Born in 2018, the Motorsport Games studio is not necessarily the best known here and for good reason, it has very few games to its credit and is mainly known for being the only studio to have the official NASCAR license. currently. Nevertheless, it is a sad affair that occurs at the start of the year 2023 within the studio.
Unpaid employees at Motorsport Games?
No, you’re not dreaming, the case that is shaking Motorsport Games today concerns unpaid wages to the studio’s developers. The latter would plan to sue their employer after having asked for their due for several months. Our colleagues from Incite Gaming notably succeeded in obtaining further information on this story.
It would seem in particular that 30 Russian employees have not been paid since October 2022 and the management of Motorsport Games would continue to play the card of ignorance. It is in this sense that the employees of the NASCAR team have set a deadline of January 25 for the studio to pay the salaries in question before legal action is taken. The reason ? The non-payment of wages as well as the fact of “forcing employees to sign the termination of an employment contract”.
As for the causes, Motorsport Games announced in October that it could no longer pay Russian employees because of the Ukrainian conflict. You should know that the American studio based in Miami had moved its Moscow branch to Georgia while offering Russian employees to move. However, unlike other studios, Motorsport Games did not offer any employee compensation or relocation assistance. In addition, the new contracts offered in Georgia included salaries 20% lower than before. The few employees who agreed to these terms would even struggle to get paid properly.
One of Insider Gaming’s sources tells us in particular that the studio has been making excuses for months to avoid paying employees and even announced that a payment was coming without anything ever having happened in the end.
“Each time the issue comes up again, we find excuses”
A very delicate matter for the Motorsport Games studio whose management seems increasingly wobbly, and words are weak. It remains to be seen whether the situation will evolve in the direction of Russian employees in the coming days.
