, as MSG's rapid demise became more apparent. Each quarterly earnings report painted a more dire picture, as executives and board members shuffled in and out and emergency funds were sought just to keep the lights on. Still, even in late-summer, Penske Entertainment officials were publicly touting the progress of MSG's IndyCar product after saying in February it expected to rollout a beta version of the game in May before a scheduled full-scale release of the game in September.

Obviously, neither target was close to met.

IndyCar video game in trouble:Motorsport Games halts development amidst massive layoffs

By the fall, MSG had sold its NASCAR gaming license to iRacing after years of missed deadlines and bug-laden gaming product rollouts for the most popular racing series in America. That was shortly followed by TOCA, the company that organizes the British Touring Car Championship, announcing its decision to terminate its own gaming license with MSG. Days later in its third quarter earnings report, MSG said it was behind on payments to TOCA but was current on its other deals, only had cash on hand to be able to run through the end of Q1 in 2024 -- having been forced to slash costs company-wide to do so.

Those cuts, unfortunately, included the shuttering of its Australian studio that was largely spearheading IndyCar's video game, putting the development of the product on pause after having scanned scores of drivers and tracks and even getting multiple tracks in the final stages of the production and approval process.

IndyCar admits defeat:Series moves to terminate pair of gaming licenses with Motorsport Games

Within days of its Q3 earnings call, MSG noted in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that IndyCar had notified the company's execs of its move to terminate its pair of exclusive video game and esport event licenses "effective immediately." Though declining to discuss specifics at the time, IndyCar officials noted their "disappointment" in MSG's lack of "resources to continue development."

"We'll announce next steps in due course."

The beginning of an expanded partnership

Though its unclear what official, final, legal measures have been taken to free IndyCar from its obligations and links to MSG, Tuesday's news with iRacing suggests the series' other gaming relationship has indeed reached its endpoint.

IndyCar's new alliance with iRacing will usher in the return of the iRacing Indy 500 that typically draws thousands of participants from around the world along with the renewed ability for users to participate in other public and private events and leagues that are IndyCar-branded and include the series' current tracks, car and liveries. According to the release, the linkage also includes "more provisions than previous iterations, allowing more flexibility to run events and series."

The licensing agreement goes into effect immediately, though both sides noted that it may take a few days for iRacing members to see the rebranding of series, cars and events.