Play ExoCross Now: Your First Look at the Engine Powering the IndyCar Game
If you’ve been counting down the days until INDYCAR Racing The Game arrives in early 2027, here’s something you might not know: you can already play a game built on the exact same engine. Right now. Today.
It’s called ExoCross, and it’s available on PS5, Xbox, and Steam for $39.99.
What Is ExoCross?
ExoCross is a futuristic off-road racing game developed by Orontes Games, a studio operating within iRacing Studios. It launched on PC and PS5 on July 23, 2024, with Xbox following shortly after. The game is set on a fictional alien planet called Proteus, features boost-powered open-wheel racing, and runs on a proprietary engine called the Orontes Engine.
That last part is the key detail. The Orontes Engine is the same engine powering INDYCAR Racing The Game.
When iRacing Studios announced the IndyCar game in August 2025, they confirmed it would be “built from the ground up on iRacing Studios’ proprietary and enhanced Orontes engine.” Same team. Same tech foundation. Enhanced for a full-scale licensed racing title.
What the Reviews Said
ExoCross received mixed reviews when it launched, and it’s worth being honest about that going in. Critics were divided almost entirely on content vs. tech.
The tech side got praised consistently. The Drive called it a game that “brings iRacing tech and quality to arcade racing.” Gamereactor’s reviewer, despite giving the game a 4/10 overall, specifically noted: “the car physics are clearly impressive and I absolutely believe that iRacing will be able to make really impressive things out of this system in the future, especially with how realistically the chassis moves.”
Insider Gaming described it as “a full package racer” with physics and AI mixed from iRacing’s main sim. Traxion called the visuals “mightily impressive.”
The criticism? Content. At launch, ExoCross had only four tracks. No career mode to speak of. The races felt repetitive. Multiplayer lacked variety. For a full-price release, critics felt the game had great bones but not enough meat.
One Reddit user summed it up cleanly: “The graphics are excellent. The bones for a great game are all there. That being said the number of basic features missing is somewhat shocking.”
Why This Matters for the IndyCar Game
Here’s the thing: those criticisms don’t apply to INDYCAR Racing The Game.
The IndyCar game has confirmed content from day one. A multilevel career mode starting in INDY NXT and working up to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. All 33 licensed drivers. Indianapolis Motor Speedway, street circuits, road courses, and ovals. Online multiplayer. It’s not a niche sci-fi racing experiment, it’s a full licensed title with the IndyCar organization behind it.
What ExoCross demonstrated is that the Orontes Engine is genuinely capable of delivering impressive visuals and physics on console hardware. That was the technical proof of concept. INDYCAR Racing The Game inherits everything the engine does well and adds the content layer that ExoCross was missing.
iRacing Studios VP Myers called the Orontes team’s work “absolutely gorgeous” in terms of graphics engine quality. The Traxion piece on the engine noted explicitly that “ExoCross will lend its game engine to the 2026 IndyCar game” (now 2027 after the delay).
Should You Play ExoCross?
If you want a preview of how the IndyCar game will feel to drive, yes. ExoCross is a legitimate way to experience the Orontes Engine’s physics and visual quality before 2027. The handling is demanding. The cars feel alive under braking and in corners. Force feedback on a wheel is reportedly solid.
Just go in with the right expectations. You’re not playing a complete game. You’re test-driving an engine. And based on what that engine delivers, the full IndyCar package built on top of it has a lot of promise.
ExoCross is available now on Steam, PlayStation Store, and Xbox.
