When NASCAR 21: Ignition was announced last week, it brought a lot of excitement to the NASCAR gaming community. Fans go their first look on the game running in Unreal Engine, and got a lot of details regarding what they’ll be able to do within it. This, of course, is where a number of questions came about. The two biggest being platforms and a lack of series within the game.
After reaching out to a few sources close to the game’s development, SGO does have an update on both of those questions.
The first that’ll be addressed is platform. If you noticed, the game was announce for just the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Steam (PC). I was told that while the game was being developed original with the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 (PS5) and Xbox Series X|S in mind, there was a point where the decision was made to focus on the last-gen platforms.
First, this Switch. The series is still being developed with the intention of bringing it to Nintendo’s platform. However, after seeing how other larger sports games had run on the hybrid console, Motorsport Games decided to hold off of bringing it to the Switch. The team wants to make sure the game can run as smooth as possible before it launches it because a poor first effort would essential kill the series’ chances of success on the console.
Moving on to the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, the game is still being developed with intentions of coming to the consoles. A couple reasons for this was the lack of users on the new systems compared to last-gen, and add the goal of making sure the Unreal Engine worked well with the rFactor physics engine.
Now, NASCAR 21: Ignition will still be playable on both the PS5 and Xbox Series X, but it will be in the same form that NASCAR Heat 5 is playable. It’ll be backwards compatible.
I’ve been told that the current plan is to release a next-gen version of the game in Q1 2022. The game won’t see feature updates in the form of modes, but it will get performance improvements and take full advantage of things like Haptic Feedback on the DualSense controller as well as the SSDs in both the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Plans could change, obviously, but that is where things stand as of today.
What About The Cars in NASCAR 21: Ignition?
Another big talking point was the lack of both the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series. I was told this was nothing more than a strategic decision to make sure the game runs as well as it can on the new engine.
It wasn’t meant to ignore or discredit the second- and third-tier NASCAR series. Instead, it’s making sure a game being built completely from the ground up is where it needs to be moving forward. Think of NASCAR 21: Ignition as the foundation for what’s to come in 2022 and beyond as more people get their hands on the next-gen platforms.
Are you more understanding of the decisions, or does this still bother you? Let us know in the comment section below, and stick with Sports Gamers Online for more NASCAR 21: Ignition