NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

, the most popular motorsport in the United States, has worked with video game developers to design several video games. In 2003,

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

received an exclusive console license to produce NASCAR games, eliminating

Papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

and

Hasbro Interactive Hasbro Interactive was an American video game developer, video game production and video game publisher, publishing subsidiary of Hasbro, the large game and toy company. Several of its studios were closed in early 2001 and most of its properties ...

as competitors. In May 2009,

iRacing.com ''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online racing simulation video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tr ...

received a license to run NASCAR-sanctioned online racing starting in 2010. In June 2009 at the E3 Gaming Expo, NASCAR was revealed to be a part of the '' Gran Turismo'' series for the first time in ''

Gran Turismo 5 is a 2010 racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released for the PlayStation 3 on November 24, 2010 in Europe and North America, and November 25, 2010 in Japan and Australasia, and ...

'' for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

Developers

Papyrus Design Group

In 1994,

Papyrus Design Group Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a d ...

, an up-and-coming simulation racing developer (at the time) that was best known for the ''

IndyCar Racing ''IndyCar Racing'' is a racing video game by Papyrus Design Group released in 1993. Papyrus, consisting of David Kaemmer and Omar Khudari, previously developed '' Indianapolis 500: The Simulation'', released in 1989. The game was intended as a ...

'' series, released the first installation to the NASCAR Racing series into the video game market. Over the next decade Papyrus teamed with

Sierra Entertainment Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre, ...

and continued producing games for their NASCAR Racing series. The NASCAR Racing games were universally praised for their accuracy in terms of physics and track feel, with NASCAR Cup and

Xfinity Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the com ...

(formerly Nationwide) Series drivers regularly practicing for upcoming tracks using the games. Prior to sweeping both races at Pocono in 2006,

Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and ope ...

had only seen the track in ''

NASCAR Racing 2003 Season ''NASCAR Racing 2003 Season'', or ''NR2003'' for short, is a computer racing simulator released in February 2003 by Papyrus Design Group for Windows and Mac OS X. The game was the last to be released by the company before EA Sports bought the ...

''.

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

, through their

banner, developed NASCAR games for the Sony

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

, and

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

under names such as ''

NASCAR 98 ''NASCAR '98'' is a racing simulator video game developed by Stormfront Studios, published by EA Sports, and released in 1997 for Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. This was the first game in the EA Sports NASCAR series. Gameplay The original ...

'', ''

NASCAR 99 ''NASCAR '99'' is a racing simulator video game developed and published by EA Sports and co-developed by Stormfront Studios. It was released for Nintendo 64 on September 10, 1998, and for the PlayStation on September 29. NASCAR '99 was the seco ...

'', ''

NASCAR 2000 ''NASCAR 2000'' is a racing simulator video game developed and published by EA Sports and co-developed by Stormfront Studios. Publication history The game was released in 1999 for Nintendo 64 and PlayStation and in 2000 for Microsoft Windows ...

'' and ''NASCAR Road Racing''. Also, a big hit for the company was '' NASCAR Rumble'', a spin-off of the normal NASCAR racing games. The company expanded into NASCAR games for PC, Game Boy Color for their 2000 game, and the PlayStation 2 for their 2001 game, the last under the old name. For 2002, the series was renamed '' NASCAR Thunder'', and by 2003, has simultaneously been released on

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

, PC, and the

. EA Sports decided to split their old "Thunder" titles into two separate racing lines; one for consoles focused on gameplay, and one for PC, which attempted to focus on technical accuracy in the spirit of the old Papyrus/Sierra lines – indeed the PC game used many former members of the Papyrus development teams (although David Kaemmer was not involved). The games were given differing names, as to not confuse the two, with the console series renamed '' NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup'' (released in 2004, a reference to the new NASCAR playoff format) and the PC series renamed ''

NASCAR SimRacing ''NASCAR SimRacing'', abbreviated ''NSR'', is a computer racing simulator developed by EA Tiburon and released on February 15, 2005, by EA Sports for Microsoft Windows. The game includes all of the 2004 NEXTEL Cup Series drivers (including Jerem ...

'' (released in 2005). Sweeping gameplay changes meant that the "Chase for the Cup" name was dropped from the 2006 edition of the console game. Instead, the game was titled '' NASCAR 06: Total Team Control''. The new name is derived from the new feature by which a player who has teammates in the field can actually switch to their teammates' cars and control them during a race. It was released on August 30, 2005. Released on September 6, 2006, ''

NASCAR 07 ''NASCAR 07'' is the tenth installment of the EA Sports' NASCAR video game series. It was developed by EA Tiburon and released on September 29, 2006, for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable and on November 14, 2006, for the Xbox. This wa ...

'' was EA Sports' tenth game in the series. ''

NASCAR 09 ''NASCAR 09'' is the twelfth simulation installment in the EA Sports NASCAR series and the sequel to 2007 game '' NASCAR 08''. It is developed by EA Tiburon and released on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and mobile phones in North Amer ...

'' was the final game in the EA Sports NASCAR series. It is available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well as PlayStation 2. The NASCAR series took a different approach in 2009, as EA introduced '' NASCAR Kart Racing'' on the Wii console. It was later announced that EA would not make a ''NASCAR 10'', and the series is currently on hiatus because of a drop in sales and now has lost the license they had with NASCAR since 2003.

2010–present

Starting in 2010, EA's license to make NASCAR games expired. ''

'' features NASCAR in the game with cars from 2010 season and some tracks on the NASCAR schedule; 2011 season cars were added later in an update. Also,

and NASCAR started an Online Racing Series which started in 2010 and the NASCAR Peak Antifreeze Series later that year. iRacing and NASCAR had a close partnership and by the start of the 2014 season, the simulation had every car make/model that has run in Sprint Cup from 2013 and 2014 seasons and every track that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on the simulation. Other games that came out with NASCAR licensing after 2010 included '' Days of Thunder: Arcade'' (based on ''

Days of Thunder ''Days of Thunder'' is a 1990 American sports action drama film released by Paramount Pictures, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott. The cast includes Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, C ...

''), which is a game sold as an Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network game for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Eutechnyx

In 2010,

Eutechnyx Eutechnyx Limited (formerly Zeppelin Games Limited, until 1994, and Merit Studios (Europe) Limited, until 1997) is a British video game developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Since 1997, the company has focused on racing games. They a ...

began creating games based on NASCAR starting in 2011 with '' NASCAR The Game: 2011''. '' NASCAR The Game: Inside Line'' was released on November 6, 2012. Afterwards, Eutechnyx made two new games: the first NASCAR licensed video game for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

, and ''NASCAR The Game: 2013'' for

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

switched publishers for ''

NASCAR '14 ''NASCAR '14'' is a NASCAR video game. It is the third edition of the '' NASCAR The Game'' racing simulator series, and is the sequel to '' NASCAR The Game: Inside Line''. Developed by Eutechnyx and published by Deep Silver, the game was release ...

'' to Deep Silver after having

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

publishing previous games of the ''NASCAR The Game'' series. DMi Games replaced Eutechnyx for ''NASCAR '15'' on January 1, 2015.

Dusenberry Martin Racing / 704Games

Dusenberry Martin Racing took over the NASCAR license and began developing new games in 2016, as well as releasing a

-developed update game for the 2015 season. DMR is an American-based company located in the NASCAR Plaza building in Uptown, Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is headed by former

CEO Tom Dusenberry (developers of the ''

NASCAR Heat ''NASCAR Heat'' is a 2000 racing video game for the PlayStation, Microsoft Windows and Game Boy Color. It was developed by Monster Games and published by Hasbro Interactive. The PlayStation version was co-developed with Digital Illusions CE. ...

'' series) and Ed Martin, former executive at

, Hasbro,

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...

, and most recent licensee

. DMR partnered with ''NASCAR Heat'' developer

Monster Games Monster Games, Inc. is an American independent video game developer in Northfield, Minnesota, United States that specializes in racing games and ports in action, platforms and action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often ab ...

to create ''

NASCAR Heat Evolution ''NASCAR Heat Evolution'' is a racing video game developed by Monster Games and published by Dusenberry Martin Racing. The game was released in North America on September 13, 2016 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. It is t ...

''. In 2017, DMR rebranded to 704Games and hired former NASCAR Media Group President, NASCAR Senior Vice President and DMR chairman Paul Brooks as CEO.

Other

Other NASCAR games include

's ''

''; Papyrus' ''

NASCAR Legends ''NASCAR Legends'' is a NASCAR racing simulator developed by Papyrus Design Group for Windows-based personal computers and released by Sierra On-Line in late 1999. It was based on the 1970 NASCAR Grand National Series (the precursor to the NAS ...

'', which took players back to the 1970 season, featuring a different point system, and many different tracks. There is also a

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

game: '' 3-D Ultra NASCAR Pinball''. This game was based on the ''NASCAR Racing 3'' engine; EA Sports' '' NASCAR Revolution'' (released between ''

'', which came out in 1998, and ''

'', which came out in 1999); and '' NASCAR Rumble'', an EA game incorporating some of the features of

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

's ''

Mario Kart is a series of racing games developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters and courses from the ''Mario'' series as well as other gaming franchises such as ''T ...

'' series, but with NASCAR car designs. ''

'' featured NASCAR as one of several new licenses that was included in the game.

List

Simulation/realism

Arcade/casual/other

Games with NASCAR as a non-core element

This list includes games that have a NASCAR license but are not based specifically around it (such as racing simulators with other series/disciplines of racing worked into them, or which have mods which add NASCAR cars and/or tracks).

References

External links

Electronic Arts
{{Navboxes, list= {{NASCAR {{NASCAR video games

Nascar The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Video Games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...