After a week of the Rennsport event, it’s time to dig a little deeper into what this new competitor in the simulation market is all about.
Despite the presence of major players at the moment, it appears that Pandemic has a much higher ceiling than the current competitors anticipated. Sales and registrations increased, demonstrating that there is exciting potential for both new and existing brands. So much so that new Chinese competitors are flooding the market with new products to compete with the already established European ones in hardware.
We have something similar in software because there is a mix of competitors of various sizes. With its initial blank check, iRacing was a tough counterweight to the small European companies that always chose to do things differently. The Americans were much more focused on the oval world and the subscription model, whereas Italy, Holland, Sweden, Brazil, and the United Kingdom preferred temporary developments and the sales model. While iRacing bets on a unique development with an almost perfect multiplayer as its main protagonist, the rest of the smaller teams have struggled to finance themselves and continue development, having to split the different deliveries or populate them with DLC to maintain a consistent cash flow.
This DLC model and economic uncertainty have resulted in various changes in development teams and the focus of these simulators. We know from recent news that Assetto Corsa is the right eye of 505 Games, with significant sales figures that have satisfied Digital Bros’ significant investment in Kunos when it was an independent publisher.
We are also aware of Motorsport Games’ acquisition of Studio397 a year ago. So it is easy to conclude that both Sector 3 (Raceroom) and Reiza Studios are not going to waste money, and that they may follow in the footsteps of Slightly Mad Studios (Project Cars) unless they receive a large investment that allows them to do everything they want.
In the end, it all comes down to money, and there appeared to be only one pole on the map in this regard, as both iRacing and Motorsport Games are located on the east coast of the United States, and yet the manufacturers betting on simracing are located in Germany, with no local winning horse to do things in a “known” way.
Rennsport appears to have come from nowhere, despite having a team of nearly 50 people spread across Poland and Germany. Initially, they appear to have the support of both BMW and Porsche, ensuring that we will have enough vehicles and circuits to form a stable community in a matter of months. They also appear to want to listen to the simracers, who want things like VR, triples, day-night and temperature cycles, consistent multiplayer, and a modding system that guarantees quality and ROI.
The event was a major declaration of intent, displaying muscle. BMW and Porsche eSport teams, as well as other major teams, were present. The alpha version could support races between multiple competitors and was attended by hardware manufacturers such as Fanatec and VRS (showing their new wheel).
The root company and the people who make up Rennsport appear to have come from an agency dedicated to shaping and customizing advertising within various games since 2010, so they appear to understand the medium and how they want to monetize it, with ESL as a partner in the multiplayer. To accomplish this, they will strengthen ties with Epic Games and its Unreal Engine 5, in which they have already confirmed that we will play beginning in 2023, with a beta release prior to a final launch at the end of next year. We’ll see where Rennsport falls and what it brings to the table to entice users of titles that have already been on the market for a decade.
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