Friday at 11 a.m. at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dusenberry Martin Racing will unveil a new simulation-style video game called NASCAR Heat Evolution, which will go on sale Sept. 13 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC.
Logo for new NASCAR Heat Evolution video game.
DMR, whose licensing agreement with NASCAR Team Properties runs through 2020, partnered with Monster Games to create NASCAR Heat Evolution. This is the same group who created the original NASCAR Heat and NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona.
One of the many unique aspects of this project is how the cover driver will be chosen: The highest-finishing Toyota driver in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (FS1, 7 p.m. ET) will be the cover athlete when the game launches in September.
In an exclusive interview with FOXSports.com, Matt Dusenberry, director of partnerships and revenue at Dusenberry Martin Racing, said he expects the new game to be a winner.
“It’s a new design that’s aimed to bring a mass-market, fun NASCAR experience to a young audience,” Dusenberry told FOXSports.com. “We’ve encapsulated a lot of the authenticity of NASCAR on Sundays and put it in the hands of our fans to experience on the next-generation consoles.”
The game can be played with multiple players and online in leagues as well.
The company also enlisted NASCAR drivers to help make the game as authentic as possible. “We have drivers that we’ve hired to be part of our development team,” said Dusenberry. “Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski are just a few. And they played the game so they could come in and give us feedback on the lines and how the track feels, the handling of the car.”
This is a big launch for NASCAR as well.
“From NASCAR’s perspective, it’s the first standalone game that we’re going to have on the current-generation gaming hardware,” said Blake Davidson, NASCAR’s vice president of consumer products and licensing. “We haven’t had a product out there for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, so that’s huge for us.”
Davidson said fans are eager for new games.
“There’s a lot of pent-up demand for a comprehensive NASCAR title on those platforms,” said Davidson. “That is going to be something that’s probably well overdue. The fans have certainly reached out to us and let us know they were looking for a product for these platforms, and I think this is going to be a really great game.”
“NASCAR Heat Evolution will immerse fans in the door-to-door excitement of stock car racing and allow users to live the experience of taking the checkered flag,” DMR said in a news release. “Whether a casual or hardcore gaming fan, NASCAR Heat Evolution will dynamically adapt to any skill level and deliver a true-to-life racing experience. The new game will feature all of the top drivers, teams, and incredibly detailed tracks and environments, giving fans the opportunity to feel what it is like to be a racing legend.”
