iRacing’s adventures into more accessible racing games are set to continue with a new game ‘iRacing Arcade’ (working title).
The diminutive independent development team behind the charming Circuit Superstars and Karting Superstars, Original Fire Games, will be creating the ‘casual racing’ title.
It transpires that the aforementioned top-down driving game – which was first released on PC in 2021 before making its way to PlayStation, Xbox and Switch – will form the technical basis for the next project, although the Massachusetts-headquartered simulation platform claims it will be an “all-new product.”
Circuit Superstars mixed cutesy visuals, from a top-down perspective, with physics grounded in reality. Racing lines and fuel strategies must be adhered to. Karting Superstars followed in 2023, with a similar ethos but utilised chase camera angles.
During the release of the latter, we spoke to the Canada-based creation team, who were keen to stress that it was a pivotal title.
“Our biggest hope is that, first of all, Karting Superstars can succeed and keep us running and then, hopefully, help us fund our third game,” said Carolina Mastretta, Co-Founder and Studio Director at Original Fire Games to Traxion last year.
Now, however, the iRacing deal looks to have provided the stability required to realise their vision.
“What we created with Circuit Superstars showed us that there is a hunger for arcade-like racing experiences that are true to motorsport,” said Mastretta.
“As an industry leader of the sim racing space for nearly two decades, iRacing has talent, expertise and technology that can help us catalyze the potential of the foundation we’ve built so far.
“iRacing has been successfully venturing into new racing genres and they recognized the potential of our debut title. This convergence of our two companies presents a fantastic opportunity to craft our finest game yet.
“Incredibly excited about this collaboration,” said Alberto Mastretta, Co-Founder and Creator at Original Fire Games.
“We’re so happy to be in a position to collaborate with such knowledgeable developers and motorsport enthusiasts.
“They know this space incredibly well and we hope together we can make a beautiful contribution to the motorsport genre.”
iRacing’s expansion continues
Alongside continued support for its tentpole product, the sim racing service has recently branched out into single-purchase games for PC and console. In 2022 it published World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing, which will be followed by a sequel this September.
It also took on the early access indie title DRAG Outer Zones, which is set for a full release as ExoCross later this month, and has a deal to create an official NASCAR game starting next year.
“iRacing has long been interested in expanding into other niches in the race gaming market, and we’re thrilled to be doing that with Original Fire Games,” said iRacing president Tony Gardner.
“Teaming up with them is the perfect opportunity for us to enter this space with a strong foundation that we can build upon.
“Games like these cultivate new racing enthusiasts who eventually become the next generation of sim racers and the future player base for our simulations.”
‘iRacing Acrade’ is currently slated for a 2025 release for PC and consoles.
