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One of NASCAR's oldest sayings, "Win on Sunday, buy on Monday," comes from a time when the series was driving classic cars. But with the new NASCAR esports company, Ed Martin sees his reason for coming back, as to what fans will drive on their PlayStation 4 or Xbox One next week.
"A lot of the things invented in NASCAR have been used, especially in the security arena, to become real mainstream cars," said Martin, former president of NASCAR Heat's 704Games and current general manager of eNASCAR Heat Pro . League. "Well, it's the same here. There are absolutely things in NASCAR Heat 4 it's there because it's been driven by the Pro League. "
Two days before NASCAR Heat 4 Launched on September 13th, the official Esport league of the racing series will switch to the new game and will start a play-off of four events with 10 drivers to crown a champion. Fans can also have a preview of an exhibition event (via the Twitch chain of the Heat Pro League) on the evening of September 4, Martin said. Players should look for improvements in booth broadcast and optimizations, especially for the multiplayer mode, to see how the game has changed this year.
"The multiplayer mode is much stronger, exciting and robust thanks to the Pro League," said Martin. Overall, the game has benefited from meetings with real team race directors, analyzing data that will guide a more sophisticated tuning and configuration system that viewers will also be able to see.
According to Martin, the first season of the Heat Pro League was much stronger, exciting and solid, thanks to drivers who proved to be as negotiable as real riders. The audience figures which, he says, reassure 704 and its racing team partners have a worthwhile promotion. on their hands.
"We are delighted with what has happened," said Martin, not only of the basics we started with, but also the trends and progress, and NASCAR is also pleased. Between the actual audience, the live races, and then the VOD over the two weeks, we get 90 to 100,000 views of these races, which is fantastic. You talk about numbers like the first season of the NBA 2K League. We are absolutely delighted with that. "
These figures and these increasing commitments (in terms of the minutes consulted) confirm the hopes that Martin expressed in a conversation I had with him at the beginning of the year, while the Heat Pro League recruited and recruited pilots. And that's one of the best growth opportunities for NASCAR to develop or maintain a fan base, especially for young audiences or those who are connected to a wider range of entertainment options than television. in network.
But the attraction of the eNASCAR Heat Pro League is identical to that of real motorsport, says Jonathan Marshall, executive director of Race Team Alliance (which represents all teams in the NASCAR multi-race series). And this is due to the personality and accessibility of the drivers, even if they are behind a high-performance racing apparatus at home, as opposed to a high-capacity superspeedway.
"All teams have the mission to promote their [Monster Energy NASCAR] Cup Drivers, Xfinity [Series] drivers, truck drivers, "said Marshall. "And the electronic drivers, although less well-known, understand that ultimately, that's what fans are interested in. So building these personalities and understanding that fans will engage with electronic drivers who have personality are not lost for any of these teams. "
Fourteen actual race teams have formed two drivers – one for PlayStation 4, one for Xbox One – in March. Marshall says these artists have handlers, like the NASCAR Cup or Trucks drivers, to promote their exploits and fan interest. "Let it be the bear[JoshHarbinde[JoshHarbinof[JoshHarbinde[JoshHarbinofLeavine Family Gaming], be it Sloppy Joe [RCR Esports’ Joey Stone], whether Slade[Gravitt[Gravitt[Gravitt[Gravitt of Wood Brothers Gaming], or smooth [Josh Shoemaker, of Stewart Haas Gaming]these names become personalities, and these personalities are developing. "
Of the four names Marshall has checked, three are in the playoffs, which is another important point about the eHeat Pro League. Money plays as important a role in NASCAR as in Formula 1 or any other series of successful races, stratifying the teams into ambitious players and spenders. Wood Brothers, although he has been present since 1950 under the leadership of Hall of Fame founder Leonard Wood, is one of those mid-pack teams. The same goes for the Leavine family, which started running in 2011.
The two drivers are not above the line-up for the 16 NASCAR Cup qualifiers (Paul Menard of Woods is 19th, Matt DiBenedetto of Leavines is 22nd). But in the Heat Pro League, they now have something to brag about with JTG Daugherty Racing and Germain Racing.
"I think the quote I gave you in January was this: you can put an Xbox in a wind tunnel as much as you want, but it's not going to go faster," said Martin.
The Pro League events are actually special events, with each driver facing the same type of aerodynamics, tire wear, fuel economy and engine performance. For example, Martin mentioned that Corey LaJoie, a Go Fas Racing Cup driver, was in the studio on August 21st watching the electronic drivers drive to Daytona. "We make our first pit stops, and they come in turn 13 and he said to himself," What's up with your fuel strategy here ?! "We're doing 4X tire wear and 4X fuel consumption." So, he says, "They can only run a quarter of the length required?", I told them, "Exactly reason. "He just thought it was the coolest thing."
Marshall told the team's owners that he really appreciated the balance throughout the Heat Pro League and the importance it places on finding a qualified pilot and his confidence, both in as an interpreter and as a personality. "I saw Joe Falk, owner of Go Fas Racing, get off and watch his 32 [Matt Heale] come in first place [for the July 24 race at Indianapolis]and he was excited. We had a great time showing the team how these productions are combined and giving them an idea of the possibilities. "
Martin painted a similar picture of camaraderie among homeowners, establishing how much Skype camera broadcasts are very personal.
"Slade, I still cherish him because he's a 17-year-old from Georgia," Martin said. In Charlotte race, these guys have gone from nothing with an interesting gamertag to, hey, I love this guy and I want to follow him. "
Roster File is Polygon's column of information and opinion on sports and video games.
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