Activision's NASCAR in February 2011
"No one does damage like we do," says dev.
Update: Activision has put out a press release confirming the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 game for release in February 2011.
Original story: Last week's report of Activision publishing a NASCAR game made by Eutechnyx has turned out to be true.
A placeholder website confirmed the companies involved and the title of the project as NASCAR The Game 2011.
There are four days left on the countdown timer.
There are no platforms mentiond on the website but an ESPN interview confirms them as PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. Also, it is Eutechnyx and not Activision that owns the NASCAR IP.
Eutechnyx's boss Ed Martin talked about the new game's direction: "There have been times where there were over-the-top games like NASCAR Rumble and even NASCAR Kart, but there is a real disconnect there because those games don't represent the real sport.
"You can't go off too far off the path. At the same time, you can't get too sim-y. We want you to jump right in and have fun. The thing about Eutechnyx, this is our 24th year, and we've done nothing but racing games for 24 years. This is a company with a rich history of creating great driving games.
"If you turn off all the assists in our NASCAR game, this is a very real - as close as you can come to a simulation on a console - but at the same time, with the assists turned on, this is a very fun, approachable game for the common NASCAR fan."
Martin went on to talk about building a community around the 16-player online multiplayer modes, the strong chance of sequels - and damage, lots of damage.
"No one has ever done damage the way that we've done damage," he boasted. "I assure you that when you see this game, we've set a whole new standard for the way damage has been done.
"It's not pre-calculated damage, it's not just crumpling that we paste onto the car. Everything about our damage is calculated in our physics model and everything is unique. You can actually tear the sheet metal and have it hang on and have tears in the side of your car. If something falls off, you can run over it and cause damage to other cars.
"The damage model is absolutely fantastic," he added. "Everybody loves the big crashes in the game. I want to see the smoke and the cars flying."
EA had previously owned the NASCAR IP but decided to put it aside while focusing on new fighting game MMA. EA's last attempt, NASCAR '09, managed an above average 6/10.
NASCAR (the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) is America's biggest sock car racing sanctioning body, overseeing 1500 races on more than 100 tracks in 39 US states and Canada.
Eutechnyx was the developer of Ferrari Challenge (7/10) and, more recently, SuperCar Challenge (5/10). Eutechnyx also made free-roaming biker game Ride to Hell, but that didn't get as far as a Eurogamer review.