Racing enthusiasts rejoice as a new NASCAR game will be released this year for PC and consoles. NASCAR 21, a brand-new AAA racing simulator from the successful NASCAR Heat series creators, has been announced.
NASCAR 21 will be a fresh start for the developer's NASCAR simulators, thanks to next-gen technology. The company's most recent foray into the American stock car racing scene was 2020's NASCAR Heat 5, which was billed as "the definitive NASCAR video game experience," a moniker that NASCAR 21 will almost indeed bear.
The forthcoming NASCAR championship will be Motorsport's first step into Unreal Technology, as opposed to the Unity engine used to create the Heat series. NASCAR 21 will also use Studio 397's rFactor two physics, which Motorsport Games purchased in March of this year.
Creating the game with Unreal and integrating it with the rFactor two engines, according to Motorsport Games' George Holmquist, pushes the aesthetics and gameplay into "more of a AAA style of game" than its NASCAR Heat predecessor. The screenshots in NASCAR 21 alone, according to Holmquist, demonstrate the game's significant improvement in graphic fidelity.
NASCAR 21 adds greater vehicle personalization than ever before, in addition to visual fidelity and physical enhancements. According to Holmquist, one of the most popular improvements requested by players is more customization. The NASCAR Heat series has long allowed players to customize their cars, but NASCAR 21 takes it a step further by including a full-fledged paint studio in the game. The paint booth is the product of direct community feedback, and while it is still in the testing phase, Holmquist claims that several "interesting schemes" are already ready to go.
NASCAR 21 draws an interesting analogy to NASCAR's current status at this time last year. The racing organization was forced to postpone or cancel live in-person events because of the COVID-19 outbreak, prompting some creative thinking. The outcome was the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, in which current drivers competed in a video game environment. While the transition to online racing was met with mixed reviews, with driver Bubba Wallace's anger abandoning a race, it was mostly a commercial success. Rather than emulating the real thing in a video game, the NASCAR 21 video game attempts to replicate the real thing.
While the game is expected to be released this year, no exact date has been set. Until then, Rocket League fans may get their NASCAR 2021 dose with the freshly released NASCAR 2021 fan pack.