Assetto Corsa EVO hit Steam in Early Access yesterday, marking the latest chapter in the well-regarded racing series, now available for both traditional screens and PC VR headsets. Initial feedback is a mixed bag, with a significant number of VR users advising others to hold off until patches can fix the game’s current optimization issues.
KUNOS Simulazioni, the team known for the 2014 Assetto Corsa and its 2018 follow-up Assetto Corsa Competizione, has unleashed their eagerly anticipated Assetto Corsa EVO. This early version comes packed with five tracks and 20 cars, alongside single-player modes and support for SteamVR headsets, plus compatibility with triple screen setups.
Future updates promise a wider array of content, eventually delivering up to 100 cars, 25 tracks, open-world experiences, and career and multiplayer modes. However, at present, VR enthusiasts find themselves less than thrilled by the game’s condition.
Reviews are rolling in, and with more than 2,700 logged, the game currently sits with a ‘Mixed’ score. While a chunk of the feedback focuses on missing elements that KUNOS assures are in the pipeline, critiques of the VR support center primarily on inadequate optimization, leaving many VR users feeling sidelined.
For instance, Steam user Poloman refrains from dwelling too much on the overall performance issues, noting instead that, in his words, “VR is currently unplayable.” Despite achieving 150 fps on his monitor, VR refuses to climb beyond 30 fps.
Similarly, Mattios, running an RTX 4090 with an i9 13900k at the lowest settings, laments VR performance, citing constant latency spikes that render the game effectively unplayable in VR, even though the flatscreen version performs fine, utilizing merely 80% GPU and 10% CPU without upscaling.
User Dan weighs in, stating, “I can’t recommend it in its current state.” For Dan, optimization seems lacking, particularly for VR. He reports getting 50 fps with a Radeon 7600X and 7900 XT while using a Quest 3 with Link and OpenXR, all on the minimum settings. He also mentions visual glitches, particularly in menus, and subpar force feedback settings. Dan concludes, “Wait for the coming patches to even consider it.”
Historically, KUNOS Simulazioni has managed Early Access launches similarly across their Assetto Corsa titles, so the gradual rollout of features is not particularly unexpected. VR, while not always available immediately, has been a crucial component of the series.
The original Assetto Corsa was an early VR adopter, providing experimental support for Rift headsets as far back as 2013, later expanding to more headsets in 2017 with OpenVR. Full VR capability for Assetto Corsa Competizione arrived about a month after its initial conventional release.
The developers are ambitious, aiming to complete and release version 1.0 “within less than one year from the start of Early Access.” Many VR enthusiasts are holding onto hope for substantial performance enhancements that would justify the $32 investment.
