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 Worlds In Motion (discussing the business of online worlds.)
 Game Set Watch (the Group's alt.game weblog.) |
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Moore: No More NASCAR From Electronic Arts
by Leigh Alexander
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September 3, 2009
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Electronic Arts has no plans to make any more NASCAR games, as that team transitions over to the company's EA Sports MMA, says label boss Peter Moore.
"There are no plans right now for NASCAR from EA," Moore told consumer site GameSpot. "We had a great relationship over the years that I thoroughly enjoyed when I first got here. Unfortunately…we had to make some tough trade-offs. We've had to redeploy some of those folks."
"A number of the NASCAR team has moved over now to EA Sports MMA, which will be shipping next year," adds Moore [We're] still a huge fan of NASCAR, but no plans right now to develop any further games for NASCAR from EA Sports."
At E3, Sony's press conference showcased PlayStation 3-exclusive title Gran Turismo 5 with elements of the game using the NASCAR license -- it's unclear whether this is an exclusive deal.
This means there's no longer a racing franchise under the EA Sports umbrella, although the publisher is still focused on its Need For Speed franchise with upcoming installments Shift and Nitro.
The racing simulation genre has grown more competitive over the recent year, with 2009's E3 acting as something of a staging ground for the upcoming contest between Microsoft and Turn 10's Forza Motorsport 3 versus Sony and Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5.
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Maybe NASCAR is testing the waters at this point?
NASCAR, like any big sports brand, would probably like to see products on all sorts of consoles from the iPhone to the 360. The only publishers capable of doing that are large ones like EA. But on the other hand the sort of quality from these large publishers leave much to be desired. It makes more sense to abandon the idea of exclusivity and giving out the license to those capable of making high quality products with it for each individual platform.
Papyrus's NASCAR games gave PC gamers an appreciation for the sport...games like this are what these sports brands need. I think Gran Turismo 5 will achieve the same effect with console gamers. So I think this is a good thing for NASCAR at the end of the day.