Featured

Video game development is rarely about one man, but if it was, then Terence Groening should certainly get a mention for his contributions to the genre as the man responsible for the physics of Sportscar GT, EA’s PC F1 and NASCAR games of the early 2000’s, rFactor, rFactor 2 and every title and rFpro simulator that spawned from ISI’s engine.

This interview with RSC details his early life and career, through to him joining iRacing in 2021.

Shortly after the release of Grand Prix Legends the sim racing community looked forward to another title that promised to offer a similar insight into historic racing. Trans-Am Racing ’68-’72 ultimately never released, a victim of a publishers shady dealings, but as a part of my research I uncovered a VHS of a never-released trailer for the game. Watch the trailer and read about what sim racing missed out on.

 

Share This Page

Facebook Twitter Reddit

Support RSC

Please support us by not blocking ads on our domain. We have disabled Google Ads to increase page speed and would appreciate your support instead via PayPal, Patreon, YouTube Membership or by using any of the affiliate links below. Have any other ideas of how to support? EMail.
MOZA RacingSim-LabFanatecTrakRacerAsetekInternet Privacy From NordVPNDreamhostCapital One Credit Card Application
HumbleFanaticalCDKeysAmazonAmazon UKiRacingGet your racing gloves, boots and more from Demon Tweeks.Enlist at Roberts Space Industries, developers of Star Citizen and Squadron 42

Nacon today announced they have acquired Neopica, developer of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship title. It’s worth noting that Neopica used the Kylotonn racing engine for their simulation, and that Kylotton are also owned by Nacon.

Here is the full text from the Nacon Web site:

ACQUISITION OF NEOPICA
NACON COMPLETES ITS VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT UNIT

Nacon announces the signing of an agreement to acquire Neopica, a Belgian video game development studio specialising in sports and life simulation games.

Following the acquisition of 5 studios over the last 2 years, this new operation enables Nacon to consolidate its position as a developer-publisher by strengthening its expertise in the production of games in promising genres.

Created in 2007 by Peter Vermeulen and Filip Hautekeete, among others, Neopica is a renowned Belgian studio that has developed around sixty games, including a number of casual games designed to appeal to the widest possible audience, particularly children, before moving on to more complex simulation games.

Neopica and Nacon have enjoyed a fruitful collaboration for several years. In thisrespect, Neopica produced the Hunting Simulator 1 & 2hunting games and the FIA Euro Truck Racing Championship game. For the latter game, Neopica used the KT Engine, developed by Kylotonn Racing.

Based in Ghent, Belgium, the studio employs around 30 developers and is now developing its expertise on NextGen consoles (PlayStation®5and XboxSeries X TM).

In addition to the acquisition of know-how accumulated over the course of numerous productions by experienced developers, Nacon is thus consolidating its editorial positioning with the integration of simulation and racing games, a strategic expertise for the construction of its portfolio.

A new acquisition in line with the NACON 2023 plan

This new external growth is perfectly in line with the NACON 2023 plan, which aims to make Nacon one of the reference leaders in ‘AA’ video games.

Nacon’s “Games” unitwill thus have 9 development sites (6 in France, 1 in Belgium, 1 in Italy and 1 in Canada) totalling nearly 400 developers and supported by a publishing team of more than 50 people.

By joining the Nacon Group, the Neopica studio will benefit from first-rate synergies, notably the commercial, editorial and marketing contributions of the Nacon teams. Mr Peter Vermeulen and Mr Filip Hautekeete, the studio’s current directors and co-founders, will continue to run Neopica with a high degree of autonomy so thatthey can concentrate on the creative side of its productions.

Terms of the transaction

The acquisition of 100% of Neopica’s share capital, paid in full in cash, was completed today after Nacon’sBoard of Directors had previously approved the completion of the transaction.

Additional consideration (earn-outs) based on the quality and commercial potential of the next two game developments may be paid to the sellerswithin 12 months of the release of these games.

“We are delighted to welcome the talents of Neopica, whichwill strengthen our development division and participate in new, even more ambitious projects”, said Alain Falc, Chairman and CEO of Nacon.

“We are delighted to be joining the Nacon group, which will enable us to accelerate our development alongside other top-quality studios, by integrating an environment that is conducive to the creation of increasingly high-quality games,”said Peter Vemeulen, CEO and co-founder of Neopica.

No replies yet

Loading new replies...

About RSC

Back from the ashes since July, 2019. First created in 2001 with the merger of Legends Central (founded 1999) and simracing.dk.

A site by a sort of sim racer, for sim racers, about racing sims. News and information on both modern and historic sim racing software titles.

All products and licenses property of their respective owners. Some links on this Web site pay RSC a commission or credit. Advertising does not equal endorsement.

Podcast

Podcast micJoin Jon Denton, Tim Wheatley and Simon Croft as they discuss sim racing and racing games past, present and future.