Motorsport Games | The Theranos of Sim Racing?

[@DavidLand91]

You're killing it recently

[@Frowny13]

Yo David you should consider signal boosting this video and getting it out there.

[@sonang7721]

7:12 Traxion is owned by MSG, lol. That is why they have been very quiet about Nascar Ignition since its buggy launch.

[@Jt7166]

It's actually pretty remarkable that they convinced people like Fernando Alonso, Zak Brown and others I'm forgetting to invest in this "company". I can't imagine the debt they've acquired from buying 505, S397, Kart Kraft, plus all the licenses. Yet years later have almost no revenue. I'm an admitted rf2 fanboy...but have to admit the future is dark

[@MegaIronica]

They bought Kart Kraft the whole game? If that's the case, it explains why this game has always been in development and still no on line mode. It is such a pity because it looks like a great game.

[@BoleDaPole]

This doesn't really affect guys like Brown or Alonso, they can just write off any losses.

[@gamerageandhobbyrcdu]

They bought 704 not 505

[@FRITOSPORT]

Alonso doesn't care, he's put his name on logitech, grid, and this stuff.... I don't think he even does his homework. Just putting his name all over 😞

[@Mark-sy9jy]

The reason RaceDepartment isn't covering it is because their editor-in-chief works for Studio 397.

[@cco53587]

There's that and they own Traxxion.

[@NewWorldCT]

Totally not a conflict of interest.

[@AustinOgonoski]

I think it's very ironic how people claimed I "sold out" when I was hired to hunt bugs for a racing sim dev, while simultaneously creating content... ...yet now a large part of the sim racing community, spanning several publications, appear to be involved in an actual scam.

[@NewWorldCT]

@@AustinOgonoski Cuz you didn't simp. Strictly the reason.

[@bigbear514]

I swear, it's like every time there's a major misstep from a gaming company. I learn about another publication being shady.

[@Streetw1s3r]

Brooo S397 needs to contact their lawyers and somehow become independent again otherwise I fear even rF2, the greatest sim out there, will soon no longer exist if this company goes under.

[@Frowny13]

So Motorsport games is dying soon. I think it would be hilarious if iRacing got the exclusive rights to NASCAR and monster games becomes the developer of the mainline NASCAR games once again. I can’t believe it but we need the heat series back. Better than the pile of shit that Motorsport games just made.

[@robertmack3602]

I agree. It would be cool if they did a roster/driver update for heat 5 and just pulled the plug on ignition.

[@briantedeschi7390]

I’ll be the first to say I had optimism. Being involved with 704/MSG/RTA through the eNHPL was one of the best experiences of my life and I got to work with really cool people from their end and NASCAR. It’s unfortunate to see what happens when a franchise goes down such a wrong path and the quality of game suffers. There were a lot of happenings that were questionable and looking back it was a sign. IRacing acquiring Monster Games imo is a declaration of war to get the console nascar license. As they’ve stated, it’s not the point to bring iRacing to console but use technology and lessons learned to build it up. 20 years later we are finally getting a WoO Sprint Console game and Monster has the SRX deal. It’s almost a “ship up or ship out” scenario for MSG & NASCAR Console gaming.

[@AustinOgonoski]

Nice to see you here Brian. You were always a class act anytime I ran into you on iRacing and I was really excited to see you in the Pro League. It's a shame that this all seems to have turned into a scam of sorts.

[@b_mo537]

I honestly think iracing is going to take off with nascar and yes hopefully focus on a dirt driven game for pc/console

[@larscincaid6348]

I wonder if this whole thing was a scam from the get-go. They deserve to go under. Best game I ever canceled my pre-order for!

[@dcaseng]

I was NEVER comfortable with the whole ESports based business model, and i knew things wouldn't end well once 704games started promoting ESports more than they talked about actual gameplay innovation. I never fully understood how the ESports model can work as a long term business. Thanks for explaining how this is mostly driven by sponsorship, and how there is really no secondary source of profit. I always cringe when i see video game developers focusing on things that bring little to no value to the average consumer. Instead of focusing on improving the actual games, they begin to focus on hyping up non existent markets attached to online competition. This is a big reason why we haven't seen growth with Nascar games in the past several years.

[@christiantaylor1495]

The eSports is important though. It's what makes me want to start the games

[@MegaIronica]

In my opinion, that is even more stupid to do with sim racing games. The real sim racing community is obsessed with realism and game play physics. If your product doesn't deliver, you can put all the shine that you want on it, it won't go anywhere. The most popular games are still iRacing and AC with graphics of ages ago. People still use them for their gameplay and physics. You would think developers would have already understood that by this point.

[@TomLehockySVK]

​@@MegaIronica There is also a huge part of the sim community that enjoy racing against AI and have zero interest in racing online, so quality AI is also just as important. What Nascar 21 had at release and pretty much still has is awful. Drivers going below the apron into turns, brake checking on straights, driving like bulldozers and ignoring the player on the track, not knowing how to bump draft or act when being bump drafted, doing the choo choo train ... Then you have games like F1 2021or SRX The Game with some of the best AI in racing - they don't cheat, they make mistakes, use the same racing lines as the player, they fight against each other for positions, they know how to give room but also defend ... some people will say "Oh those aren't "TRUE" sims" (whatever the fuck that even means), but to quote DISCO-INFERNO-70 - "Great AI and not so perfect physics will always be better, than having terrible AI and super realistic physics". As someone who put a LOT of hours into AC, i can definitely tell that the physics there feel amazing ! But the AI is some of the worst on the market. They don't know how to drive around a car that is standing on the track, they never block or defend their position, they try to pass others even at the costs of crashing themselves into walls, it's absolutely awful.

[@MegaIronica]

@@TomLehockySVK yes AI is very important. And yes AI in AC sucks. There are some mods to improve it a bit but not by much. However, while there is a big portion of players who play against AI only, the vast majority uses it to practice before going on line. In both case, it is still very important but far from being number 1 priority. The most popular game is iRacing despite the absurd price, and until very recently it didn't have AI at all and the 2nd most popular sim racing game is AC and by your own admission, their AI is bad. So I think it is still not the sim racing community priority. As of F1, it is not a sim whether people want to admit it or not lol. It is not that bad but it is still mostly a game. You can still like it and play it, but there is no shame in saying it is not a real sim. It is used in eSport competitions because F1 has a partnership with them and they force everyone to use it. Most F1 drivers themselves say it is not realistic. Go see 2016 F1 World Champion Nico Roseberg when he explains how he drives around tracks in real life. He started with F1 games then quickly switched to AC with moded cars and tracks. If that doesn't prove it then I dont know what would.

[@bbc6rgf57ytty5yxyw5gt]

@@MegaIronica I'm fairly sure iRacing is a long ways off from being the most popular sim racing game on PC. In fact I think it's less popular than both Assetto Corsa games, Rfactor 2, Automobilista 2 and Project Cars 2. So I think offline racing is something that's very important to a lot of sim racers (and no subscription plans).

[@augustodufloth1578]

A lot of companies have joined the free money bandwagon on the last couple of years. In my industry it’s been a disgrace. A lot of “air mobility” startups have popped up with concepts that defies the basic laws of thermodynamics. Battery fueled vertical take off and landing using small propellers. It’s like they chose the worst technical solutions of all time, mixed together and released as promising products. Marketing is amazing. Billions of dollars were injected in these companies. Yet, none has delivered or will deliver. They keep getting excuses. Just check stock prices of Lilium jet after they went through an IPO SPAC. It’s just going full throttle down as people are realizing all these companies are scams. Just like this one.

[@RacingAtHome]

I'm with you on some concerns here. The BTCC game was supposed to be a 2022 title. But now it's just a footnote in their roadmap. That raises some red flags for me. Especially with no other communication about it since.

[@dennisbowen452]

Don't worry austin. Radman told them to fix the game. They said sure and will continue sending him to races free of charge

[@NUKE_DUKEM777]

Radman is such a goof. But it's hilarious watching him rage on 21 but still somehow defend it

[@tippersimracing6070]

Knew the BTCC game was never going to be made. When it was announced, no details of the game/sim have ever been released. And those LM Virtual numbers, no F1 races get that amount of viewers and even if they do its only a race or two a year. ACO, FIA, TOCA etc need to cut ties with Motorsport Games and ask alot of questions of whether the company is legit.

[@AustinOgonoski]

The company is "legit" in that they're indeed a development team and there *is* a game they've created - NASCAR 21 Ignition. It's not illegal to release a bad game, just shitty. Beyond that though, they should be asking serious questions.

[@Zanion]

why Traxion doesn't cover anything negativ about Motorsport Games is fairly simple. They are funded by them.

[@BillyStrangeAutoModels]

I'd say I was surprised, but I'm not and I think those of us that have been skeptical of this company were wary that they'd get another chance at a release after '21 Ignition's debacle.

[@emjaybee1993]

Good video and I hope, like you say, more people pick up on this. One correction though: The Super Bowl is far from the biggest sporting event on the planet, the Champions League final gets between 380 and 400 million (according to Google) and the FIFA World Cup final gets 1 billion total unique viewers and averages over 500 million

[@AustinOgonoski]

My bad, I often forget soccer is a thing because of how apathetic North Americans are to it.

[@emjaybee1993]

​@@AustinOgonoski no worries mate, I was being nit-picky, it's a very minor detail :D

[@tomforeman6779]

How are they arriving at the 81 million? Surely they are not stupid enough to outright lie. EDIT: It's because the 81 million wasn't viewership numbers, it measured total "fans", which included viewers (2.8 mil) and social media impressions (78.4 mil). These numbers are believable (the super bowl measured 63 billion total ad impressions across TV and online this year ) but they are SUPER misleading if they presented without context. An impression can be triggered by scrolling past a tweet without even looking at it. I'm sure if we looked at engagement rates (clicking, liking, sharing) then the number would be much much lower.

[@DanLMH]

81m impressions across social media, YT, & other services, sounds more correct, I think someone got ahead of themselves saying it was views

[@AustinOgonoski]

I cant say that helps their argument. 81 million "fans" of a game that has barely 1000 players daily is very weird math. By that logic I could say my mini-stock races have 15,000 "fans" by counting the total number of cars that drive past the track on the adjacent highway each Saturday night. In a quest to shout big numbers during an investor call they have lost touch with reality.

[@DjFIL007]

From their original press release about this... I quote "more than 81 million throughout its 5-month season". So it was actually 81 million is across all 5 races they hosted for this series, not just the 24 hour event. And even if that number is 100% accurate, they also quoted "360,000 hours were consumed by the #LeMansVirtual audience". 360,000 hours (or 21.6 million minutes) divided by 81 million viewers... that would be only about 15 SECONDS per viewer?!?! These numbers are very misleading indeed.

[@tomforeman6779]

​@@AustinOgonoski The 81 million refers to the impressions of the virtual le mans series. Nothing to do with the NASCAR game. Tbf that event did get pretty big viewership. Maybe the biggest sim racing event ever? The numbers are legit but incredibly misleading. It's the type of thing a desperate company would publish and promote.....

[@GianmarcoFiduci]

@@AustinOgonoski you forgot that Verstappen took part in the race, the race on WEC channel, that is not unlisted, had half a million views as soon as the live finished (I took part in the race and I’ve screenshotted it)

[@marfrandema1884]

The reason viewers numbers are so high might be related with the way views are counted, likely cummulative viewers. But something like this has been done before by F1 nonetheless which in the late 90's declared more viewers than total world population.

[@TheLockbeard]

It won’t be long until they are taken off the stock exchange. If you’re into stock then this stock is a shorters wet dream.

[@gabem.5242]

"Aw, but just you wait! Just you wait! MSG will pump out those sweet WEC and BTCC games real soon! And you'll be eating crow! Austin, you're just a doomsayer!" - r/simracing and RD

[@Trava715]

the two biggest simracing echo chambers to exist

[@DeltaStridePLZ]

I knew that MSG was dodgy from the start. When they acquired S397 I just knew something was up. Just a gut feeling.

[@StrtShamn]

I hope more people see this video, great research man.

[@AustinOgonoski]

Send it around. Make people talk about it.

[@DaytonaPrototypes]

NASCAR Busts: Motorsport Games

[@delinquentrail6875]

i think you’re the only one to have touched this topic because i’ve noticed that simracing content creators have sort of adopted hugbox culture where drama and criticism isn’t welcome unless it’s nuanced to the point of basically not existing for fear of retaliation or coming across as irrational. i think the only exception is slightly mad, since these are the same people who gave ams2 the benefit of the doubt while continuing to insist you avoid pcars like plague

[@christiantaylor1495]

Nuance is never bad

[@Jimmy_Broadbent]

Can't speak for others, but I tend to miss shitty stuff cuz I don't want to play it/have a bad time in the first place. It's meant to be a hobby afterall.

[@OdoruCuriosidades]

@@Jimmy_Broadbent Overall, most of the mainstream sim-racing content creators are not quality authorities but influencers (who tend to lack genuine opinions about quality assurance and game design; that's not their role), whose job is to promote official sim-racing content to generate their own income taking advantage of the fact that they can rent from a hobby. What many of them do would be impossible if they focused exclusively on racing sims from the '80s and '90s, for example, which aren't necessarily bad. I work in the video game industry and attended a couple of sessions about the role of the influencers, so I know something about this.

[@davidmcquaid7862]

Good summary, I was surprised to see me in the video but you’re 100% correct. I tend to track all the companies we have looked at in the past and was shocked to see it up 700% today. I don’t understand why or how. Is this a meme or short squeeze? This story other than seeing it go bankrupt continues its bizarre “race” on.

[@pietrocampanocruz5071]

Loving your videos, i'm a newcomer to sim racing and been binging your videos criticising different titles and found you were right way more often than not. So keep it up, i enjoy watching videos that make me take some grains of salt regarding certain stuff that everyone swears by.

[@johnpublic7796]

The fact that they still haven't apologized to customers or even truly admit publicly that they released a broken mess of a game has told me all I need to know. They continue to sell the broken game and they continue to peddle dumb DLC for a game they know is broken. Many of the stock sites called it a buy, which makes me think the stock sites are paid off and/or they bought stock in that shitty company and wanted to pump and dump. They're total scammers, even if they were well-intended when they started.

[@AustinOgonoski]

I've gone down that same rabbit hole of reading stock analysis articles regarding $MSGM and it's funny just how genuinely bad the advice is. I've also found a few people on Twitter who are genuinely mystified at what's happening to the stock price and don't understand why the company isn't successful. They believe that just by acquiring licenses and making partnerships, the company should increase in value. They don't understand that video games are, well, video games and if you make a bad video game, your company is effectively worthless. It feels like I have entered some alternate reality in which people are writing literal nonsense and going along with it.

[@johnpublic7796]

@@AustinOgonoski These people are not sophisticated investors. They're gamblers. I also consider myself a gambler, not a sophisticated investor. I've made ~$20k gross profit on the only four stock buy/sells I HAD ever made. Chump change to a lot of people, but it's a lot for me. I say "had ever made" because I recently purchase my fifth stock, although it was a relatively small purchase. I intend to hold onto it for quite a while. I won't bother selling if it's a total bust. [DWAC, if you're curious...NOT a recommendation. It could really go either way. I'm disappointed at how badly they've bungled the release of their app. It's frankly ridiculous.] I've gotten off on a tangent. I'm going to post a new main comment about iRacing and why I don't think it's necessarily the heir apparent to the Nascar license.

[@DJDiarrhea]

I thought it was strange when they were buying up licenses left and right without having released a thing. Good to know my gut feeling still got it

[@hugograce5976]

Good video Austin. A couple of observations: 1. They were relying on sales from NASCAR 21 for an injection of funds. That didn't happen and they don't have the money available to fund the development of a new game. 2. The BTCC game has been pushed into the nether as a result. 3. They need NASCAR 22 to sell well in order to fund game development for 2023 (i.e. Indycar and WEC) 4. They have invested poorly on the software engine. Neither rFactor2 nor the NASCAR engine are wholly adequate, but without more money they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[@RacingVagabond]

Along with the BTCC title being removed the WEC game is no longer going into Early Access this year like the original road map showed. On it's own that wouldn't be all that big of a deal, but with everything else going on with Motorsport Games it raises an extra red flag or two.

[@gamerageandhobbyrcdu]

Also there is the official wsc wtcr asseto corsa mod that's a thing

[@NASCARIn-CarRadio]

We need more NASCAR KZbinrs like Austin Ogonoski.

[@FirssenSimracing]

So... That means rFactor 2 will fall in similar scam as Richard Burns Rally when bought by Gizmondo?

[@Baker_7498]

why does a software publisher need a car collection at their offices?

[@AustinOgonoski]

Dabbing on kids.

[@jacekatalakis8316]

@@AustinOgonoski If you're old school enough you'd remember the crash and burn of Imagine Software. I'm getting Imagine 2.0 vibes from this. I mean. Imagine had in the 80s, stupid expensive cars, they sponsored race teams, but...if you haven't seen the Commercial Breaks video on Imagine's downfall, then I'd highly recommend it and seeeing how many parallels you draw with MSG

[@cco53587]

A backup asset in case they turn out to actually be bad at their jobs.

[@ACasualRacer]

That's what they were before beginning software publishing

[@onealpha710]

I guess because of marketing. When you are a seller searching for big money, you have to give the Impression that you have a lot of money and are only looking for Investors. It´s a old trick really...

[@FrederickRincon]

I just know one thing, even if it all fails.. We as modders will keep RF2 going and it will shine strong in the future. They can have used the money from the stock as sell order to buy those companies which is not mentioned at all. Soon the stock will explode. 800K has been bought few weeks ago on the stock by big investors (9 on 10 the 'scam' company) as you call it.

[@PWRMindset]

Great video, but you got one thing wrong. The Super Bowl isn't the biggest sporting event in the world. The Champions league in 2020 had a 100 million average viewership per match, and the finals had about 328 million live views.

[@TheNewChevyRoll48]

RIP the BTCC game and watch the Indycar game be next

[@ZIGAG1999]

the whole company is next.

[@laurentderrien]

Do you know what ISI is working on now ? At first it seemed rfactor 2 was in good hands, S397 added a bit of (paid) content, and a new UI. But that's really an easy job.

[@ic3man]

Damn now iracing could take over and their car model is going to be more hell to drive with. I guess I’ll get myself a ps2 and play the nascar thunder and chase for the cup total team control games instead😔

[@TracksideViews]

iRacing would be the best thing to happen to nascar games on consoles

[@DjFIL007]

We might find out soon enough with World of Outlaws coming this Fall 2022 to consoles from the iRacing and Monster Games deal.

[@daveizdebski]

Wouldn't Motorsports Games going broke be good for NASCAR gaming fans bc we'd get a different company to make games

[@NotMattyDYT]

I hope NASCAR terminates their contract with them they have outright lied to people and pissed off many fans. The fact they planned on adding Ultimate Team to a NASCAR game is just dumb that would never suit a NASCAR game at all. This will delay NASCAR 22 likely maybe cancel it but at least it won't be made by a company that is a scam.

[@gamerageandhobbyrcdu]

I was genuinely curious how that 81 million was calculated, cause it's so vague that it makes it confusing weather that was purely main official stream view count or if that includes the dozens of drivers also streaming there pov

[@AustinOgonoski]

Regardless of how it's calculated, there are not 81 million people watching a game played by 900 people worldwide.

[@gamerageandhobbyrcdu]

@@AustinOgonoski there actual view count was about 14 million with 50 million impressions (source- I asked in the Rfactor 2 discord I got that in reply) Edit- got numbers flipped, fixed it

[@gamerageandhobbyrcdu]

So even then that's 17 million short (81- 64=17)

[@gamerageandhobbyrcdu]

Update- the 81 million counts the tv and online live stream views as well as the impressions for the 2021 and 2022 virtual le mans series Source- msg official website, link was posted in discord

[@AustinOgonoski]

@@gamerageandhobbyrcdu This still is a highly illogical number. A game played by 900 people per day... has 81 million viewers?

[@VitorShadowSouza]

Just imagine you being the guy attempting to sell your company like it is a gigantic success at the same very time with your biggest product having a player base smaller than a football team. Dmitry have future in a acting career doing it so well.

[@DjFIL007]

Good video... good bye Motorsport Games, won't be missed. And Traxxion wouldn't cover this... cause they're owned by Motorsport Games. 😅

[@NickG40]

Traxion doesn't talk about it because they're wholly owned by Motorsports Games, and Paul Jeffery of RD is on Motorsports Games's payroll.

[@leventebandi]

Motorsport network is already the theranos of motorsport

[@johnpublic7796]

I've seen some predict that iRacing/Monster Games will get the Nascar console license once Motorsport Games ultimately fails. Perhaps, but iRacing is too damn expensive for most, myself included. It won't be a big seller unless they hit that $60 range. Most console gamers aren't willing to pay $200 a year, plus $15 a track, plus $15 a car, and no good career mode, and a rather mediocre offline mode. And are many iRacing PC gamers going to get it on consoles, too? Not if they have to pay very much. Now, if they build a more traditional console game, with all the cars, all the tracks, a decent career mode, paint booth, etc, and it's good out of the gate, then it should succeed. The SRX game looks decent. Not great, but it's almost a AAA title compared to NASCAR 21 Ignition. [I've only watched videos btw. I'll eventually pick it up if it hits $15 or less.] Would they go with SRX as their starting point? A.I. wise? It looks pretty good, at least on asphalt tracks. If they focused on making it lean more heavily sim, then I think it'd succeed. They could always have a more arcade-ish mode for casual fans or if you want to play with buddies that aren't really racing fans or they just want a more casual experience, like playing with dad who doesn't game much or whatever. I think we're still quite a while away from iRacing getting the console license. Motorsport Games could feasibly find someone willing to loan them more money, especially if they start staking some of these licenses, assuming they're even allowed to do that. They're decent at making pretty graphics and trailers. The right pitch to the right sucker could drag this out longer. I really hope not. I'd love for Nascar to yank the license tomorrow, but we really don't know the details of that deal, just that it's supposedly good til 2030. I only hope Nascar was smart enough to put a clause/term in the agreement that said if the game performs poorly or something that Nascar can end the deal early. If I'm wrong, please let me know the details of their deal. They may have so many years guaranteed before Nascar can pull the license. Alright, I've yammered on long enough.

[@jamwil200]

They didn't remove all mention of the BTCC game - it just says that the release date is 'to be determined'. In other words, it's not happening unless something fortuitous happens. TOCA should jump ship to codies and get them to develop it. After all, SMS have already modelled 6 of the 8 BTCC tracks and several of the support series cars, which would save a bit of dev time.

[@AustinOgonoski]

I agree that it would be smart of Codies to snatch up some of these licenses - or even all of them - and bundle it into Grid. Grid Legends was actually quite a good game with a great underlying engine. Well optimized, strong AI, random AI failures, drives great with both a pad and wheel. Just a shame it was wasted on a story nobody cared for and had a hodgepodge of random cars. Reboot Grid as a more serious racing game (similar to what the ToCA Race Driver series actually was), so add simple pitstops + remove the insane sideforce cars generate, call it "Grid: Speedway", feature NASCAR, IndyCar, and IMSA + their support classes. Done.

[@jamwil200]

@@AustinOgonoski Personally I'd rather see it put into Project Cars 4, as it's a bit more on the sim side.

[@gameboyterrorysta6307]

@@AustinOgonoski Let me just throw few things in: Grid Legends has great tire model for an arcade game Suspension model sucks ass with how stiff and "dead" it is, damage model is huge downgrade from original Grid and AI cheats a lot. Touring cars in new Grids are kinda meh with how little "steer by pedal" they allow. Especially when you realise that super tourings are much too fast in corners while on straights they are slower than IRL. Still would love to see BTCC game build "on top of" Grid Legends.

[@tonygeinzer6034]

Austin, I feel that I'd want to see a Proper Video Game Developer take on NASCAR Video Game Series, namely having a Proper Indianapolis Motor Speedway (I'd have Strong Reax Over using Partial USGP Course), Nashville Fairgrounds and Memphis before they try to Tear the Club Up (Irresistable Three 6 Mafia Reference) rather than Waiting for Divorcees or Badgering Divorcees, which is a Bad Image.

[@windyman56]

what

[@RoccoHorvath]

Great research and video man. I just want to add to the investor beware because a lot of people will look at the stock price and say "it's down 95%, it can't go much lower." TL;DR: That is false. The company issuing more shares and doing reverse splits can make you lose practically everything. As weird as it may sound, a company's stock price can go down almost unlimitedly even while it's market cap stays the same. What happens, especially when a company, like $MSGM, has no money, is they issue more shares to raise money. This dilutes the market so that each share outstanding is a smaller percent of the company than it was before. So for example if you have a 100 million dollar company with 100 million shares outstanding, each share would be worth $1. If that company then issues 100 million more shares and the share price stayed at $1 the company would then be worth 200 million. To compensate, the share price has to drop 50% so that each of the 200 million outstanding shares is worth 50 cents so the company as a whole is valued at 100 million. What they will then do is a reverse split, essential combining shares into one. In the above example they might do a 1 for 2 reverse split so that 2 shares is now one. So we're back to having 100 million shares outstanding at $1 a piece. But remember they issued more shares and your shares lost half they're value all while the company's market cap didn't go down. Now imagine doing this over and over. Take a look at a long term chart of $TOPS if you want to see an example of this.

[@tomanderson6335]

If I'm Roger Penske I'm telling Mark Miles and crew to look for an out clause that can be invoked. No IndyCar console title is still better than one that's vaporware, or worse, "Ignition" without fenders.

[@danczehajek9165]

on the driveability of the indycar in rf2, I don't think it's like that cuz of motorsport games, it's prolly just the rf2 handling model

[@TnTProDuctionsFilms]

Motorsports games put a lot of their chips into RFactor 2, in the hopes that RFactor 2 would just build their games for them... These guys don't know to much about making games.

[@Vno27]

Thank you for this video.

[@johnduncan5117]

You just have to laugh when an American says the Superbowl is the biggest sporting event in the world. Aside from that, great video.

[@Squige]

Bout to buy some motorsport games stock, small chance it goes up... maybe.

[@vjollila96]

tbh traxion is under motorsport umbrella so ofc they would not cover stuff like this

[@TheBondyboy]

"...biggest sporting event on the planet" with only 112 million viewers?! I think the proper football world Cup would have something to say about that (+500 million live viewers)

[@Strangegloves]

if this is true n they go bust wonder if ea would be interested in picking up the license again ?? there banging out some really awesome driving games since the codemasters takeover.

[@HisameSymouri1995]

EA may be interested since FIFA is leaving......but I doubt it....whoever is in charge of game contracts at NASCAR needs to launch an investigation into these guys and rip up the exclusive contract.

[@trexx97]

Codemasters/EA should get that NASCAR license back. If they could give us a NASCAR game equivalent in quality to their F1 games I would be alright with that...

[@TheGAMWolferz]

This kind of feels like simraceway. Lots of promises, but it fell flat hard.

[@larscincaid6348]

Now if only GT7 had a NASCAR dlc enroute. Sigh....

[@GatoradeCupSeriesX94]

Kozko just stepped down...

[@GatoradeCupSeriesX94]

THEY JUST LOST THE INDYCAR LICENSE. 😂😂😂😂 They’re for sure done now

[@zetaeerre0]

pretty sure they meant 81 people peak

[@TracksideViews]

Buy cheap long range MSG Put options for when they go bankrupt you can cash in on it

[@jamesleegte]

The biggest sporting event in the world is always the fifa World Cup final. Average viewership is above 500 million over 90 minutes. Technically it’s over 1 billion people, but some hop in at the last minute or the people that tune out at half time etc. I love the NFL but no way it’s as good as proper football or soccer as you guys weirdly call it.

[@AustinOgonoski]

To be fair, the world cup happens once every four years. Yearly, it's either the Super Bowl or one of the European football finals thats the biggest, with the teams dictating how many people watch. A shitty cup final or Super Bowl matchup tips the scales in favor of the other Id presume.

[@jamesleegte]

@@AustinOgonoski I forgot to say well done and thank you for this video! I really hope once all is said and done, S397 come out of this mess and continue RF2’s development under new ownership or as an independent again. Would be an absolute waste to see that game engine and that talented team fall away to nothing.

[@AustinOgonoski]

@@jamesleegte And hopefully it doesn't get any deeper. It would suck to discover that Studio 397 itself was somehow the beginning of this clusterfuck.

[@jamesleegte]

@@AustinOgonoski for me personally I think motorsport games were relying on their big licences to bring in the revenues each year and rinsing and repeating each license for each new season. They brought in S397 to make the games great to drive and also their experience in hosting online endurance events. Motorsport games are the creators of their own downfall trying to do too much too quickly. Reading their accounts and investor statements, their liquidity ends around October and likely their company too. S397 were brought in to fix the driving and host events, motorsport games are spending vastly more than their revenue allows and that is what will bring this to its natural end. I posted your video on a thread I started in the RF2 forum, to highlight this and start a discussion. Hope that was ok.

[@AustinOgonoski]

@@jamesleegte I love how it got called "KZbinr drama" and then I get called mentally ill because I merely read their Q4 2021 investor call transcript.

[@ManHobbyChannel]

You got it wrong. You are comparing American viewer numbers of the Superbowl to world wide viewer numbers of the virtual Le Mans. 81 million out of a potential >3 billion world wide is pretty low.

[@AustinOgonoski]

Be realistic; are 81 million people *really* watching an rFactor 2 league - a game played by about 1500 people daily worldwide?

[@ManHobbyChannel]

@@AustinOgonoski You have absolutely no idea about the viewernumbers on the platforms used. There are 4.66 billion people with internet access in the world. The way modern media counts views of anything includes SoMe post views and website pageviews. And usually anything watching video of any kind for more than two seconds. Liberty Media does it the exact same way for both F1 and their Esport stuff as well. It's just the standard. I don't believe they were on any traditional flow media. So they might have accumulated all numbers from the entire month before and after the race. And for their season they will have accumulated all the numbers from the entire season. Again, this is not pumping any numbers. This is just how it's done. You wan to compare on total exposure. And steam reports an average of 459.6 concurrent rFactor 2 players. I play it maybe once a month. And I expect most to do the same. That is at least 13.770 active players. And we know there is a lot more than 200,000 copies sold. SteamSpy reports 200,000 to 500,000. And you don't watch a race because it's a game you play. That is not how entertainment works. If you understand the context, their numbers are good. And far more people play the game than you think. Stats would indicate at least 10 times more. And even so, the number of game owners and active players has zero relation to views on VoD platforms.

[@joshcaminski]

Just discovered this, not gonna lie that was depressing

[@flyonthewall8681]

7:12 funny you mention traxion, they are owned by motorsport games lmao

[@jeffcurrey8765]

A quick and merciful death might move the licenses to a better publisher- amIright?

[@trexx97]

I've been asking something like this for a year. They have produced NOTHING of value...

[@jacekatalakis8316]

Grosjean's ended up in another fiery crash. GDI, Motorsport Games....just...GDI. Why, why do you pull this stuff? I wouldn't shock me i Elizabeth Holmes really was involved. Somehow. I still like Autosport's site but holy shit they are being dragged down by Motorsport Network...

[@GatoradeCupSeriesX94]

One year later, NASCAR 23 might not even come out... Complete disaster!

[@KineticRhyme]

dang it. now I'm already disappointed with how the upcoming Indycar videogame is gonna be, since its made by the same company.

[@AustinOgonoski]

I'd watch the video a second time. You're likely not getting an Indycar game, or even NASCAR 22.

[@Qazdar6]

Simulation and Simulacra ... literally xD

[@eapid]

💀 no indycar games woo its doesn't make it any worse that I play nascar 21 yesterday and it still sucks with that were about go back to 2010 when there was no new nascar game and now we all about to wait until someone steps in to make a indycar game

[@KoeingseggCCM]

Why does this remind me of the way DarksydePhil operates a supposed business? Certainly, they're both showing blatantly false and knowingly misleading information!

[@k9burnouts544]

It is a scam, it's funny to me now, I was mad but now it cracks me up, People still trust and believe these guys 😂😂😂

[@daboiracing3848]

it's funny, I use to play rfactor 2 because of the awesome AI lol What a fucking joke. been in this totally crap since day one.

[@PandyTimBR]

Maybe Microsoft might buy them when they are about to be bankrupt, or perhaps even worst, EA I mean if EA get them they would have licenses for Indy, NASCAR, WEC, WRC and F1, unfortunately we all know how scummy EA is…

[@AustinOgonoski]

EA is slowly trying to turn over a new leaf. They're aware they have the reputation they do and are trying to fix it. Star Wars: Fallen Order was step one in the process.

[@NewWorldCT]

LFG

[@ZIGAG1999]

wait what happened? are they dead

[@kem0n0.kokomo]

@@ZIGAG1999 what do you think LFG stands for lmao

[@ZIGAG1999]

@@kem0n0.kokomo lets fucking go

[@kem0n0.kokomo]

@@ZIGAG1999 oh lol my bad

[@NewWorldCT]

HAHA

[@justcody6068]

Hahaha Karma mortorsport games hopefully someone sues them to finish them off

[@HisameSymouri1995]

Technically us consumers could sue them for false promises and false advertisements.....this company is one class action lawsuit away from death.

[@IvanMarinov]

SB most watched sport event? LMAO

[@AustinOgonoski]

Divegrass is not a sport.

[@kem0n0.kokomo]

@@AustinOgonoski lmfao

[@sandrino5]

@@AustinOgonoski how about tour the France then?

[@truenorthcanadian5628]

Motorsport Network is the impostor

[@patchedupdemon7104]

Rf2 will forever be sim that could have been. I wonder how much money Marcel made through this scam which was set in motion in 2015/16

[@dannydevito9056]

Motorsports games just always seemed sketchy to me. Just follow their social media. It’s filled with rfactor crap, lemans crap, some kart racing game crap and sometimes nascar 21. Just seems like a cash grab

[@tf68charger]

motorsports games is going bye bye

[@adam-gg3zt]

This sounds like a crap ton of fraud. Glad I never bought Ignition.