NASCAR games have never been as popular or as successful as juggernauts like Forza, Gran Turismo, and Need for Speed, but they’ve still maintained a large presence in the racing game genre. In fact, more than 60 video games with the license have been released over the years. The first game that featured NASCAR cars was 1984’s Richard Petty’s Talladega, which came out on Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64 and was developed by the now-defunct Cosmi Corporation. Years after its release, the NASCAR license was handed over to several other publishers, including EA Sports (who created the NASCAR Thunder games), Eutechnyx (who developed the NASCAR The Game series), and Sierra (who made the NASCAR Racing franchise).
In recent years, the majority of NASCAR games have been published by 704Games, a subsidiary of the media company Motorsport Network. 704Games bought the video game rights to the NASCAR license in 2015, and since then, has released 8 titles based on the property. Some of the firm’s earlier works were developed by the American studio Monster Games, but most of its newer releases were either created by 704Games itself or its newly-established sister company, Motorsport Games. Unfortunately, many of the NASCAR titles that 704Games published are going to be delisted on December 31, 2024, meaning that they’ll soon be unavailable digitally to those who haven’t already purchased them.
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Several NASCAR Games Are Being Delisted on December 31
On November 29, Motorsport Network made the surprise announcement that 10 of its NASCAR games would be removed from digital storefronts across all platforms by the end of 2024. Motorsport Network didn’t provide any explanation as to why it was delisting so many of its titles, but it’s likely that licensing agreements with NASCAR played a role in the company’s decision-making. The delisted titles are:
- NASCAR ’15
- NASCAR Rivals
- NASCAR Heat Evolution
- NASCAR Heat Ultimate Editio n+
- NASCAR Heat Mobile
- NASCAR Heat 2
- NASCAR Heat 3
- NASCAR Heat 4
- NASCAR Heat 5
- NASCAR Heat 6
- NASCAR 21: Ignition
The NASCAR Games Aren’t All Great, But Their Removal From Digital Storefronts is Disappointing
The 10 NASCAR games that are going to be delisted this year aren’t exactly critical darlings. While some of these titles, like NASCAR Heat 5 and NASCAR Heat Evolution, have received decent reviews, a sizable number of them have garnered largely negative reception. 2021’s NASCAR 21: Ignition, for instance, was universally panned due to being plagued with bugs and glitches; some even labeled it as one of the worst NASCAR games ever made. NASCAR Heat 2 and NASCAR Heat Evolution were also met with similarly poor reviews.
Even though not all of Motorsport Networks’ games are great, the fact that so many of them are being delisted is still significant from a media preservation standpoint. Some of these NASCAR racing games are not available on PC, so when they get delisted, they’ll be very hard to access. NASCAR Heat Ultimate Edition+ and NASCAR Rivals are both Nintendo Switch exclusives, while NASCAR Heat Mobile is only available on iOS and Android. At the very least, Switch players will have the ability to buy the two aforementioned NASCAR games physically, even after they’re removed from sale on the eShop. NASCAR Heat Mobile, however, is a digital-only title, so like most mobile games that get delisted, it will be lost to time.
Every Soon-to-be-Delisted NASCAR Game That’s Currently Discounted On Steam
|
Name |
Release Year |
Price |
% of Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
|
NASCAR ’15 Victory Edition |
2015 |
$0.99 |
90% |
|
NASCAR Heat Evolution |
2016 |
$0.99 |
90% |
|
NASCAR Heat 2 |
2017 |
$1.29 |
90% |
|
NASCAR Heat 3 |
2018 |
$1.99 |
80% |
|
NASCAR Heat 4 |
2019 |
$3.74 |
75% |
|
NASCAR Heat 5 |
2020 |
$3.74 |
75% |
|
NASCAR 21 Ignition |
2021 |
$1.79 |
90% |
Throughout the remainder of this month, Motorsport Networks intends to reduce the prices of its NASCAR games on several platforms. At the time of writing, there aren’t any discounts available for these titles on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, but PC players can currently grab them at low prices on Steam. Every Motorsport-published NASCAR game that’s available on Valve’s PC storefront is on sale at up to 90% off. The Steam discounts are only going to last until December 5, so PC players who want to get these NASCAR games at affordable prices need to act fast before it’s too late.
