How to open a sim racing center in 2026: costs, equipment, licences and pricing

Step zero

Choose your venue model and your size

Sim racing venues fall into three broad families, and the choice shapes everything that follows. A dedicated sim racing center sells driving time as its main product, with regulars, challenges and group events. A leisure venue or game room puts a few simulators next to other attractions, often in free access or pay-per-play. A bar, lounge or existing business (karting track, gym, car dealership) adds simulators to bring people in and keep them longer.

How many simulators? There is no neutral answer, only vendor views. ACTORACER, a simulator maker that sells turnkey centers, writes that a center “is worthwhile with 6 driving simulators or more” and presents two to four simulators as an add-on to an existing business (ACTORACER). Sim Coaches, another simulator maker, describes small venues with 4 to 6 simulators, mid-size venues with 8 to 13 and large ones with 15 or more (Sim Coaches guide). Both sell simulators, so read these numbers as an industry opinion, not a rule.

Floor space is the other early constraint. Sim Coaches suggests planning 150 to 200 sq ft per simulator (about 14 to 19 m²), and Multitap, a venue software vendor, gives a minimum of 1,500 sq ft (about 140 m²) for 4 to 6 simulators (Multitap guide). These are US figures for full venues with a lounge area; a bar corner with two rigs obviously needs far less.

• Multiplayer races between your own simulators need them on the same local network: plan the cabling with the layout.
• Group events (birthdays, companies, private evenings) usually need several identical rigs side by side.
• Leave room for a screen showing the leaderboard: it is the cheapest way to make people come back.

Budget

What it costs: the published ranges, and their limits

We do not publish our own cost estimate for opening a center: we have no independent data on rent, build-out or energy in Europe, and the honest answer depends on your city and your hardware. What exists are guides written by companies in the sector. They are useful as a checklist of cost items, provided you know who wrote them.

Multitap's guide, dated January 2026, gives these ranges for a 6- to 8-simulator venue in the US (source):

• Racing simulators (6–8 units): $30,000–80,000; gaming PCs: $12,000–24,000; displays: $6,000–15,000.
• Lease deposit and build-out: $15,000–40,000; furniture and decor: $5,000–15,000.
• Software and licences: $2,000–5,000; marketing and launch: $3,000–10,000.
• Working capital for three months: $15,000–30,000. Total given by the guide: $88,000–219,000.
• Sim Coaches, dated March 2026, adds: interior build-out $15,000–60,000+, electrical work $3,000–10,000, networking and AV $2,000–8,000, and three to four months of rent paid upfront (source).

How to read these figures

Three cautions. First, they are US dollar figures from vendors: Multitap sells venue software and Sim Coaches sells simulators. Second, neither guide mentions the commercial licence for the racing game itself (see below), which can be a significant line on its own. Third, rent, energy prices, labour and VAT vary widely from one country to another; none of these guides gives European figures.

The useful takeaway is the structure of the budget: hardware per rig, the room (lease, build-out, electrical work, ventilation), software, licences, launch marketing and several months of working capital. Get local quotes for each line before you sign a lease.

Licences

The Assetto Corsa commercial licence: the item most guides skip

A copy of Assetto Corsa bought on Steam is licensed for private use. Its end-user licence agreement states, in capitals: “THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IS NOT ALLOWED IN ANY WAY IN PUBLIC, AND/OR FOR PROMOTIONAL, ENTERTAINMENT, TRAINING, EDUCATIONAL OR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES, FOR FREE OR NOT, WITHOUT AN EXPLICITE, WRITTE PERMISSION PROVIDED BY KUNOS SIMULAZIONI SRL.” (Assetto Corsa EULA on Steam).

In practice, a paying venue needs written permission from Kunos Simulazioni, the game's developer. Kunos publishes no price list; the entry point is its contact form, with a dedicated subject for commercial licences. Mods and real-world car brands raise separate questions. We explain what the official sources say, and what they do not, in our guide to the Assetto Corsa commercial license.

Put this on your list before buying hardware: ask Kunos early, keep the written reply, and include the answer in your budget. Omnisim does not provide or resell this licence; no venue software does it for you.

Pricing

Pricing your sessions and getting paid

Most venues combine three kinds of product: a single session of fixed length, a pack of several sessions sold at a lower unit price, and a pass or membership for regulars. For reference only, Multitap's guide quotes US prices of $25–40 for 30 minutes, $40–65 for an hour, $150–300 a month for a membership and $300–600 an hour for corporate events; Sim Coaches gives $25–45 per 30-minute session. Your own prices depend on your local market: look at what venues near you charge.

Three levers matter more than the headline price. Off-peak products (cheaper at quiet times) fill weekday afternoons. Passes need a cap per day, or regulars may fill your rigs at peak hours. And customers must trust the clock: if loading screens and menus eat into a paid session, they notice. In Omnisim, credit is deducted only for the time actually driven, a pass can be capped per weekday, and each product can be restricted to certain time slots (how to sell a pass).

On payments: if you sell online, you will need a payment provider and an account in your company's name. Omnisim uses your own Stripe account, so customer money goes to you directly, with no Omnisim commission; Stripe's own fees apply (Stripe pricing). Check with your accountant which VAT rate applies to leisure services in your country, and how counter sales are recorded: Omnisim has no card terminal, so a ticket sold at the counter is issued in the dashboard and paid outside it.