Moore: No More NASCAR From Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts has no plans to make any more NASCAR games, as that team transitions over to the company's EA Sports MMA, says label boss Peter Moore. "There are no plans right now for NASCAR from EA," Moore told consumer site GameSpot. "We had a great relationship over the years that I thoroughly enjoyed when I first got here. Unfortunately…we had to make some tough trade-offs. We've had to redeploy some of those folks." "A number of the NASCAR team has moved over now to EA Sports MMA, which will be shipping next year," adds Moore [We're] still a huge fan of NASCAR, but no plans right now to develop any further games for NASCAR from EA Sports." At E3, Sony's press conference showcased PlayStation 3-exclusive title Gran Turismo 5 with elements of the game using the NASCAR license -- it's unclear whether this is an exclusive deal. This means there's no longer a racing franchise under the EA Sports umbrella, although the publisher is still focused on its Need For Speed franchise with upcoming installments Shift and Nitro. The racing simulation genre has grown more competitive over the recent year, with 2009's E3 acting as something of a staging ground for the upcoming contest between Microsoft and Turn 10's Forza Motorsport 3 versus Sony and Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5.