NASCAR Heatplayers don’t have much longer to enjoy the games online, as the servers are being shut down on May 25, 2025. Though players have known that this day would eventually come, some are still upset at the fact that the most recentNASCAR Heatgames will no longer be playable online.
News arrived in late December 2024 thatNASCAR Heatgames would be delistedat the end of that year. This wasn’t limited to the series alone, as titles likeNASCAR RivalsandNASCAR 21: Ignitionwere also delisted at that time. However, whileNASCAR Heat 4and5were removed from the store and could no longer be purchased, they were still playable both offline and online at the time.
Now,NASCAR Heathas revealed that the servers for the games will be shutting down on August 1. TheNASCAR Heatfranchise was originally developed by Monster Games, but starting withNASCAR Heat 5, Motorsport Games began publishing the titles and 704Games took over on the development side. However, the rights to publishNASCAR games have now been transferred to iRacing, which means that theNASCAR Heatgames are being shut down.
Will NASCAR Heat 5 Still Be Playable Offline?
Thankfully,NASCAR Heat 4and5fans can still enjoy the titles offline and in split-screen mode. Unlike some other games which have become completely unplayable when their servers closed,NASCAR Heatis not among them. Nonetheless, fans aren’t particularly thrilled with this development, especially since the next game in the franchise,NASCAR 25, still doesn’t have a release date. It’s supposed to launch sometime in the fall of 2025, but some players would have preferred forNASCAR Heat 4 and 5to remain playable untilNASCAR 25’s debut.
Unfortunately, this is just one of many games that have either recently been shut down or will be in the near future.13 EA games will shut down over the course of 2025,MultiVersushas shut down, andXDefiantwent offline in June. While some games remain playable offline, those that aren’t have been frustrating enough for fans that it’s even led to a major EU petition that’s garnered over 1 million signatures thus far. The petition got its start whenThe Crewshut down, making the game completely unplayable. The Stop Killing Games movement takes issue with games being made unplayable when the publisher stops supporting them. Thankfully,NASCAR Heatisn’t one of these titles, but the loss of online functionality is frustrating nonetheless.
