Motorsport Games’ spending spree continues with the acquisition of Studio397.

[Bram Hengeveld]

A few weeks ago Motorsport Games was something of an enigma in the simracing world having produced a handful of Nascar titles but recently things have changed. Having burst onto the scene recently announcing the acquisition of Australian developers Black Delta they have quickly followed up with yet another studio acquisition, this time in the shape of Studio397.

Love it or hate it rFactor 2 does a lot of things right, like the physics and overall driving experience but there are certainly areas which could be improved, I don’t need to name them all here but graphics is an example of something which fans of the title have been hoping for a drastic improvement on for quite some time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but it’s not the best in the industry.

The hope is that with the seemingly endless resources that Motorsport Games have at their disposal, they will iron out all the quirks and accelerate the development of the title. They already have some impressive licenses which could be leveraged such as BTCC and the aforementioned Nascar, so the potential for some exciting content to emerge is promising.

However, the hardcore sim racers will be waiting with bated breath to see what direction this new sim racing giant will take the studio. In previous communications MSG President Stephen Hood has said: "The BTCC title will not be a hardcore high-end racing simulation, but will also not be an arcade game". Read into that what you will.

rFactor2 is a beloved sim and we can only hope that this acquisition will propel the title to new heights.

What do you guys think about the news? Are you looking forward to seeing how Motorsport Games integrate with Studio397? Let us know in the comments.

 

[RobertR1]

Rekt.

 

[Shincha20]

Maybe this cooperation will finally give us what we are looking for since years:
state of the art physics
state of the art graphics
state of the art game mechanics

good times ahead, maybe...
fingers crossed

 

[gianlucaP]

ì

 

[Shincha20]

He also said, and this is an important part not to leave out, they will also cater to the hardcore sim siche.

 

[nicky stevenson]

They have just bought McDonald’s and KFC whatever next

 

[b)b]

racedepartment, all your simracing news 24h late !

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

The MG developer said already that he's aiming to make the game more accessible for the novice players, but at the same time to keep it simulative for the current playerbase.
Let's hope for the best, because this can turn very bad.

Worth noting that Paul was the guy who pushed Codies to approve of DiRT Rally, got a "no" as the board didn't think it would be profitable and interesting, but they kept on with a small team to develop it, and was allowed to release it as an early access with a clear message - if it sold good they could keep developing it.
I am aware of DiRT Rally not being a perfect sim, but it's way more of a sim than Codemasters did for years. So I don't think Paul is the main danger here.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

racedepartment, all your simracing news 24h late !

Thanks for the compliments, that's actually pretty impressive considering we are working 24/7 on building a great esports racing platform for the entire simracing community to enjoy (soon).

 

[Will Mazeo]

Make one please, we want to make fun of Ian Bell.

Ian Bell seeing us making fun of him

 

[jkn87]

Let's see if this makes any significant positive change to the core game or maybe for a new and needed rf3 so we can forget about the everlasting non fullfiled promises for a decade

 

[Shovas]

Me right now:

 

[Rob Every]

Are these guys linked in any way tot he media people who run motorsport.com?

 

[Steve Bird]

minute 08:30
The MG developer said already that he's aiming to make the game more accessible for the novice players, but at the same time to keep it simulative for the current playerbase.
Let's hope for the best, because this can turn very bad.

Hey RD, what about the article about Codemasters being bought by EA? We're still waiting. Make one please, we want to make fun of Ian Bell.

Is that Paul's cousin ?

 

[Will Mazeo]

Are these guys linked in any way tot he media people who run motorsport.com?

Saw something on Discord about it, I think it's the same group
Alonso is also a major shareholder it seems

 

[MarcG]

@Bram Hengeveld It might be an idea to put the Press Release in the actual article and not a separate download link...Paul wouldn't of done that

 

[gianlucaP]

ì

 

[Shovas]

I watched the interview and did some research on MSG and...at least they're not EA, Codemasters, or Activision.

On the plus side apparently they helped in part to make the 2020 Virtual Le Mans as good as it was and I have to admit it was the best esports event I've ever seen. Honestly, I hate esports events in general but I really loved the Virtual Le Mans.

I'm pretty hesitant on their language about making rFactor 2 progressively accessible. R3E talked this up for years and I don't know if it got them anywhere in the end.

The best I can hope for is they improve a central low level codebase with pure sim code and fork off of that and code in simcade stuff for *other* titles but not rFactor 2. I have a feeling I'm wrong about that in terms of what they said about controller support and assists.

Right now, I'm taking a more positive angle than not, but boy is it scary. We just get to the point where 397 is hitting their stride and then they sell. It's doesn't encourage confidence.

But let's say this actually is a good deal and S397 now has way more money to put into rFactor 2. It could be the best thing to happen to sims since...GTR2, I guess. Ya I'm biased.

I really hope this works out.

 

[UMC 22]

However, the hardcore sim racers will be waiting with baited breath to see what direction this new sim racing giant will take the studio. In previous communications MSG President Stephen Hood has said: "The BTCC title will not be a hardcore high-end racing simulation, but will also not be an arcade game". Read into that what you will.

My take on that is simple... the BTCC game is a different product, so has no bearing on the future direction of the rF series. It's entirely possibly for one developer (or group, in this case) to produce games that cover a wide range of genres... they're not locked into just one. Not worth anyone getting their pants in a twist just yet.

Overall it's probably good news for rF. They'll probably retain the same dev team, maybe expand it, and pump in new funds to allow them to achieve things they've been trying to for years. Until proven otherwise I think a positive outlook is the way forwards.

 

[Shovas]

Another angle to consider is modder support. Will they be seen as selling out? Will modders be progressively alienated? Will it further cement the move away to other sims that do allow modding.

Anyone know MSG's or their owners track record with moddable sims?