This week’s podcast was a fun one. (Available in all good podcast outlets from tomorrow!)

We’re currently experiencing the usual summer slump when it comes to racing game news, and so we filled this vacuum with nonsense, speculation, ranting and a good fistful of nostalgia.

TOCA 2 and Goldeneye were discussed at length, as was iRacing Studios.

The more successful a game is, the more scrutiny it experiences, which might be why iRacing is feeling the full force of our opinion pieces this week.

For only the second time ever, iRacing has announced an increase to its subscription cost by roughly 13%.

Now, cards on the table - here’s my opinion:

If you’re playing iRacing on your $1500 PC; $500+ wheel and pedals; paying $200+ per year already for iRacing and have spent $100+ at least on their cars and tracks, you’re unlikely to throw in the towel for the sake of the cost of an extra cup off coffee each month.

I also believe that iRacing’s costs have likely dramatically increased since 2008 when the title launched. Licensing costs are through the roof, game development is getting more and more expensive and AI is pushing up the price of hosting game servers.

After all, when iRacing originally launched in 2008, the monthly and annual prices were both higher than they are today. The subscription fee was cut from $20 per month to $12 per month in late 2009 to increase membership numbers and has since been increased marginally in 2016 and now again in 2026.

I suppose the contention in the minds of most iRacing critics is the combination of both a monthly subscription and paid DLC in the form of both cars and tracks.

Now, regardless of what I write here, a good percentage of people will be screaming “it’s too damn expensive Tom! Stop shilling this game!”, ideally in your heads, rather than out loud.

So, I’m going to finish with another sickeningly positive take on this price rise.

I quite like that iRacing knows what it is. It’s not trying to be cheap. It’s trying to be expensive. iRacing wants to be the top of the pyramid when it comes to simulating motorsport and to do so, it almost needs to be the most expensive in order to carry that coherent brand across both product and price point.

Anyway, I’m in too deep now to quit - so perhaps all of the above is simply to justify my sunken losses.

… but is it big enough?

F1, NASCAR, SRO, WRC, MOTOGP, WEC all have their own games, but they’re all major motorsport franchises. INDYCAR is popular, but is it popular enough?

Now, elephant in the room, these are YouTube numbers, not live TV numbers. However, given the overlap that can be assumed between younger gamers and evolving viewing habits that prefer YouTube over traditional TV, these numbers aren’t totally useless.

I have to admit that I’m looking forward to the INDYCAR game, mainly because I’d love to learn more about the series and honestly, when it comes to motorsport, I think gaming is the best way to learn.

So, consider this a posing of a genuine question, a musing if you will.

Is INDYCAR big enough to support its own racing title?

Perhaps the license holder sees the value in engaging a younger audience and is planning to support the launch and promotion of the game for a meaningful period of time, in order to convert gamers to fans.

If the motivation behind iRacing Studio’s new release is more fans for INDYCAR, rather than more gamers or more units sold, then its precisely because INDYCAR is smaller that they’re bringing this game out, not despite it.

Terrible title - but it’s hooked you…. hasn’t it?

This is a shameless plug.

Traxion is renowned for its quality and its journalistic style. We love to do regular deep-dives and retrospectives despite knowing that the YouTube algorithm wont help them along as much as they do our “7 best racing games” or “9 best racing wheels” videos.

Last week, the team produced what I think is one of their best ever videos, all about Pikes Peak and its present-day absence from video games.

If you like motorsport, motorsport history or I guess, Pikes Peak, this one is for you:

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