Motorsport Games Granted Nasdaq Extension

Motorsport Games Granted Nasdaq Extension RD.jpg
Following a delisting notice in November, the Nasdaq has accepted Motorsport Games’ plan for regaining compliance and enacted a deadline.

Images: Motorsport Games

The beleaguered developer has been through the wringer of late, but as it gears up for the launch of Le Mans Ultimate in just 13 days, the Nasdaq has extended its stay on the stock market.

On 17th November 2023, Motorsport Games noted that it had received a deficiency letter from the New York-based exchange’s Listing Qualifications Department. Back then, the following items were flagged as potential issues:
  • A stockholders’ equity of $498,897, below the minimum requirement.
  • A market value of listed securities of at least $35 million or net income of $500,000 from continuing operations in the most recently completed fiscal year or in two of the three most recently completed fiscal years.
The owner of Studio 397, and therefore titles such as rFactor 2, was then afforded up to 45 days to submit a plan to regain compliance.

Evidently, that proposal was submitted and now the Nasdaq, according to a recent SEC filing, has given the Miami-headquartered developer until 15th May 2024 to regain compliance and specifically a minimum stockholders’ equity of $2,500,000.

No small task, when MSGM closed yesterday (6th January 2024) at a paltry $2.46, factoring in 2022’s 1-for-10 reverse stock split. Should a delisting be the determined outcome, Motorsport Games still has the option of appealing any decision.

How long will Indycar remain in rFactor 2?


Delisting itself could result in numerous scenarios (such as trading over the counter) and does not necessarily mean the automatic cessation of operations.

“The company plans to negotiate and implement equity financing transactions and negotiate reductions of its licensing liabilities,” reads the document signed by Motorsport Games’ CEO Stephen Hood.

What any potential ‘equity financing transaction’ entails rather obviously, is unclear. As for ‘licensing liabilities’, according to a separate SEC filing last year, it owed the BARC (TOCA – the BTCC promoter) ‘approximately’ $800,000 in licencing payments.

In November last year, IndyCar notified Motorsport Games of its intention to terminate the exclusive deals to create ‘video gaming products’ and ‘esports events’ (but, seemingly, leaving the door open for ‘simulation product’ rights). This followed the pausing of game development and redundancy of the Australian team creating it.

Yet, no further update has been provided since the initial “evaluating the validity of INDYCAR LLC’s notice of termination” notice. Therefore, there is a chance that this deal is still an asset that can be sold, much like the sales of NASCAR video game rights to iRacing in October 2023.

Le Mans Ultimate, by Studio 397 and Motorsport Games

Clearer Skies For Le Mans Ultimate’s Launch​

All this financial manoeuvring has hung over Motorsport Games like a dark cloud since the release of the ill-fated NASCAR 21: Ignition.

The news of a Nasdaq grace period is potentially good news for the team trying to get Le Mans Ultimate over the line for the 20th February.

With this now just days away, the focus must be on delivering the best simulation possible for the initial early access launch with this grace period providing a temporary reprieve.
About author
Thomas Harrison-Lord
A freelance sim racing, motorsport and automotive journalist. Credits include Autosport Magazine, Motorsport.com, RaceDepartment, OverTake, Traxion and TheSixthAxis.

Comments

I really want Studio 397 and rFactor 2 and LMU to survive. I always bought all rFactor 2 DLC and will buy LMU Early Access as well, on day one of its EA release. It’s only €30. A larger user base can only make this interesting for other companies to take over Studio 397 and its games. MSG is not going to survive on sales from LMU and rFactor 2 alone I am afraid. BTW, isn’t KartKraft not also still under MSG‘s umbrella?
 
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You do realise your post just mirrored what I said but with more words?

Not quite sure if that was your intention...

There's nuance to everything... One was throwing shade at one companies failings another was saying that all developers have their problems...

If we hated everyone who did something wrong to a sim racer, be it bugs they can't find acceptable, marketing that was over the top or shady dealings there would be no games to like as every sim has a shady side...

There are people who like what MSGS has done... They might be a small group but they feel like MSGS gives them the best experience for what they're looking for whilst the others have failed them... Sure none of them are NASCAR Ignition fans and many have been waiting for MSGS's collapse since then... But those who have poured hours into rF2 over the past 3-5 years and loved it aren't on that page yet...

S397 might not be ISI in terms of accuracy, but they're certainly no SMS or EA... And given this is a passion project many will say they deserve to see it through to it's completion...

Personally I'm interested to see where they've taken this engine to and what the whole situation looks like in 2025... I cannot deny there's a large chance they'll **** it up, but just like rF2, there's a market to save it... One that is much larger without the MSGS name there... But also one that is coveted because of the WEC license...
 
Premium
Gotta imagine how demoralising this is for the devs. There is literally nothing they can do to save this. They need to get near or over six figures in sales from a product that the audience knows is in serious doubt of being completed
With you on this one, some supremely talented people working on an upcoming game all the politics must be difficult to bear.
 
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Premium
Don't understand why the people that run this website are so intent on posting this stuff. Wouldn't post it if it was any other game company yet because its motorsport games you keep on doing it. Been a member of RD since the start but barely come here anymore as its always the same biased rubbish. But then that's overtakes influence.
Hello there - I felt that, while the financial status of the company is clearly not in a good state, being able to stay listed before the Le Mans Ultimate launch is a positive and I hope by reading the full article that comes across.

Without this extension from the Nasdaq, there would be an almighty mess just before a game launch. Now there's a chance to push onwards and focus on the title's launch.
 
Premium
Glad it's not just me noticing it. Websites and the people that write these articles are the reason why companies don't survive. Studio397's recent content to rf2 like the btcc stuff has been brilliant I could spend forever lapping on it.
I love rFactor 2 and the BTCC content, but I believe turning a blind eye to the challenges the parent company has is a disservice to the community.

I wish nothing but the best to the game developers, and to be clear, an extension from the Nasdaq is a net positive.
 
I can hardly believe a spot on the stock market is going to help with cash flow. You can spread risks, lower costs, switch holding companies. In the end it's all about game sales and perhaps organizing esports events. Although I can't imagine esports events being profitable enough for a Nasdaq listed company.

They narrowed down the product line so now they're pretty much left with the upcoming LMU. The Nascar franchise is dead and RF2 annual sales are lunch money. MSG is going all-in on LMU. Bankruptcy might be lurking around the corner.
 
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Premium
The covid period has attracted many new simracers and created a big hype around simracing.
Everytime you have something like this, you have some investors who are attracted too.
I suppose MSG is one of those and wanted to make BIG and QUICK money with the simracing market.

Unfortunately, simracing is a SMALL niche , and will remain so . (Sorry for those thinking that there is no way without VR and Rfactor 2, or ACC, ...)

My thinking gets an people like the developpers, who are on the verge to maybe lose their jobs.
These guys deserve our respect, just because of the fantastic simracing titles which have been released during all these years.
My only way to thank them will be to purchase LMU, as I purchased Kartkraft in the past.
Rfactor is by far not my main sim, but all that I own from S397 is top notch quality.
I will purchase LMU as support (and maybe farewell) to the developpers, and if MSG collapses and I lose 30€, I will then lose 30€
 
There's nuance to everything... One was throwing shade at one companies failings another was saying that all developers have their problems...

If we hated everyone who did something wrong to a sim racer, be it bugs they can't find acceptable, marketing that was over the top or shady dealings there would be no games to like as every sim has a shady side...

There are people who like what MSGS has done... They might be a small group but they feel like MSGS gives them the best experience for what they're looking for whilst the others have failed them... Sure none of them are NASCAR Ignition fans and many have been waiting for MSGS's collapse since then... But those who have poured hours into rF2 over the past 3-5 years and loved it aren't on that page yet...

S397 might not be ISI in terms of accuracy, but they're certainly no SMS or EA... And given this is a passion project many will say they deserve to see it through to it's completion...

Personally I'm interested to see where they've taken this engine to and what the whole situation looks like in 2025... I cannot deny there's a large chance they'll **** it up, but just like rF2, there's a market to save it... One that is much larger without the MSGS name there... But also one that is coveted because of the WEC license...
Why are you giving credit to MSG for rFactor 2?
 
Premium
There's nuance to everything... One was throwing shade at one companies failings another was saying that all developers have their problems...

If we hated everyone who did something wrong to a sim racer, be it bugs they can't find acceptable, marketing that was over the top or shady dealings there would be no games to like as every sim has a shady side...

There are people who like what MSGS has done... They might be a small group but they feel like MSGS gives them the best experience for what they're looking for whilst the others have failed them... Sure none of them are NASCAR Ignition fans and many have been waiting for MSGS's collapse since then... But those who have poured hours into rF2 over the past 3-5 years and loved it aren't on that page yet...

S397 might not be ISI in terms of accuracy, but they're certainly no SMS or EA... And given this is a passion project many will say they deserve to see it through to it's completion...

Personally I'm interested to see where they've taken this engine to and what the whole situation looks like in 2025... I cannot deny there's a large chance they'll **** it up, but just like rF2, there's a market to save it... One that is much larger without the MSGS name there... But also one that is coveted because of the WEC license...
Anyway, Hot garbage aside, I didn't say they were the only ones to have issues or a shady background, I said they were the only ones that had issues that became part of the community discussion. Clearly you didn't pick up on the nuance.
 
Honestly I don't even know why the Elks signed Taylor Cornelius. Guy was terrible in the XFL and got mocked when he played for Tampa Bay. Not sure how that justified bringing him north of the border.
 
I really want Studio 397 and rFactor 2 and LMU to survive. I always bought all rFactor 2 DLC and will buy LMU Early Access as well, on day one of its EA release. It’s only €30. A larger user base can only make this interesting for other companies to take over Studio 397 and its games. MSG is not going to survive on sales from LMU and rFactor 2 alone I am afraid. BTW, isn’t KartKraft not also still under MSG‘s umbrella?

More like left in the rain. I was looking forward to what would come of KartKraft and then it just didn't go anywhere. A couple of racing sims now feature karts of course, but I like the handling in that one.
 
Premium
I think it's fair to say that simracing is currently going through a rough time post Covid. You might even say that can be extended to the whole IT sector as even companies like Google and Microsoft are firing staff.

Personally, I do think it is worth reporting on the developers and publishers that make the games we love to play. It's not just Studio 397 and MSG going through a rough time either. Just as an example, Kunos is also having to move back release dates and it looks like we'll see an early access version of AC2 there first too. Their parent company is also cutting back and although Kunos stated it does not currently affect them (which I believe) the news of Aris leaving will certainly leave some hard to fill shoes. And to say the development of Rennsport at the moment is nothing but a smooth ride would be sugarcoating it too. They seem to have bet big on esports just at a time when the interest in it seemed to be disappearing, which will probably cause them to refocus and try again.

It's not all negative though. Straight4 seem to be moving ahead nicely, building a new platform and keeping us in the loop on progress. Reiza too are making significant improvements to their title and Raceroom, although struggling because their "next gen" platform never materialized (GTR3, SimBin UK) they are still adding content and making improvements.

And somewhere in a small garage... ;)
 
OverTake
Premium
Don't understand why the people that run this website are so intent on posting this stuff. Wouldn't post it if it was any other game company yet because its motorsport games you keep on doing it.

Kunos Simulazioni Parent Company Digital Bros Reduces Workforce By 30%

Codemasters Suffers Layoffs Ahead Of Christmas


While these articles are not about the companies' financial situations per se, they are still about the business side of things. There are more about the Motorsport Games situation simply because it keeps evolving relatively frequently and they are a publicly-traded company, meaning financial reports are public as well.

Tom's article highlights the facts, outlines what they could (not will!) result in, and even adds an optimistic spin to it :O_o:

Edit: @Marcel Offermans was faster with some of these links :D
 
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Hopefully the release goes well and the jobs of the developers are safeguarded. They've improved rF2 a lot and are a very nice bunch. Every employer seems to be cutting back across game dev, hopefully the trend doesn't continue.
 
First they wanted to release it at the end of 2023 but they postponed it, now we find out that it won't be complete but only early access... Am I the only one who smells a mockery? But they might as well give the Le Mans and WEC license back to iRacing, they will never have enough revenue to save themselves from their own ridiculous choices of the past. I said it in the past, I say it now and I will always say it: I always regret when rF2 was in the hands of its original creators, the ISI...
 
Premium
I said it in the past, I say it now and I will always say it: I always regret when rF2 was in the hands of its original creators, the ISI...
I assume you mean you would still want rF2 to be in the hands of ISI?

Of course nobody can be 100% sure what would have happened, but just to be clear, ISI basically offered me to continue with rF2, which is why I founded Studio 397. Clearly they had a reason for that and with the risk of speaking for them, to me it was clear they wanted to start doing something else and they had enough of rF2. So what would probably have happened is that rF2 development would have ended then and there, in mid 2016.
 
First they wanted to release it at the end of 2023 but they postponed it, now we find out that it won't be complete but only early access... Am I the only one who smells a mockery? But they might as well give the Le Mans and WEC license back to iRacing, they will never have enough revenue to save themselves from their own ridiculous choices of the past. I said it in the past, I say it now and I will always say it: I always regret when rF2 was in the hands of its original creators, the ISI...
They can't give anything back to iRacing because they haven't taken anything away from iRacing. Le Mans is in iRacing since ages perfectly ready to race and WEC was never part of anyones license roster.

And don't regret anything about ISI. For all the wierd development desicions they've made - like making no depth, wich stalled development allmost to a complete halt - I think it's still worth to give them credit for the great technical foundation that drives rF2 and soon LMU. If there wasn't something good in it people wouldn't be racing it.
 
I really want Studio 397 and rFactor 2 and LMU to survive. I always bought all rFactor 2 DLC and will buy LMU Early Access as well, on day one of its EA release. It’s only €30. A larger user base can only make this interesting for other companies to take over Studio 397 and its games. MSG is not going to survive on sales from LMU and rFactor 2 alone I am afraid. BTW, isn’t KartKraft not also still under MSG‘s umbrella?

S397 is developing LMU, it does not mean they are the right holders...
 

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