NASCARgames have never been as popular or as successful as juggernauts likeForza,Gran Turismo, andNeed for Speed, but they’ve still maintained a large presence in the racing game genre. In fact, more than 60 video games with the license have been released over the years. The first game that featuredNASCARcars was 1984’sRichard Petty’s Talladega, which came out on Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64 and was developed by the now-defunct Cosmi Corporation. Years after its release, the NASCAR license was handed over to several other publishers, including EA Sports (who created theNASCAR Thundergames), Eutechnyx (who developed theNASCAR The Gameseries), and Sierra (who made theNASCAR Racingfranchise).
In recent years, the majority of NASCAR games have been published by 704Games, a subsidiary of the media company Motorsport Network.704Games bought the video game rights to the NASCAR licensein 2015, and since then, has released 8 titles based on the property. Some of the firm’s earlier works were developed by the American studio Monster Games, but most of its newer releases were either created by 704Games itself or its newly-established sister company, Motorsport Games. Unfortunately, many of the NASCAR titles that 704Games published are going to be delisted on Jul 07, 2025, meaning that they’ll soon be unavailable digitally to those who haven’t already purchased them.
Several NASCAR Games Are Being Delisted on December 31
On November 29, Motorsport Network made the surprise announcement that10 of its NASCAR games would be removed from digital storefrontsacross all platforms by the end of 2024. Motorsport Network didn’t provide any explanation as to why it was delisting so many of its titles, but it’s likely that licensing agreements with NASCAR played a role in the company’s decision-making. The delisted titles are:
The NASCAR Games Aren’t All Great, But Their Removal From Digital Storefronts is Disappointing
The 10 NASCAR games that are going to be delisted this year aren’t exactly critical darlings. While some of these titles, likeNASCAR Heat 5andNASCAR Heat Evolution,have received decent reviews, a sizable number of them have garnered largely negative reception.2021’sNASCAR 21: Ignition, for instance, was universally panned due to being plagued with bugs and glitches; some even labeled it as one of the worst NASCAR games ever made.NASCAR Heat 2andNASCAR Heat Evolutionwere also met with similarly poor reviews.
Even though not all of Motorsport Networks' games are great, the fact that so many of them are being delisted is still significant from a media preservation standpoint. Some of these NASCAR racing games are not available on PC, so when they get delisted, they’ll be very hard to access.NASCAR Heat Ultimate Edition+andNASCARRivalsare both Nintendo Switch exclusives, whileNASCAR Heat Mobileis only available on iOS and Android. At the very least, Switch players will have the ability to buy the two aforementioned NASCAR games physically, even after they’re removed from sale on the eShop.NASCAR Heat Mobile, however, is a digital-only title, so like most mobile games that get delisted, it will be lost to time.
% of Discount
2015
$0.99
90%
2016
2017
$1.29
2018
$1.99
80%
2019
$3.74
75%
2020
2021
$1.79
Throughout the remainder of this month, Motorsport Networks intends to reduce the prices of itsNASCAR gameson several platforms. At the time of writing, there aren’t any discounts available for these titles on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, but PC players can currently grab them at low prices on Steam. Every Motorsport-published NASCAR game that’s available on Valve’s PC storefront is on sale at up to 90% off. The Steam discounts are only going to last until December 5, so PC players who want to get theseNASCARgames at affordable prices need to act fast before it’s too late.
