The best racing games faithfully capture the essence of speed, handling, and damage. Arcade games deliver on these aspects by maximizing their fun factor, while racing sims focus on authenticity and realism. Regardless, neither of these pursuits is ever simple. Licensing limitations severely limit developers and even dictate precise limits on the player. A lot of great games with licensed cars have restricted engine tuning capabilities, damage modeling, and exclusive rights.
On top of that, retaining a license from car manufacturers gets expensive, which is why there are so many unplayable racing games today. When contracts expire, titles are sunsetted, never to see the light of day again. Here’s an analysis and a deeper look at all of these problems.
The Limits Of Damage Modeling
Brands like Ferrari want to maintain a clean and prestigious image, and that applies to both real life and in games. The same goes for many brands, which is exactly why there is such a restriction on damage modeling. Car makers sell performance, luxury, and safety, so it makes sense that they don’t want their expensive creations depicted as an unrecognizable wreck.
The limits of damage modeling are evident in modern simulators. In Gran Turismo 7, damage modeling is meaningful in terms of mechanical effects, but much less so in terms of visuals. Because of the focus on car aesthetics and licensing restrictions, you’ll never really see realistic crumpling or detached parts. It doesn’t even matter if the physics engine allows for it or not. The same goes for Forza Motorsport (2023), where you can hit a wall at high speed and only see scrapes or minor dents.
This disconnect between visual damage and mechanical consequence is a direct result of the manufacturer’s veto power. Developers are then forced to implement damage models that are simplistic by design, prioritizing brand protection over the realism of the game.
Exclusive Rights
Simply put, a racing game sells more when it has exclusive rights from major racing series like Formula 1 or NASCAR. When a massive publisher like EA gets the official Formula 1 license from the FIA, any other games that follow a similar gameplay formula won’t sell as much. And in the worst cases, it often becomes the only option. This is exactly why publishers pay tens of millions of dollars to secure rights for tracks, teams, drivers, and sponsors of an entire championship. Just having that official Formula 1 label on your game means it’s bound to sell.
Of course, this quickly turns into an effective monopoly that eliminates all competition. When you want the latest NASCAR season’s official cards, drivers, and tracks, iRacing’s NASCAR 25 is your only option. It’s a high-cost investment, sure, but it pays in guaranteed market dominance. Because of this pursuit of exclusivity, any game that doesn’t have an official label like NASCAR or Formula 1 simply can’t compete.
This wasn’t always the case, but that was back when we had actual good arcade racing games to fill in the gaps. We still get those with the likes of Mario Kart World or indie games like Art of Rally, but we certainly don’t get games like Blur anymore.
Digital De-Listing
Do you ever get the urge to play Need for Speed: Pro Street? How about Driver: San Francisco? Well, unless you can find a physical copy of those games and a dedicated console to play them on, you’re out of luck. Because of licensing issues, a lot of your favorite childhood racing games aren’t available to purchase anymore. This all ties into the discussion around game preservation and exactly why movements like Stop Killing Games gain traction.
Whenever a racing game has licensed tracks, racers, or circuits, it immediately has a certain shelf life. After the first couple of years of release, when sales slow down or come to a halt, publishers will pull the plug to avoid license fees. Sometimes they also have to do so when agreements expire. Not only are the games removed, but all your DLC content also goes out the window. This is especially bad for games like The Crew, where an online connection is necessary for any sort of functionality.
So, while racing games that have official licenses certainly do well, they are not without their consequences. Unfortunately, it looks like the industry has just accepted those consequences as facts, rather than finding a way to resolve them.
