You’ll be able to demonstrate your allegience to a particular racing sim with your rig, as iRacing and Next Level Racing partner for new two sim cockpits to arrive in the second quarter of 2021.
The Australian sim racing hardware company was founded in 2009, and already has partnerships with Thrustmaster and Team Fordzilla, along with an official PlayStation license. The current range of racing cockpits starts with the GT-Lite at £199, up to the GTTrack at £699. So it’ll be interesting to see what form and price the two new sim-racing products will take when more information becomes available.
The quote below from Kam Khadem from Next Level Racing suggests that there will be one ‘premium’ cockpit. Which suggests the two products might be aimed at different price points. But the initial release does refer to the launch of a brand-new premium simulator chassis from Next Level Racing, and a new premium cockpit from the firm.
“iRacing is thrilled to partner with Next Level Racing. This is the first time we will place our brand on a piece of hardware and the decision wasn’t made lightly. iRacing has built our brand around quality, and for that reason, it was extremely important to us to associate with a company that felt the same and could deliver that. We are all very excited to give sim racers a great experience not only with our software but now in partnership with Next Level Racing.” Otto Szebeni – Director of Sales and Marketing for iRacing.
“We are excited to collaborate with iRacing, a market leader in simulation software to introduce what we believe is the best consumer racing cockpit. The new premium cockpit has been designed specifically for sim racers that demand nothing but the best. Our Design Team’s relentless pursuit for perfection in combination with the expertise from our friends at iRacing has helped set a new benchmark for a racing cockpit.” Kam Khadem – Head of Brand and Strategic Growth for Next Level Racing.
It’ll be interesting to see how much interest a co-branded sim racing cockpit will generate compared to a normal version. And what exactly the partnership will deliver in terms of branding and features. Obviously iRacing has a fairly loyal fanbase, but would you pay a premium if the only difference is some iRacing logos? Or do you think iRacing might offer subscriptions and credits as part of the purchase to sweeten the deal?
Either way, we should find out pretty soon. In the meantime, you can catch up with all the latest iRacing news, content, updates and eSports here. And you’ll find all the newest sim rigs, cockpits and more, here.
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