Motorsport Games is a developer that lives up to its name. The company is well-known for the NASCAR Heat series. That includes ongoing support for the latest in the series, NASCAR Heat 5. However, it seems the developer wants to add additional motor sports to its roster. This morning, Motorsport Games announced that it will acquire KartKraft from developer Black Delta. According to its website, Motorsport Games will step into simulation kart racing by taking ownership of the KartKraft IP, assets, and code. It will also hire members of the original development team.
For folks like me who are unfamiliar, KartKraft is a kart racing simulation game developed using the Unreal Engine. The game went live on Steam in 2018, where it is still listed as in Early Access. For what it’s worth, reviews of the game on Steam are Very Positive. The game seems to be pretty accurate to the kart racing experience. Then again, we should assume that to be the case if a developer like Motorsport Games is interested.
Why Motorsports Games Would Add Kart Racing To Its Garage
Motorsport Games CEO Dmitry Kozko says the company is “aggressively pursuing our growth strategy,” by acquiring new racing games. Its goal, Kozko says, it to become a leading developer for racing games. This is also an opportunity for Motorsport to develop a new racing niche. Kart racing is a genre that is usually represented by cartoony, arcade-style games. The two most common kart racers are probably Nintendo’s Mario Kart series and Diddy Kong Racing. Motorsport Games has an opportunity to fill a gap in development, by helping support a simulation kart racer. It can also build on the genre’s opportunity for esports integration.
Motorsport Games will also be establishing a new development studio. Developers who have been working on KartKraft, including Founder Zach Griffin, will be joining Motorsport Games as Motorsport Games Australia. The new studio will continue to work on KartKraft with additional support from Motorsport Games proper.
All in all, this seems like a strong acquisition for a talented racing sim developer. If you want to give KartKraft a shot right now, you can buy it in Early Access on steam for $19.99.
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