The iRacing phenomenon: That's why the expensive racing simulation is so successful!

This is an article from our content partner "PC Games". Here you can find the original article by author Simon Hoffmann and editor Michael Grünwald.

Racing is expensive, darn expensive. Anyone who even remotely dreams of transporting themselves or their children into the world of motorsports will be confronted with the bitter truth pretty quickly. Five-digit sums for vehicles, equipment, licenses or spare parts are absolutely normal there, not to mention formula racing in the six-figure range Undoubtedly an elitist sport. So why should it be any different in the virtual equivalent? iRacing is the world's largest online racing simulation. Released in 2008 as a legacy of the Papyrus simulator company and popular with hobbyists and real racing drivers alike. Even Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is a popular iRacing user.

Anyone who deals with sim racing, i.e. virtual motorsports, will not be able to bypass iRacing in the medium term, so influential and established is the platform. No other simulation counts such a large user base, apart from Gran Turismo and the F1 games. But it is, much like real motorsports, obscenely expensive. Almost every car and track costs an average of $10-15, on top of a basic monthly fee. If you want, you can invest up to $3000 in iRacing content to own everything in the game. And yet, the game is a complete success.

But what is the reason for that? Why is this game, which is by far the most expensive and controversial in its genre, such a huge success?

Realism as the non plus ultra

Racing fans love realism. Accurate physics, detailed tracks, the closest possible recreation of the real-life counterpart. Although games like Gran Turismo, the F1 series from Codemasters or Forza Motorsport are generally considered racing simulations, including their own e-sports championships, they are frowned upon in many simracing circles for their deficits in terms of realism and are therefore rather referred to as simcades. Deficits which are also criticized by F1 drivers like Lando Norris.

Damage model, driving behavior, track temperature, tire physics, setup options, all this can be shown in extreme detail in hardcore simulations like rFactor 2, Assetto Corsa Competizione or iRacing, frustration about own failure included.

If you want to become a competent driver in one of the simulations described, you have to invest a lot of time, patience and research. For some incomprehensible, for enthusiastic motorsport fans a true dream.

iRacing is based on a long history of realistic racing simulations, once started by the legendary studio Papyrus and titles like Grand Prix Legends, the IndyCar Racing games or the NASCAR Racing series.

From the technical base of these games, the online racing simulation iRacing was created in 2008, and complete realism was written all over itself. Over time, the service grew bit by bit with new cars, tracks and an ever-growing user base.

Of course, the simulation has evolved significantly since its release, both graphically and in terms of physics, also based on feedback from real-world motorsports. Nevertheless, there are always discussions about how accurate the simulation really is.

For example, during the spring of 2020, when the entire motorsports world relied on simracing as a substitute, IndyCar drivers complained about the disastrous mapping of tires in the simulation. Too little grip was the main criticism. In the medium term, iRacing has remedied this, but it demonstrates the fine line on which one wanders as a realistic racing simulation.A small error here, a questionable mechanic there, and the fans already get on your roof. Still, the overwhelming perception of iRacing's physics is positive, especially in relation to titles like F1 2021.

The famous rating system

If you want to race against the best in the world in iRacing, you need to drive not only fast, but also safely. This is where the licensing system comes into play.

If you want to participate in official iRacing service races, you have to improve your license over time by driving safely to unlock more service races. For example, if you want to drive Formula 1 races with the latest F1 Mercedes car every hour? Well, then you need a C license. The better and higher quality competition is only available from the A license.

So "grinding" is the order of the day. Instead of collecting EP, you collect a Safety Rating instead. This tends to lead to better and fairer virtual racing in the higher license classes, where wheel-to-wheel duels can be fair and exciting at the same time.

Those who have pushed their racing license high enough can also participate in the iRacing special events, which specifically adapt real racing events. The 24 Hours of Nürburgring, the Daytona 500, the 12 Hours of Sebring or the Indy 500 would be some examples of these prestigious events.

Here, in the higher classes, you can also meet real racing drivers when they represent their teams in virtual motorsport. In the lower license classes, on the other hand, it's not uncommon to find more or less talented wannabe Schumis, who sometimes lose control of their cars in the heat of the moment. The game meticulously counts every collision. Depending on how severe the collision is, you receive penalty points. If you receive too many penalty points in a race, you will be disqualified. These penalty points are added to your safety rating after each race. The less penalty points, the better your safety rating. It doesn't matter to iRacing whether you are responsible for a collision with an opponent or not. Frustrating no doubt, since you can only improve your safety rating with a few collisions in the race.

iRacing justifies this often criticized mechanic with the fact that new pilots should learn to avoid incipient collisions. Cynically, one could also say that iRacing is not able to implement a more complex and thus more expensive system for evaluating accidents.

In real motorsports, several people sit in the race control for such classifications, after all, in order to issue penalties if necessary. However, with the high frequency of iRacing events, this proves to be difficult.

A Kingdom for a Streamer...or Influencer

iRacing offers the user base a multitude of multiplayer races every half hour: Formula 1, touring cars, Le Mans prototypes, NASCAR, drift cars - everything is available for the big budget. Perfect for streamers, influencers and the like, who want to compete in a relatively simple way in many races in their broadcast.

Thus, it is practically always possible to create an entertaining stream. No other racing simulation offers this possibility in such a range as iRacing, both conceptually and in terms of player base. Streamers like Jimmy Broadbent achieve ratings of up to 10,000 simultaneous viewers per stream, by far the best numbers in the genre. If you want to succeed with SimRacing in streaming, sooner or later you're going to have to work with it in some form.

The failure of the competition

iRacing is no maverick when it comes to realism. Both rFactor 2 and Assetto Corsa Competizione can compete in this regard, but are not nearly as successful for a variety of reasons. ACC focuses exclusively on GT racing and accordingly appeals to a smaller target group. For GT fans, this is certainly a more cost-effective option, but not for all other categories. Nevertheless, the simulation from Kunoz is by no means a flop.

rFactor 2, on the other hand, is a bizarre case. The physics and the driving experience are always praised in the highest tones, but the use of the software has been very unintuitive since the release almost 9 years ago now. In the meantime, the developers are working on the third user interface! The UI, the stability of the servers and various other technical problems have not helped rFactor 2 at all in recent years.

In addition, until 2020, there wasn't anything close to an online system comparable to iRacing, which would allow regular online races every half hour. This number of problems is not present in iRacing. rFactor 2 is thus a good simulator, but a very buggy and user-unfriendly software.

The success summarized

iRacing has filled and built a very clearly definable niche over many years: Regular online racing with maximum realism on and off the track. In this very niche, iRacing represents a virtual monopoly, which briefly sums up their extremely expensive pricing policy.

Why make cars and tracks cheaper if the clientele complains about the prices but pays them anyway? There is simply no comparable product on the market across the board. And establishing a comparable product in this very niche would be very risky. It makes more sense to find your own niche. Be it Simcade-Racing, GT-Racing or Rally-Sport. And so the expensive commodity remains the central hub between real and virtual motorsports, at least for the foreseeable future.