How Expensive is iRacing? Two Year Buying Guide Example
Vložit
- čas přidán 6. 03. 2020
- We all know that iRacing is expensive, but how expensive is it? In this video, we explore the cost of iRacing through a sample 2-year career. Every purchase is tallied and the average monthly cost is tracked, so you can determine if the price of iRacing is worth it.
Link to slides and data: drive.google.com/open?id=1m0G...
Outro Music:
"Smile" by Jeremy Blake (AKA Red Means Recording)
• CZcams Library Tracks...
This guy is great. Check him out.
Stuff I use:
Rig - Custom welded steel
Seat - Suzuki junkyard find
Wheel base - Fanatec DD1
Wheel - Fanatec Podium F1 PS4
Pedals - Fanatec ClubSport V3 with Brake Performance Kit
Computer stuff:
CPU - 8700k @ 4.9ghz
GPU - EVGA FTW3 1080ti
Ram - TridentZ 32gb @ 3200
Software:
Adobe Premiere Pro
A/V:
Mics - Shure SM7B
Preamp - Seventh Circle Audio C84
Interface - Saffire Pro 40 - Hry
![Eminem - Houdini [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/22tVWwmTie8/mqdefault.jpg)
I cannot find the words to explain how helpful this video is for someone like me. Great job
Glad I could help.
Im here to say the same :-)
Great video, I signed up to a discounted 3 month and suddenly realised that I was going to have to shell out alot of money to be able to do much, thanks for this, Assetto Corsa here I come!
Yep, absolutely fantastic and answers so many questions. As an aside, Gilles Villeneuve was a racing driver, you pronounce it Jeel Veelnurf. Don't want to offend, thought you might like to know. thank you so much for an awesome video/content
@@dms2610 yes the video is great but I had a laugh at that point. Being from Montreal where the track is, I didn't even recognize the pronunciation until I looked at the written name on the screen 😄
Honestly, the price of all this is a real turn off to me for this game.
Like he said, it’s not a game it’s a hobby. To get the higher end “games” and equipment you have to pay the cash
$40 bucks for one car and two tracks? that's insane. vrc will sell you three excellently simulated indy cars and two laser scanned tracks for $15. SRS is free, and leverages tons of great free mods. screw this crap. they've totally over estimated the value of what they're selling...
@@eod696 one car and two tracks(which is more like 10 with different track setups including dirt) in iracing is better than a whole racing game for console. Your subscription is about the same as xbox live gold and you would then have to spend $320 on 4 games EVERY year to get the same updated content which would have the same old tracks instead of constantly adding new ones. Value kinda makes sense.
@@justinranger4836 im not talking about console. im talking about assetto corsa. you can't mod console...and xbox live being so greedy explains where iracings pay model comes from, I suppose, but there are a plethora of viable alternatives that are exceptionally cheaper on pc (namely rf2 and assetto corsa, but ams also has a ton of quality free mods, and rf1 has your dirt covered via mods). There are so many vibrant collections within these other titles, most of them free, that I can't even begin to justify this type of investment to play online with people who're likely to take me out in a magnificent crash at t1 on the first lap. So i say again, screw that crap.
-edit-
SRS is SimRacingSystem, it's a free, online racing community that holds weekly races in several series at once. It's not as wide a swath of motorsport as iracing provides, but it is an equally challenging and competitive environment imho, after seeing hours of iracing and srs streams...there's idiots everywhere, but at least you dont have to pay to get effed up in SRS.
VRC is a modder of assetto corsa primarily. They have free offerings, but their indycar stuff is among their best premo content. They also did a pair of late 90s f1 cars for free which rival many premium alternatives.
@@eod696 "want to get into sim racing?! just download these 100 mods" . Crashes happen in racing however they dont happen every first lap like other games. Im only c class and i get spun maybe 1/10 races, ive also had people slow down after and let me get back in front.
This game reminds me of, "Just stop being poor"
sim racing rigs alone tells me enough.
That is the motorsports mentality
@@WilliamLebowski unfortunately
@@WilliamLebowski yea, that part sucks. but what can you do about it (real racing)? cars are really expensive. now sims have no excuse to be expensive **cough** iracing **cough**
Meanwhile in Assetto Corso 1 land: Mods go vrooom!
Someone give this man a medal.
And also a pronunciation guide lol
@@salkdhfpoahergpoahre1534 possibly has a speech impediment of some sort? He's more educated and intelligent than you'll ever be i'm sure.
@@TheGearGrinderhe’s just reading it phonetically but thanks for standing up for him
when the game costs more than my sim rig, that's a HARD nope. thanks for all your work putting this video together, it seems like it must've taken a looong time.
Haha true. Thank man. Ya it took 2 or 3 weeks. Glad it helped.
I bet you have spent more on games than your keyboard and mouse.
Thanks for the time you spent compiling all the stats. Nicely done, as well. It convinced me that I'm too poor to irace, being retired and living on SS. As an old 80's sprint car driver, I'll continue racing NASCAR Heat 4 and Tony Stewart's sprint cars...LOL, thanks again! ;-)
Rod DeShong if you play on pc, Assetto Corsa is a really good option. as long as you can look up tutorials for mods, you’re golden!
iRacing isn’t a game, it’s a tool. Going wheel to wheel, threshold braking into turn 1, next to someone who is terrified of touching you, terrified of touching them is an experience I’ve only found in two places: a track and iRacing. AC is good, but it’s rare to find a single race like that. Much less a series or championship, and definitely not every hour on the hour.
I always look at iRacing and think, no that's too expensive. But i completely ignore the amount of money i spend on garbage or games i never get round to playing.
I was the same - then I decided to commit, and whilst yes at first it's expensive, the quality of the tracks (all laser scanned) and the much better quality of racing vs Assetto Corsa open lobbies or the like swung it. Sure, you still get wrecked, but hardly ever deliberately thanks to protests and safety rating hit you'd take.
Tbf a part of that is true. But when tracks and cara go for 15 bucks... Oof... However, if you ONLY play iracing the amounts will kinda be the same at the end of a year
Iracing is simply a mediocre game with poor crash physics, old graphics, old programming structure and a good idea of how a multiplayer should work.
It's a joke for this amount of money. It's money grabbing imho.
Game realy is a garbage. Expensive garbage. Waiting for my stean refund
@@ZimmerZirwes Yeah, Iracing is so mediocre, that all the real life racers use it. Truly terrible sim.
You could probably stack the discounts even better by purchasing 6 items at a time. Starting with the tracks you know you need, then going for tracks that are highly likely to come across in the future (there were tracks like silverstone and spa that weren't used in the first batch). You can probably view tracks used in previous seasons to make educated guesses on which tracks see high reoccurance. And when unable to make a solid enough guess with tracks you can supplement the purchases with the cars you know you'll be using in future classes in order to get the higher discount active per purchase period.
I joined iRacing for the oval track stuff. This was after sim racing for two years in all the other big sims. A two year subscription is absolutely the best way to save a bunch right away as a new member. Always buying tracks & cars six at a time should also be an automatic strategy. If you focus on your preferred racing discipline the cost is not bad to absorb as the video shows. Good job - just subbed your channel.
Thanks man. Much appreciated!
Thanks for putting me off iRacing.
haha those popups for all the hardware upgrades had me laughing. You just gained a sub. haha nice work
Love that VR one.
Same lol
The button box hahaha
I’m finally gonna be getting all of my parts tomorrow so I can finally start using my sim setup, and I just wanted to say that you deserve more subs than you have for all of the work you put in here!!! Props to you man, we all appreciate it!
I found this extremely helpful. I'm new to sim racing and currently driving the ACC cars. I know at some point I MAY consider iRacing, so it's good to know what to expect. On a whole it may seem expensive, but your breakdown puts things into perspective - For the entertainment value, the community, the engagement and satisfaction, I'd happily give up buying a cup of coffee or two a week.
Yeah, I’m getting iracing soon for all the reasons you mentioned. I will say, asseto corsa (not acc) is also a great pick for much cheaper, you can get hundreds of very high quality cars and tracks for free as mods, and the feel is pretty darn good. The online community is much less extensive but there are some cool series to join if you are willing to schedule around them more. I just finished putting together a single player 1966 world sports car championship season and I’m very exited to do endurance races w/ my mom as the second driver. If you are creative, asseto has really cool opportunities.
is nobody gonna point out that this dude only has 335 subscribers?
It’s growing fast... it was 281 yesterday. Thanks for the support everyone!
Over 600 4 days later :) he has a bright future in the Simracing CZcams scene IMO
😁
lies, he has double that!
I appreciate you so much.
Not only have you saved me money before going down the IRacing hole, but also shows that so many other titles will be a better value per money for my usages.
You are a saint.
Thanks man. Glad I could help!
Thank you so much, mate! I’m new on iracing, got a 3 months buying a fantec wheel, and i’m searching a video like yours! Definitely a new sub! 😊
This was exactly the video that I needed/wanted when I searched for the answer to my question on CZcams.
Thank you for all of the time and effort that went into making this video! 🙂👍
Probably the best iRacing video I've seen in terms of price breakdown. Well done!
Too rich for my blood at the moment as I'm just starting so will stick to Asseto Corsa Competizione for a while but this is good to know for the future.
Thanks! ACC is a great alternative. I hope they iron out the issues with the competition servers and give iRacing a run for the money. We the consumers will benefit greatly if there’s 2 or 3 really good, serious sims focused on online competition. Both in quality and price.
@@McLeanRacing The fact that ACC is only GT3 (at the moment) might be a drawback but then again, most people only race GT3 on iRacing anyway.
True, but it’s smart on their part. It’s super focused so they can get it right at the beginning and still have the ability to sell expansion packs for different series and tracks later on. Pretty exciting to see what will happen.
Thank you so much for this video. I'm only three weeks into iRacing now; started with a 1 year sub.
So far I'm enjoying it a lot, even with the base content! If you want to play online this is the definitive sim; the racing standards are so way better than non-private servers in any other sim, even in rookie -well, not 100% of the time, but most of the time-
Thanks man. Glad I could help!!!
wow.... just completly put me off iRacing, that's insane!
The worst thing is, that they force you to constantly playing it. No time for other games/activities or making a longer brake...
@@b.s.7693 what, since when lol
@@awsomestleaperd78 This game continuously charges you money (at least if you dont freeze your account). So every month you not are playing it, you are spending your money for nothing.
@@b.s.7693 yeah its expensive but it's not like if you dont race a track at a certain week it will never come again.
Having just last night joined iRacing with a 3 month subscription, this video couldn't have come at a better time. Thanks! Subscribed!
Thanks man. Glad I could help! Good luck out there.
This was a really interesting and informative video, thanks mate. I'm subbed for more, all the best!
Thanks man. Much appreciated! Glad I could help.
I saw somewhere that iRacing spent around $750,000 to fully scan and develop the Spanish GP track. For them to break even on just track sales, they have to sell a little more than 50,000 tracks. If you want to get Into iRacing for the long term and are in it to get an amazing (not always lol), always active, and competitive multiplayer experience that you can't get anywhere else. It is so worth it. As this guy said, it's like a hobby. It's not meant to be played like any other racing game. That comes with a premium price.
I'm in my 6th year of iRacing now and I've got almost all the tracks and necessary cars. When you split the cost up across that much time, it really doesn't seem very expensive anymore. It's the initial investment.
iRacing is not the only sim who scans tracks and cars nowdays, huh? And they do it much more efficient it seems - faster, better and ... they sell you lifetime license for $20 ;)
I am not here to brag. Despite waves of negative feedback about their tire-model (now from professional drivers) and competition stronger (and cheaper) than ever, iRacing is still the KING. And it deserves a much brighter future. If only management could get some math right - lower subscription so MORE people could come buy MORE "virtual" copies of the content. With 50$/year there would be 2-3 times more subscribers (some of them would forget to unsubscribe or buy random number of content).
Thanks heaps. Great video. I signed up for iRacing a week ago. Luckily only for 1 month sub just to try it out. I have done a few laps in the Mazda. Didn't really enjoy that and went back to ACC which I love and own all the content for. I'm going to tap out on iRacing as it's just far too expensive. Thanks again
Thank you for such a clear and concise video. I've referred back to it several times while determining if I want to finally take the plunge and there's no better resource on the web. So, again, thank you!
Great job. It answers lots of my iRacing doubts.... love it. (Villeneuve is french.... ;-) )
I'd love to play iRacing but i downright refuse to spend more then £60 on a game. It's just total greed. I spent £700 on my sim set-up which is ridiculous money, like hell would i spend double that for 1 game. I got all Assetto Corsa content for £12 & have modded it to the point it looks better then iRacing & has 4-5x the amount of content. The modding community is huge for AC even now, with new cars, tracks & graphical upgrades releasing frequently.
700€ on rig? Gotta bump those numbers up that's rookie numbers.
Dont think of it as a game, think of it as more a hobby. Makes more sence that way.
AC is awesome and I like project cars2 also even though it's probably not the most popular lol.
@@ClarenceBeeks1 I have cheaper hobbies
@@stpbasss3773 PC2 is really underrated, I think. Not the most realistic handling model, but if you can get into a good lobby you can have some really fun races.
The quality of every second of this video was over the roof. You earned yourself a sub.
This was insanely helpful! Looking into starting an iRacing career this summer after saving up a little bit for some rig upgrades.
You certainly earned this sub!
Very helpful video. Now I know I want to stay an Assetto fanboy.
I absolutely love Assetto Corsa. The cars and tracks available are incredible. Plus the online lobbies are great.
Simply fantastic breakdown. Even if I don't manage to keep up with iRacing after lockdown and all the WoW things, you, sir...have gained a sub.
Thanks for the support! Welcome.
Great vid. Super helpful for someone like me who is currently sat on the fence 👍🏼
This is an amazing video with amazing advice, keep it up (I'm gonna take the advice you gave at the end and make a "trial" account
I think the hardest part (for me at least) was the time commitment needed to get any good at the game/hobby. No matter how hard I practiced there always seemed to be someone going past me like I was standing still lol
Yeah I can definitely relate, picking one car is super helpful in that regard, as well as fixed setup races, but it is really crazy how quick some guys are.
Bro you need to have fun for what the game has to offer
The more fun you ll have more efficient your growth will be
And sport is all about ups and downs
Ultimately it's the fun and journey you gonna love
Yeah. There are going to be aliens everywhere. Someone is always faster, but it’s not always about winning the race as it is having a good race.
This is a brilliantly put together video. Congrats dude, great breakdown. I'll be sure to point people to this video in the future. Oh, one thing I would have mentioned is discount codes for new players, like the $4.78 for 3 months that is currently on for those who are not sure. For a price of a pint you get to try the game for 3 months.
Hey dude, thank you so much for this video! I had no idea how to budget for iRacing and your video made that so easy, thank you!
Thank you for a well researched topic McLean. But as a long term iRacing member, I wish to touch on a few other methods one can use to reduce costs. You are working on the assumption that a person will spend one season in a series, and buy all the cars and tracks required. But iRacing is not about the goal, it is all about the journey, the racing, no matter what car or track. So most members form a preference on what kind of racing they desire (open wheel, oval, GT, for example) then pursue that career path. If someone is like that, then they just need to spend the absolute minimum to earn safety for promotion. I have assisted many, and if you go over the schedule diligently, you can find a GT series that includes a track you already own. So to advance one license class, the total cost could be just the price of one car. Or at most, one car, one track. The rest of the time you could be earning safety back in Rookies.
Personally, I set a budget when I began my career in iRacing. That kept the costs under control, and it forced me to be inventive with my selection of what I was going to race. And when the wife made noises about me wasting time and money sim racing, I agreed, went to the phone, called my buddy, and informed him to meet me at the nearest strip joint. Needless to say, she changed her position immediately, staying home, staying sober, and spending less was the more appealing option. I also live by the practice that if I get an expensive toy, I must match in value in bling for the wife. I get $500 pedals, she gets a $500 diamond necklace. Marital bliss is absolutely necessary, but it is not cheap. Understand that. These days, my wife asks me every month of so if there is any sim gear I want ..... lol
McLean did a fantastic job in breaking the costs down. In my present situation (since I own all road content) my total annual cost is less than forty bucks a year. My suggestion to all is to do your research, buy only what you need, and spend wisely. This is not a kiddies game, it is an adult hobby like golf.
Nicely put. Thanks for sharing this!
The truth can knockout the myths:
About 300$ can buy you ALL SIMS except for iRacing, all software, all laser scanned tracks, all race car classes, all Leagues, all 10,000 mods,
You can keep them and use them whenever you want.
Old iRacing was released in 2007, about 2000$ for content and 2000$ for rent is misleading. We didn't count 25% inflation and 25% tax. We didn't count slavery where if you missed a week you lose your participation discount.
It's both subjective and objective if I said that other sims have more features, more physics concepts...etc
It's objective if I thought that almost any of the major sims: rFactor2, Assetto Corsa, AMS2, pC2 or R3E any of them is better than iRacing.
But who on earth can tell me that iRacing alone (that costs more than all sims together) is better than all other sims together?
@jahsh jahsh No one is tell you that, already own all the titles and have for a number of years, but you know why I play iRacing? Because it's the only sim that has managed to make a workable online system
Give me another title that has something similar... Nothing.
This is why I play it.
This is why most people play it.
So regarding the Subscription model, it unfortunately needs to stay, this is the same as ANY OTHER MMO
I kind of find it funny at the crying of the cost of this. If you compare this to say WoW it's actually similarly priced, one you look at the all the DLC's the add-ons etc. Yet no one is saying WoW is too expensive... ( a game with a much smaller development overhead per piece of content that has been out 'even longer')
The subscription model needs to be there to maintain the server costs. This will never go away. This doesn't have the player sizes of other AAA titles to fund it. This also requires a number of custom networks to ensure that the latency between players GLOBALLY are still okay.
Also, using the argument that it was released in 2007 is invalid. The game has been through CONSTANT updates. This is like saying pCars 2 was actually released in 2015 because that is when pCars 1 was made. iRacing updates constantly they just don't change the name of the title. Would you prefer them to call it iRacing83? Maybe just move the the Codemasters method of charging $99 a year for the latest skin updates?
Whilst I think the model needs to change into a tiered subscription with multiple levels of content packs, it does need a subscription. Like any MMO.
I love Racing Sims, I don't have a favourite, I actually think overall iRacing physics model is at the lower end of the spectrum in regards to latest titles, but its the race sim I play the most and enjoy it because I can get clear fun racing there.
I put up with it because its always improving. The iRacing I was playing in 2007 is VERY different to the iRacing I play today
@@lap1068 How many online leagues can you do in one life or in one season? Do you run an arcade? just join a free league of your choice man on the sim of your choice, I can recommend some if you don't know them they all do for free (say for racing passion, or for spending free time) what iRacing does for money. Hint: google Simracingsystem.
I get you, but leagues are not easy to 'just race' in
I run in several leagues for other sims as well, but its always pre-set time that I have to race, which means I have to work around that specific time each week. That's just not how I play.
iRacing allows me to just jump on, hop in a race because I feel like it at the time because I've got a couple of hours to kill. or say it's saturday night and I'm not doing anything this week.
@@lap1068 You're correct on that. I agree. For once in human history, two people agreed after a conversation. Cheers!
@@jahshjahsh2002 hah "we did it people" now shut it down... :P
Great video. It really clarified how Iracing works. Thank you. I think I'll use the 3 month subscription that came with my latest Fanatec purchase and probably call it a day after that. I enjoy sim racing, but I like more of a casual experience.
This was the video I was looking for. Thank you! I’m excited to start my new hobby soon. Just need to finish building my PC now.
I think it is *very* important to mention that all iRacing Prices are without VAT, so you'll need to add ~20% to all values.
He can't for all states, terrtorries and countries... Like my Sales tax(VAT) is only 6% becuase I live in the US state of Florida... Where are you living where it's an eye watering 20%?
@@GreenBlueWalkthrough I think it's 24% for Greece
@@GreenBlueWalkthrough 25% in Denmark
No offline
@@GreenBlueWalkthrough 25% in Sweden (I also play ACC, and paid a total of $99 for that game with all DLC).. iRacing is too expensive, but since you bought so much DLC you know that money is wasted if you end your subscription.
Great job man!
Thoughtful, detailed, factual and objective.
It is a hobby, but as you demonstrated, it's a hobby that actually ends up being very inexpensive close to the 2 year mark, assuming you stick with a few series as your focus areas.
Now, well into my 3rd year, my monthly average is almost always just the cost of membership, which at the annually paid amount works out to be less than $10 a month.
Of course if there's new content, then some months are more.
This year I'm going to cancel my recurring yearly membership as it falls 3 weeks before black Friday, which almost always has deals for existing members - last year it was nearly 2 years subscription for about the price of a year.
There's so many opinions about the service, the cars, the FFB etc. But nothing can even come close to the always online competitive infrastructure where you can race against similarly matched drivers across a wide range of series. Until another title can put something similar in place, this won't change.
Thanks man. Much appreciated!
Been seeing this in my recommended but haven't clicked because I'm too scared to see how much I've spent but I finally did and I really enjoyed the video
Thanks man. Much appreciated.
Thanks for all the hard work put into the video man! I’ll have to try out other sim racing games to test if i like it and want it as a hobby, as i have only ever played the F1 games before. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for the great video. I kind of understand more why so many people go to iRacing. There is a side or even a main benefit to it that it filters out un-serious gamers because at that price you really have to want to be there. However, what bugs me the most about it is the graphic quality should have been updated several times over. Even the color accuracy is still awful. It is still based on a 14 year old game. At those prices, this is just unacceptable.
good job on the video
ive joined 10y ago, with about 5y of active membership during that time
i come out at 922$ spent, so about 15.5$ per month after all the credits and discounts
even tho i only bought one track in last 5 years i can still do 8 weeks minimum in many series that i own cars for
overall though it costs me 0.78$ per race which i myslef consider a cheap hobby :)
luckly there are many different options out there so i think anyone can find a sim to enjoy that fits their budget
Absolutely, and with many more to come, it’ll only benefit us. More competition will improve both quality and price across the board. Thanks for the feedback. Glhf.
I don't think close to a dollar a race is a great deal. But I'm of the old school gamer mindset of paying for a game and DLC if it's a comparable expansion. No way in hell would I she'll out 1k on just the software. I barely spent more than that on the hardware and I can play for free on some pretty decent sims. F1 series is actually a great franchise
Delusional
@@MrOKCThunderfan Try it out. You don't have to spend fortune to play it. Just participate in MX5 and Formula Vee series it's a lot of fun. I bought 1 year subscription and it's something like 3.7 USD per month so nothing horrific.
Awesome video! Thank you so much. I'm new to sim racing and looking to get into iRacing in the future and this helped a bunch! Thanks again
No worries. Thanks!
Absolutely fantastic job! You were extremely informative and just did an overall terrific job of explaining the whole process. Many thanks!!!
No worries. Glad I could help!!!
Thanks it's pretty scary when added up like that, the sad thing is once you have invested that much money you are committed to continue paying the subs forever because of value
of purchases that can't be accessed with out it. Inevitably this means you will defend the product at all cost.
Imo
Yeah, that's their marketing strategy. After a few purchases, you feel obligated to stay because leaving just means you wasted money on something you can't use anymore.
@@ComputerWhiz_ That's a very weird argument. Do you feel that way about everything that you spend money on but isn't really necessary for you? If you, using the same metaphor as Edward, play golf and buy everything you need(which is a lot) and then after a couple of years decide to quit, are those years wasted?
@@JBarrandon The amount of stories I've heard from former iRacing members would prove his theory to be correct. They sunk a heap of money into for a while and only sticking around even though they may not enjoy the racing or cars because they spent so much, you cannot try before you buy so if they're interested in it they either buy it or listen to opinions of the cars from the iRacing forums, most inevitably just buy it and then cycle continues.
@@JBarrandon Do you have to hand in your clubs with golf, once you stop being a member of the golf course of choice?
iRacing's criminal practices should not be encouraged, thank you so much for this excellent video. Hopefully it will wake more people up and towards more moral and affordable sims than iCashing....
@@Torero2901 Golf is way more expensive than iracing will ever be. Js.
And i thought i wanted to get into iracing.. Thanks for showing me what a money sink this is and changing my mind.
No worries. Glad I could help.
You can buy ALL other racing games, for a quarter of what this guys says. And you can drive any car, any track, on day 1. None of that career bull-shit.
You don't need to follow a career that jumps from car to car. In fact, this tactic will never let you get the best of any car. If you just want to drive different cars for fun, pcars2,ac,acc are far better. Iracing is when you want to take it seriously and practice 10h for 1 race (unless of course you don't care about $$). Tracks are amazing but cars, meh, not all are good. If you focus in a series only, the cost is way way lower, but still front heavy.
@Mr. Clutch dude, it's not about how much money you earn. It's about how much your spent money gets you, and with that cost you might aswell buy yourself (as mentioned) all the other sims + other games/hobbies and be more happy.
@Mr. Clutch You don't get to decide how people value their money. I earn enough to pay for iRacing, but I do not think it has a fair value. I think it is way overpriced. Just because I can afford it, doesn't mean I should just jump on the bandwagon.
Thank you so much for this video. It's incredibly helpful and provided so much information that is not generally available.
No worries man. Glad I could help.
Extremely valuable video. Makes me realize that I'm only scratching the surface of sim racing costs by having purchased a Thrustmaster TMX Pro and SHH Shifter NEWT.
But it's good to see the math worked out this way, as a relative "cost per month" over a period of time, because I could easily justify $30 a month to my wife, while an upfront $1400 would be nearly impossible if it's not something like a computer.
Well im glad i watched this. I was thinking about joining iracing but im sorry those prices are nuts. ITS A GAME ,, nothing more nothing less. From what iv seen online the driving standards are no better than gt sport or forza. Il just be happy being rammed at a lower cost lol.
This Channel needs more subs
Much appreciated man. Spread the word.
What an amazingly helpful video! Thank you so much for that breakdown. It actually makes me giving it a go at some point more likely.
Don't
@@ozziecoops It's too late! 😁
I was looking for a video like this since i started simracing, thank you so so so much...
No worries. Glad I could help!
Thank you for this awesome video. Really detailed and easy to follow along.
I still do not understand why someone would buy this game knowing how much money they have to pay for it. In my opinion, the game should only require you to buy a monthly subscription.
Once again, great job on the video !
Thanks man. Much appreciated.
Would prefer a higher sub and free cars or same price for tracks and cars but no sub. That would be their best bet
@@pedrosilvamusician Their best bet or your best bet? Because they're doing absolutely fine as they are lmao
Thank you for this very professionally made and informative guide guide, it was very helpful; keep up the good work! Unfortunately iracing is gonna be a hard pass for me.
I was ready to know this, Thanks for explaining it concisely.
Excellent video, appreciate the clear price graphic and all 3 running totals
First of all, great content and explanation, so thank you! Second, I loved looking at this from the point of view of their business model. So after 13 weeks of gaming where most of the content is included, presumably you get "addicted" to the game and want to keep progressing. But suddenly, for the next season, you come up with none of the required content - tracks nor car - leaving you no choice if you want to progress. Would love to see their users' retention rates at this point.. Anyone knows if it's available anywhere?
Thanks man, much appreciated!
It’s sorta “pay as you go”. The 13 wk first season was just an example. I think I only spent 2 wks before I jumped up to skippies and started paying for content. A lot of people have commented that they only raced in series that had a lot of included content for a long time.
If you find those stats, let me know, but unfortunately it’s a lot less cut and dry than my example made it out to be.
Good luck, have fun!
As new guy in iRacing this was very helpful, thank you. I got just got my C class and as soon as I got D class I jumped into Formula Renault 2.0 series and had to buy the car and tracks, but this will be the only series I drive, so I will most likely not have to buy new tracks for the next season, and going to stick with FR 2.0. But it was expensive to get started, and since I got out of rookie class quite quickly. Like you said, is it worth it? For me, yes. I have never had so many clean races (well I have crashed, but no one has divebombed me in the first corner), and I love the license system.
No prob. I’m with you; the structure of the license system and tracking iRating give measurable feedback of progression over time and is a major reason why I enjoy iRacing.
im D license my last 3 races on rookie mazdas ended from 2 people crashing and me just either not being able to avoid the wreck or avoiding the wreck and losing a fuck ton of time. Do love iracing tho it pushes you to become better at racing :)
Bullshit
You find clean races in any good sim. What you won't find is "fast" races.
However, to progress they make you play other cars and tracks that you dont want. Had a guy who was enjoying the game, but had to buy a porsche GT3 car and 3 tracks because the only available races that could help him progress further into the rank was those
@@pedrosilvamusician I mean you don't have to buy those tracks for those cars and stay at the license level that you want to stay at
Great explanation of the possible costs and discounts, great example, thank you!!!
Thanks man. Much appreciated!
This is outstanding! Extremely thorough. 👏
Thank you! Much appreciated!
The fact that the cost over 2 years is ~500 USD is actually pretty cheap for a hobby.
My brother's hobby is guns, and we're in Canada. Over the 6 years of gun ownership, he has easily spent over 8k CAD on guns alone, not even counting ammo, membership fees, targets, etc. Divide 8k by 6, and he spends 1333 a year. Divide by 12, and that's 111 dollars a month.
Furthermore, he doesn't/can't go to the shooting range every week, only spends about 3 hours there when he does, and can't apply the hobby to the real world until the apocalypse. I, however, definitely plan on building and tracking a car later in my life, and this game is sure to help with the driving aspect.
You do also need a pc and sim rig but it is certainly cheaper than racing irl!
@@staffordacdc Yea, but I already have a gaming computer, and a wheel can be bought for as cheap as 350. I just strap mine to my desk and go from there. Still way cheaper than most other hobbies.
@@BenKuyt64 you’re not wrong! As an Xbox noob I dream of a pc setup but dropping a few k on a pc to then continue using my Logitech would be stupid. I suppose any hobby can be as expensive as you make it.
@@staffordacdc and that's another option, all the same sim games are on console now except iRacing. My two most played games are F1 and Assetto Corsa, both of which are on console.
People looking at this like it's a game will always say "omg that's expensive" . People who look at this as an alternative to a Hobby they want to pursue e.g. Automotive racing will say "less than 30 a month? That's cheaper than a 1/4 of a tank for 110 octane" Great Video gained a Sub
Exactly. I don’t fish, hunt, golf or race real cars. I do family stuff and walk the dogs.
So this is my main hobby. And it’s worth it
Some great info. After going through a bunch of iRacing videos and finding this one, I reminded myself why I wont get back into iRacing... lol Thanks for the video!
Wow you put a lot of work into that. It sure answered a lot of questions. Thank you so much. Subscribed.
Do an oval and/or a dirt road episode. Great video!
I might do a follow up with the others. I’m less familiar with oval’s progression... I’ll need input for which series people normally do. Dirt road would be pretty cheep I think. There’s not a lot of cars and tracks to buy.
Thanks for the input!
Really good video very clear , I would maybe emphasize that for a huge number of players/simracers just the skippy series and maybe 1 other would do them fine
iRacing and all driving simulators are as much of a game as any other game , you can turn any game into a "hobby" infact most games are a hobby it makes no sense to some how justify simracing costing more than other games in this way. Especaily as many sims out there cost exactly the same as other games and you can buy mice gaming keyboards that cost just as much as wheels.
You can also use RF2,ACC,AC for real-life training so it's not like iRacing is somehow special in that regard either.
I'm loving the new updates though and have tons of fun iracing and I think like any game if you get the time out of it the $ to hour of gameplay can end up being very cost-effective as entertainment.
True. I’ve been stuck on IMSA for months now and it’s cheaper entertainment than going to the movies once a month.
Thanks for the feedback. Love your channel.
Everything you wanted to know about Iracing but were too afraid to ask. Well done on this video sir!
Thank you, much appreciated!
Thank you for breaking this down for someone interested in iRacing like myself.
The simulation aspect is actually the best I have experienced. But to pay so much money for a game that has Windows vista graphic and a UI that looks like a webpage back on 98 its just not worth to throw out money for that.
I'm not so bothered by the graphics, but yeah, I was shocked about the horrific UI.
Seeing it come out to roughly $20 a month over a two year period turned out to be less than I expected. Ive been on the service for about 15 months, have bought a about 50 pieces of content but haven't added the total cost, I'm happier being ignorant
Brace yourself for next year where suddenly none of your tracks are being driven in the cars you want to drive. I've been on iraing for 2 years now and suddenly all series use 2-3 of my owned tracks this season. So in the middle of corona unemployment I figured "Hey let's do some iracng. i have the time... oh. I need to buy 8 tracks minimum to do this? Again? F- that."
I have a bunch of tracks that i haven't even ever raced on cause I missed that particular week in my first season where i bought them and then they just never appeared on the lists ever again. Money well spent? I can buy a complete game on steam for what i paid for just one of those never used tracks.
Appreciate the time you put into this, great job!
Thanks man, much appreciated!
For some reason this sounds more affordable than I expected... May give iRacing another try when I get my sim setup again. Thanks for the helpful video!
And after 500 bucks you have few car, several tracks, still only few cars. I have played PC/console games over three decades and spend around 1000 bucks on whole time, so iRacing is not for me..too expensive
u forget one thing. when you do iracing all you need is those few cars as you will drive only few favourite series. i dont know anyone who uses more than 5 cars
Thank you for this break down! I'll stick to keep on playing AMS!
No worries man. Thanks!
@McLeanRacing the price is unaffordable, my rig is only worth $2500 ( not including pc)
very transparent video love it! Thanks for working everything out in detail!
Awesome job McLean. Great video and very helpful.
Thank you, this helps a lot. I don't think it's worth it for me at the 2 year cost, and the 1 year cost is just crazy. If I do ever get iRacing I might just stick with the Miatas for some seasons lol.
However, I am very allergic to subscriptions, and that alone is the reason I have never purchased an iRacing subscription. In the off-chance I do end up getting an iRacing subscription some day, I'll probably just see the cost of the seasons beyond the Miata and be completely put off by it.
I'm sure the Miata races aren't as bad as people say they are, because people always exaggerate things, but I don't think they are worth anyone's time as sole series to run in iRacing, are they?
No iRacing for me then. Hope a better sim comes out. AC has easily been worth my money (paid full price for the game & DLC as early bird), but I really need a better MP ecosystem to draw me back into simracing.
That’ll keep the cost down. Thanks and glad I could help!
Nice video!
But also this is assuming you will stay in rookie for 1 season, D for 1 season and so on, but you wont.
Most ppl hit D faster and then c faster etc. Have a friend join in last summer and he went from rookie to A in less then 1 season and never driven before just driving smart about SR.
Then technically you have to buy more cars, and also have the option to combine series that run the same tracks till you fill the tracklibrary out more with "more used tracks". Also participating in A/B and a C/D series will give 10$ for the season. These things alters the budget abit both + and -, and you can enjoy more things then just 1 series per season.
All true. There’s a ton of ways to use iRacing. This was the clearest example I could thing of to give a jumping off point. As others have mentioned, some people stick with Skippys for a long time and don’t spend as much right away. Others will spend more up front if they accelerate through the classes and do multiple seasons at once. I think it’ll all be about the same at the end of a couple years, it all depends on how fast you spend the cash building your car and track collection. Thanks for the input!
Nailed it. Best summarizing vid about iracing. Liked and subbed!
Thanks man. Welcome.
Great video! This should be featured on their website / CZcams channel!
I already own iRacing, but this video was very helpful anyway, so I can finally plan ahead.
Thank you!
Thanks man. Glad I could help.
Nobody "owns" iRacing. You rent it.
To further extend the bonus at the end of the season, you can get participation rewards in both the D/C and B/A classes. $10 instead of just $4 or $7.
At the beginning it was hard but now after few years there I spend basically nothing over the year. Cant feel it even I earn just 500e month in my crappy country and content is 24% more for me because of taxes. Also, always but new sub on Black Friday for 25% off
Wow, this might be the video that kicks off your channel, dude! I just noticed how few views the rest of your videos have compared to this one, and such a small (but growing rapidly) subscriber base. I discovered you from this video (it was a suggestion on the right) and I found this video incredibly interesting and informative! Best of luck on this channel dude!
Thanks you. Much love!
Because this was very helpful I am subscribing and sharing this channel with friends. Great Job.
What most are missing is the fact you dont have to spend all this at once, I have been on iracing for 5 years now and i have spent around $1800nzd, but not all at once a purchase here and there. Split that up into per week and you get $7.50 and I wouldn't trade any of it. there may be other sims out there with better driving physics (debatable) there is cheaper sims out there, but nothing with the replay value that iracing offers. i get bored very easy, most games i play will keep me occupied for a month 3 tops on great titles, but i have been on iracing for 5 years and i still race pretty much everyday.
one thing that other sims and multiplayer games for that matter cant offer is iracing's structure, scheduled races every 15min (over all the different classes) there is always something to race and other people to race. and then theres the hosted section which is also usually packed with people and races of all kinds. and if you just want to hot lap then you can do that too. iracing is also constantly updating content, physics, day night cycles etc. Also hundreds of professional drivers cant be wrong.
Honestly you can buy a months subscription for $13usd and you get a bunch of free content with that, enough to know if you will like it anyway. but if you like smashing into A.I, making unrealistic changes to cars, winning money, unlocking trophies, and changing your wheels then stick to Forza or GT because iracing is not for you.
iracing quote "If racing is in your blood, then iracing should be on your hard-drive"
$1800nzd might aswel buy a pc and rig with that investment money. pure reason why i believe this game is ridiculous that you have to pay a sub
@@Simcadepro did you not read what i said? $1800 over 5 years is not a lot for a hobby. I already have a pc which i would of had with or without iracing. And i believe having a subscription based system is good because it stops alot of people buying the game coming in thinking its wreckfest and then leaving.
Its a hobby not a game and if you treat it as such its actually great value.
@@nedrick2263 how does iracing run from NZ? Im considering getting it, on ADSL. Race times NZ evening, ping/lag??
@@rowinz1 very well actually. I ran it thru wifi for a while 30down 15 up, and i didn't have a problem unless it was my Internet dropping out. You get what you pay for and iracing has great servers running out of Australia. If you have a gaming pc, wheel and pedels spend the $13usd and get a one month sub you can turn auto renew off so your not locked in. But for 20 odd nzd its very much worth it for a trial
@@nedrick2263 I'm south african and with my calculation its work out R600 buks a month in rands no thank you. who retarded enough to pay so much for a sim game. needs to recheck their investment into sim racing. ACC R300 once off 10time better please try and convince my opinion....
Prices are ridiculous. Most used word is "purchase" 😂
My damn rig only worth $2500
Alex Chen only?
It's pretty obvious iracing is selling to a niche market and are able to take advantage by charging so much. They know some of us are invested in these rigs and want to get the most out of our experience. Meanwhile I really enjoy F1 2020 and it's only $15 dollars this month for the full game.
It's a video about the price and what you can "purchase" lol
I clicked the 'like' button because of the amount of research you did into making this video. Thank you, it was very helpful. I'll be staying w/Gran Turismo.
Best iRacing cost video ever. Period. nice work, man.
Thanks man. Much love.
EA must love these guys, they almost don't seem as bad or greedy as iRacing.
Never played fifa clearly, EA are the biggest robbing bastards known to man
Jesus Christ same as iracing 😉
Ryzza5 Wouldnt really consider it greedy when you realize how much work goes into each car/track out there. I am perfectly okay with the pricing.
@Fernando some people want more variety in cars and racing series
Great video, but you forgot the taxes on every track and car, making it even more expensive.
You're right. I forgot to mention that there could be taxes added to each purchase. I didn't include them in calculations because not everyone pays taxes for the content, and the ones that do pay at different rates. Good catch - thanks for the feedback!
@@McLeanRacing wait not everyone pays taxes? So using a VPN would avoid that??
Maybe... but, you know... tax evasion ‘n’ stuff.
@@McLeanRacing yeah definitely. What about PayPal?
@@XxzacwellxX Nope, I have VAT to pay despite Paypal. Perhaps they're using your country as reference directly (like, the one on your iRacing profile)
Awesome info!!!! Thanks Bro, anybody starting in sim racing has to see this video
Really great video. Thanks for the breakdown man.
Week at least I know I won’t ever be using iracing. Wow that is such a ripoff for a game. Thanks for the great content. Really good info.
No prob. Glad I could help!
iRacing has no competitor really. High quality ranked races every hour. If you're fine with single player stick to other games.
If you like to play offline good but online it’s iracing or bust all the other games are trash
Just buy the expansions in Raceroom or buy Assetto Corsa Competizione
or original AC and mod it to your hearts extent. so many great FREE mods for that game, and the physics (of the official cars/tracks) are still way ahead of iRacing imo. currently I'm doing my best Wangan Midnight impression driving around the C1 at night. loads of fun.
Holy man. Your calculations must've took forever.
Massive respect my man
really good video, detailed an very informative. thank you 🙏🏾