Publisher Motorsport Games has confirmed that Nascar 21, the upcoming entry in the Nascar racing game simulation franchise, is in the works. It won't be a continuation of the Nascar Heat series and represents a fresh start.

　　In an IGN interview, vice president of marketing George Holmquist revealed that Nascar 21 will shift from Unity to the Unreal Engine for better graphics, deeper customization, additional accessibility options, and more paint jobs.

　　"Using the Unreal engine just brings the graphics [and] the gameplay into more of a AAA style of game," Holmquist said. "More than the Nascar Heat franchise we've had before. I think that's something our customers are looking for. If you've seen the screenshots at this point, it's definitely a step up from our previous franchise."

　　According to Holmquist, customization was a big request from fans of the Nascar series. While the franchise has always had a pretty deep bag of car modifications, Nascar 21 will take it further with more creative options. For example, there's a dedicated paint booth for players to do-up their cars.

　　But of course, the biggest change is the switch from Unreal to Unity. The last Nascar entry, 2020's Nascar Heat 5, was developed using Unity. Instead of doing the bare minimum, Motorsport Games wanted to modernize the series.

　　"I think a lot of people think we took a risk changing engines," Holmquist said. "We could have done what everybody else would have done, right? The easy route would have been to create [Nascar] Heat 6, add some quality-of-life features, sell it, move on, flip the game again and again and again. It's just not what we want to do at Motorsport Games.

　　"Unreal isn't going to go anywhere," Holmquist later added. "The rFactor physics aren't going to go anywhere but get better. So we also look to the future; that every game iteration--either Nascar, BTCC, or so on--is going to get better and better. So this is our first flag in the ground.

　　"It's very important for us to ensure this game is of a quality our users expect, and it's a step up from the Heat franchise," Holmquist concluded.

　　Nascar 21 does not have a release date yet, though more details are said to be coming soon. Also, Motorsport Games did not disclose launch platforms.