After nearly four years of development, Bedford-based iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations LLC launched last week its online racing game, one that company officials plan to grow into a full-fledged online sport. With backers that are established winners in both games and sports, the company could be in the fast lane.
IRacing, established in 2004 by Red Sox owner John Henry and NASCAR racing game developer David Kaemmer, completed a beta test this week and is now sending invitations to 5,000 prospective subscribers. After operating for four years without a revenue source, company CFO Anthony Gardner said iRacing is hoping to reach cash positive status next year.
“It’s not a game,” he said. “It’s Internet racing. We’re trying to take real racing and bring it online.”
IRacing’s developers created software that generates digital versions of real-life race tracks and vehicles. Using lasers, the company scans tracks and vehicles to duplicate the racing experience in a process that can take up to five months for a single track, Gardner said.
The iRacing software currently shows 24 tracks and eight vehicles, he said.
The online game — or sport — will require members to pay a $13 per month fee in addition to the cost of controllers that could run to several hundred dollars. The technology enables drivers to earn an “i rating,” depending on how they place in races, and then match up against other drivers with similar ratings in subsequent races.
Alex Martini, editor-in-chief of AutoSimSport Magazine, a New York-based online publication devoted to sim racing, estimates about 100,000 sim racers participate globally. It’s unclear if the market is growing, but he said Henry’s investment in iRacing is a strong indicator that sim racing is not a passing fad.
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