A few days ago I received a press release that stated DMi secured 8 Million to develop Nascar-Branded Games. Some of you may remember that back more than a year ago, I posted a story about DMi. In a nutshell, they formed as a new game publisher going by the name Dusenberry-Martin Interactive or DMi. Games veterans Tom Dusenberry and Ed Martin joined forces with HC2 to establish NASCAR Interactive Entertainment.
Even though they formed a new game publishing company, these are the same guys behind the “NASCAR The Game” franchise by Eutechnyx that we have covered here at the site and show a few times. Last time was NASCAR 14 and it had some cool features but fell short in a lot of areas and was never really considered a top notch racing game throughout the community.
Matter of fact, these guys already put out a title last year called NASCAR 15 Victory Edition which is basically NASCAR 14 regurgitated. Funny that they emailed me two press releases about DMi but failed to email about the launch of that title. Actually kinda glad they didn’t. Looking at some gameplay on You Tube, it’s no different than NASCAR 14 and it was on the previous gen consoles as well as Steam.
So can they develop a new NASCAR title that will appeal to sim racers, or will it be geared towards casual gamers ? I’m leaning towards casual gamer since they mention mobile platforms more than once in the press release that I have for you here:
Charlotte, NC – April 13, 2016 — Dusenberry Martin Racing (DMi, Inc.), a digital games publisher and developer focused on delivering fun and engaging NASCAR-branded games, announced today that it has secured $8,000,000 in additional equity growth capital from a consortium of new investors.
Dusenberry Martin Racing (DMR) was founded in early 2015. DMR holds the exclusive licensing rights to NASCAR simulation style racing titles on interactive entertainment platforms through 2020, intends to pursue and develop a variety of high quality, next-generation video and mobile games across a wide variety of platforms. The new equity investors, which include PlayFast Games, LLC, Leo Capital Holdings LLC, and Gaming Nation Inc. (TSXV-FAN), join current DMR investor HC2 Holdings Inc. (NYSE MKT: HCHC).
Game industry veteran and DMR Chief Executive Officer, Tom Dusenberry commented, “The additional capital and the strategic industry expertise represented by our new equity investors represents the next significant step forward for DMR as we work to bring the highest-quality NASCAR video and mobile games to millions of racing fans around the world.”
The consummation of the PlayFast Games, LLC and Leo Capital investments represents the culmination of DMR’s fundraising effort. Charlotte-based PlayFast Games, LLC is a consortium of distinguished and diverse investors led by founder Paul Brooks. Brooks, with over two decades of motorsports industry experience, is the former President of NASCAR Media Group and was Senior Vice President of NASCAR. He will be joining the DMR Board of Directors in conjunction with this investment.
“I have a deep passion for NASCAR and a direct interest in media-based technology and games,” said Brooks. “These are powerful platforms to attract new fans to the sport and I am thrilled to be joining the DMR team as we build and grow this business.”
PlayFast Games, LLC stakeholders also include NASCAR driver and 2015 Daytona 500 Champion Joey Logano as well as 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Brad Keselowski, and other industry participants.
Joey Logano commented, “We have gotten to know the DMR management team well and are extremely impressed with their commitment to developing and launching fun, competitive racing games that will no doubt appeal to new and existing fans alike. I really enjoy working with the DMR development team to build an authentic and fun game experience for fans.”
Brad Keselowski commented, “I am personally excited to work with the DMR team and am confident in the success of bringing the real world driving experience to the next generation of racing games.”
Leo Capital Holdings, LLC (www.leocapholdings.com) is a privately funded venture investor making investments in early and later stage private companies. Leo Capital’s focus is on consumer oriented technology and applications with large target markets. Leo maintains a broad network of contacts, investors, and advisors with whom we work after investing to help build value, and usually make investments that allow for our active involvement.
As announced in March, Gaming Nation Inc. made a strategic investment in DMR to pursue the sport of NASCAR and explore fast growing DMR opportunities such as VR and eSports. Scott Secord, Gaming Nation’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Digital games and the digital entertainment fan experience are fast approaching live sports with the advances in gaming technologies. We look forward to partnering with DMR as they leverage Gaming Nation’s access and reach to sports globally through our various platforms.”
The new DMR capital will be used to bring the next-generation NASCAR video game to the market this fall and allow for NASCAR mobile racing game development. DMR sees a high growth future with NASCAR digital games. Highly engaged video and mobile game audiences are ready for next-gen, high-quality NASCAR games, something DMR and its investors are equipped to deliver.
So what do you guys think ? More of the same that was “NASCAR The Game” or something new and exciting ? I know Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano both sim race, but I think that’s just a marketing ploy.
Time will tell though.. I hope for the best but am not holding my breath for this one.