For anyone wanting realistic racing, the Assetto Corsa series has long been one of the most reliable places to go. Whether you’re strapping yourself into a $10,000 sim rig or just want to challenge your mates on some exquisitely recreated tracks, it’s stood alongside the likes of iRacing as one of the top dogs. While both the original Assetto Corsa and its 2019 sequel, Competizione, still enjoy thousands of daily players, the third entry has been a long time coming. Well, the wait is finally over, because Assetto Corsa Evo has just launched in Steam Early Access – and despite suffering from some initial technical gremlins, it’s just set a new Steam record for the series.
As you’d expect from any new entry in a sim racing series, Assetto Corsa Evo is promising to deliver more realistic on-track action, more detailed recreations of tracks and cars, shinier graphics, and more new ways to race. While there are admittedly more beautiful and more content-packed racing games out there, nailing the physics, car performance, and feel of driving is the top priority for Evo and its sim racing rivals.
Developer Kunos already delivers excellent realism in the original AC and in Competizione, but for Evo it’s upgrading where it can and adding in some additional features, such as a new system that “meticulously simulates asphalt performance in different dynamic weather conditions that guarantees an authentic and realistic experience which will redefine the standards that have made Assetto Corsa globally renowned.”
Alongside all of the individual tracks you can race on, Evo will have an open-world mode (a first for the series) that gives players an enormous sandbox to race around. The open-world is based in the Eifel region of Germany, and if you know a thing or two about cars, you’ll know that that’s where the iconic Nurburgring racetrack is located. It’s not in the game just yet, but it will be added at a later stage in early access.
Across the board, things are a bit more stripped back for this initial early access launch. Players will have access to five tracks (Brands Hatch, Mount Panorama, Imola, Suzuka, and Laguna Seca) and a small selection of single-player modes. The car list will also start off small, with just 20 available for now, including the Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO, the Lotus Emira, and the Mercedes-AMG GT2.
Kunos says that throughout early access, that offering of content will gradually grow. Including today’s launch, a total of six early access content expansions are planned which will add features, tracks, cars, and modes over time.
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The early access launch has been something of a mixed bag so far. On the plus side, a peak concurrent player count of over 25,000 was registered just a matter of hours after the game went live, which is a record peak for the series on Steam. However, the game’s user reviews are a bit ropey. Some understandable technical kinks and bugs are being found, but for an early access release that’s nothing out of the ordinary. The big gut punch though has been issues with the game’s servers, which have booted pretty much all players offline. Initially that restricted players to just six vehicles that were available without a connection to the servers, but Konus has, to its credit, pushed out a hotfix that unlocks all 20 cars even if you’re offline.
“We’re working on this as a matter of urgency and hope to bring a resolution to you as soon as possible,” the developer says.
Assetto Corsa Evo is out right now in Steam Early Access, and if you want to jump in right at the beginning of its journey, there’s 20% off until Thursday, January 30.
If you’re going to wait until 1.0, you can check out some of the best multiplayer games and best simulation games instead.
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