I still remember the first time I signed up for iRacing. It was twelve years ago, when many of us were looking for a way to escape without leaving home. It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. I stared at the pricing page for days, read countless forum threads, watched reviews. And still, when I finally paid for the subscription, I felt that tiny sting of guilt. Is this really worth it?
And of course, the expenses didn’t stop there. Extra cars, extra tracks, renewing the subscription… It’s easy to spend $300 or more a year if you’re really into it. At the time, people called it insane. “A game that charges you just to race on a new track?” they scoffed. Even I had my doubts.
But now, in 2025, the conversation feels different.
Enter Mario Kart World on the new Nintendo Switch 2. When I saw the announcement and the price tag, I had to do a double take. €89.99 for the physical copy, €79.99 for digital. For Mario Kart. Don’t get me wrong — I love Mario Kart. I grew up on it. I’ve had some of my most fun gaming nights tossing red shells at friends. But… isn’t it kind of wild?
When iRacing charged $110 a year, people were furious. Now, people are practically sprinting to throw money at a game they might finish in a handful of hours. And not only are they buying it — they’re defending it, celebrating it.
Don’t get me wrong, comparing iRacing and Mario Kart is absurd. They’re not even playing the same sport — one is a hyper-realistic sim with serious competition, the other is a colorful chaos-fest where banana peels are a real threat. But maybe that’s exactly the point: it’s not about the comparison, it’s about the shift.
Prices are going up everywhere. Games, subscriptions, hardware. Not long ago, $60 was the standard for a AAA game. Now, $80 is the norm. Throw in deluxe editions, early access, season passes, and suddenly, those $110 a year for iRacing — which can easily stretch across hundreds of hours — don’t seem quite so ridiculous.
Maybe iRacing was never the problem. Maybe we just weren’t used to paying that kind of money for a game that didn’t come in a shiny box with a soundtrack and a smiling plumber on the cover.
Today, I’m still racing on iRacing. I still think carefully before buying another track, or another car, but I no longer feel like I’m overspending. In fact, in a world where everything costs more and offers less, at least here, I know exactly what I’m paying for — and why.
- Remember, you can join iRacing clicking here.
Happy Racing!
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Very well said, I think the last line is key.
I think it’s an “ok price” but hurts that the only discounts are for new member and not pre-existing fans. No loyalty rewards.
It’s also unfortunate if you are grinding in a series and then the next track is one you haven’t bought yet… $10 here, $10 there… It adds up
The trick is to buy in bulk until you get the permanent discount. You get 30% off if you buy 6 or more pieces at once, there are also old and incomplete tracks you can buy for $2-$4 ea to pad the hit to your wallet. After you own 40 pieces of content the discount becomes permanent. Along with the $40 a year they give you in participation credit and it’s not near as bad as it seems.
Great article!
I think the key with iRacing is knowing what you’re interested in and taking the time to see what’s involved to participate.
If you like GT/GTP or open wheeler then you can plan your ‘play season’ by simply checking out the series schedules.
The Ferrari 296 GT3 has multiple series that it competes in, and it’s submit a case of slowly collecting the road tracks that you enjoy or are interested in at your own pace.
Sure, it’s a charge for each new track not included in the base game subscription, but I think the point the author was trying to make was how inexpensive a hobby iRacing is when you have the tracks required for your racing interests.
If I could do it again, I would plan better instead of so many impulse purchases.
Look at other games you pay $69.99-$100 for, and then much of the DLC is $10-25 for just cosmetic items. And kids spend hundreds on these ‘micro’ (more macro these days) transactions without a second thought.
iRacing offers far more value if you love sim racing and I’m willing to bet the total cost over the years versus people who buy the latest COD or other new flashy AAA titles+DLC and I’m game transactions is far less than if you’re gaming focus is racing.
As always, the devil’s in the details and people forget how much they spend on other titles and their content. iRacing is cheap if you plan accordingly.
iRacing isn’t cheap by anyone’s definition. With a little planning you can take advantage of the bulk discounts and other offers, like renewing for 2 years when the Black Friday 35% off is in effect it’s not nearly as bad as people make it out to be.
Plus I can see that a lot of my money is going back into the sim with them. Tracks are constantly being updated, re-laser scanned, new features don’t roll out until they are good and ready.
That’s opposed to pretty much every other game out there now where they are trying to shove loot boxes down your throat and they way, WAY more time on that garbage than improving their product.
I ve sim racing since original nascar in 95. Yes I’m older at 62 but will agree. Iracing is excellent.
In my house, iracing always seemed “expensive”, until I compared it to paying green-fees. My rig I compare to buying a new set of clubs.
We can’t spend money on cocaine and hookers so iracing money well spent
Iracing track and car prices are absurd, in Canada it’s 20+ a track and 15+ for a car. Other publishers release large dlc packs for less than a car..
Nick, what do you pay for a beer in Canada? Where I am in the UK, an Iracing car is the equivalent of one and a half pints. A years membership is almost the same as one all day session on the beers.
It’s all about your own personal financial situation and your own perception of value for money.
To say a car or track dlc price is absurd, kind of ignores the amount of money and man hours it costs to create said car or track.
The price isn’t absurd, you simply don’t see the value for money in paying it and that’s fine. Others do. It doesn’t really matter what other publishers do or don’t with their pricing model.
The moment I stopped thinking of iRacing as a game and started thinking of it as a service it made more sense.
Still rankles that you can’t test out cars before buying except during down-time and stopping the subscription stops you playing offline but no SIM comes close to it for robust online multiplayer, variety or user count.