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NASCAR and EA Sports Part Ways

By BrianEk, GameSpotPosted Sep 1, 2009 7:02 pm PT

NASCAR fans hoping for the full-fledged return for the series to console videogames will have to look in directions other than at EA Sports. Speaking with GameSpot News today, EA Sports president Peter Moore confirmed that the sports game developer has "no plans" for a new NASCAR racing game. From...

NASCAR fans hoping for the full-fledged return for the series to console videogames will have to look in directions other than at EA Sports. Speaking with GameSpot News today, EA Sports president Peter Moore confirmed that the sports game developer has "no plans" for a new NASCAR racing game. From the news story:

"There are no plans right now for NASCAR from EA," Moore said. "We had a great relationship over the years that I thoroughly enjoyed when I first got here. Unfortunately…we had to make some tough trade-offs. We've had to redeploy some of those folks. A number of the NASCAR team has moved over now to EA Sports MMA, which will be shipping next year. [We're] still a huge fan of NASCAR, but no plans right now to develop any further games for NASCAR from EA Sports."

EA Sports' history with the NASCAR series goes back to 1997 with NASCAR 98 for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn and has continued through eleven iterations since. Despite the oval-racing thread that runs through the heart of stock car racing, the NASCAR series has seen its share of variety--from ambitious (if misguided) PC simulations like NASCAR SimRacing to family-friendly games like this year's NASCAR Kart Racing and many points in between.

A look at how the last few NASCAR games from EA Sports have sold:

Units Sold, All Platforms (NPD)
NASCAR Kart Racing - 172,554
NASCAR 09 - 443,116
NASCAR 08 - 677,596
NASCAR 07 - 189,429
NASCAR 06: Total team Control -- 452,993
NASCAR SimRacing -- 71,571
NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup -- 892,723

As you can see, while NASCAR 09 sales numbers were respectable, they were less than half of what the series was selling at its height on the previous generation of consoles and down a good chunk from the year prior.

Of course, with EA Sports ending its NASCAR game series, the question now becomes what's next? It seems like both parties are moving on without looking back. On consoles, the NASCAR license will next be seen in Gran Turismo 5--as Sony's upcoming racing game will feature official NASCAR cars and tracks. And there seems to be PC resurgence for NASCAR as well--earlier this year PC sim developer iRacing announced a partnership with NASCAR to develop an online racing series based around the NASCAR circuit. Already iRacing features a number of NASCAR tracks including well known locales like Daytona International Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Infineon Raceway (among others) with more tracks on the way.

As for EA Sports, it seems that organized motorsports videogames have been a tough fit for the company of late, something Peter Moore admitted to me back in March:

"So organized motorsports is a challenge. You know, we've been a huge licensee of NASCAR for many years. It's been challenging the last few years. I think a lot of it is the fact that we put out a game maybe every year, and there's not a lot of changes in NASCAR. I guess, [Dale Earnhardt Jr.] going from number 8 to number 88 and changing teams, is about the biggest thing that happened recently. But we've got to step back and figure out how we bring, whether it's NASCAR or any of the organized motorsports to life in a different way in the world of video games."

Even as EA Sports moves its resources away from NASCAR and towards projects like EA Sports MMA, racing games aren't completely dead to the publisher--consider the upcoming Need for Speed: Shift, which represents a more realistic focus for the NFS series, with real-world locales and a more demanding driving model. It might not be the game that the NASCAR faithful were hoping for from EA, but it's something.

As an aside, the idea of someone bringing something new to oval racing is both exciting and all-too-rare in today's sports gaming environment of exclusive licenses. Here's hoping whomever it is makes the most of the opportunity.

42 Comments

  • huhh2

    Posted Dec 24, 2009 12:15 am PT

    this is great. now only good companies will be able to make nascar games. EA Sucks!!

  • gtracer65

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 11:55 am PT

    it's both a bad and good thing. at least NASCAR is in the hands of the racing gods! but the games did suck...

  • AcidRainPain

    Posted Sep 7, 2009 8:06 am PT

    This is good news. The franchise can finally find a development company that wants to actually engineer some creative and fresh ideas into the series. EA was sinking the series down more and more.

  • khaledgyd

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 4:09 pm PT

    how can i downloud

  • fish11220

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 9:19 am PT

    Why isnt EA NOT DOING DIRT 2?!?!

  • Kris024

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 7:11 pm PT

    EA is NOT doing DiRT 2. Codemasters made DiRT 2.

  • edub272

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 5:50 pm PT

    isnt EA doing Dirt 2? they shoulda mentioned that. That game is gonna be siiiiick!!!

  • walker48

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 2:54 pm PT

    okay i am a big nascar fan my favorite driver is no. 48 johnson. and nascar 2005 was awsome but nascar in gt5 will be so awsome!

  • Kris024

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 1:11 pm PT

    Hopefully NASCAR can find a game company that actually puts effort into their games. EA obviously didn't do that in their last 3 NASCAR games. NASCAR is in Gran Turismo 5 though and that will be more realistic than anything EA could ever dream of putting together. EA you suck!!!

  • joshua690

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 12:45 pm PT

    Sorry to say but the franchise lost my business when they did away with the "Couch Multiplayer" I mean come on, xbox live is awesome but damn. Who didn't like playing there friends and hitting them in the arm when they passed you on the track. The whole share the controller "tournament style" was awesome. Damn you EA damn you!

  • lindseyiluvyou

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 12:07 pm PT

    That sucks for nascar lovers

  • mrclortho

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 9:30 am PT

    With EA games, I usually wait until the latest version has come out and then get the previous version for $10 at the local used game store. I do that about every 4 years and it is worth it. There is no way in hell I would pay for a new 'slightly different' version of the game each year but people do, year after year...wierd.

  • BrianEk GameSpot staff member

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 9:12 am PT

    @Iceking1 -- You make some interesting points but I will say that I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to put out an annual NASCAR game, one that tried to appeal both to hardcore NASCAR videogame fans who expected realism, as well as as to casual fans of the series who were just looking for cool stuff to do.

    I honestly wish they would have taken two years in between releases but the realities of paying for an exclusive license trumped all.

  • Iceking1

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 8:51 am PT

    @xmetcalf
    Ea is like an old computer that comes out with new buttons every year that don't do anything but light up. For a child or a simpleton that is great but for a person or people who appreciate substance Ea can never and will never be a company of choice for many gamers who want depth in their games. No matter how many monopolies they make or anti trust laws they break. The reason being because too many people are either content with their mediocre games and or to many of us are frustrated and feel they do not listen anyway.

  • irishboy24

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 6:58 am PT

    nascar is going to the gran turismo franchise not forza.... sorry

  • sherif77

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 6:16 am PT

    They r so clueless they think the biggest change is Jr going from 8 to the 88. Nascar had a whole NEW car that changed everything. EA sucks ballllllllzzzzzzzzzz. Here is hoping Forza 3 gets Nascar as a DLC later on.

  • RAZER83

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 2:00 am PT

    This is a good thing for NASCAR, they needed to get away from EA. I had not played NASCAR for sometime (on PS2) then when I got my PS3 I downloaded the 09 demo and I was shocked the gameplay as just the same as the old PS2 games what a joke. And I think putting NASCAR in GT 5 is just going to be a quick fix for now. The partnership with iRacing will be great but where does that leave console gamers?

  • xmetcalf

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 9:58 pm PT

    @iceking1
    I usually don't comment on reads like these.... but your post was/is excellent.... I couldn't agree more.... EA is the main reason I still play 2K5/APF.... EA could care less about putting out a quality product in any way shape or form....

  • blackbeard269

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 9:18 pm PT

    Well EA Sports not making any more Nascar games is no big deal because when they did make them it was not worth the money of the new year just as it is with Madden. They do little tweaks year after year that's not worth buying if you have the year before. I like to see Accolade make some for the Consoles or someone who wants to make an awesome Nascar game and not just worry about how deep their pockets can get.

  • Jrfanfreak88

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 8:47 pm PT

    Well I guess today is a bad day to be a NASCAR fan and 360 or Wii owner. Now NASCAR fans will only have one console to play a new NASCAR game on, and that is the PS3.

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