‘Early Access Release of ‘Assetto Corsa EVO’ for PC VR: Why You Might Consider Holding Off’

Yesterday marked the debut of Assetto Corsa EVO on Steam’s Early Access, and fans of the series were quick to get their hands on it. This new chapter continues the legacy of the racing franchise, making its mark on both traditional screens and PC VR headsets. However, the reception has been mixed. Particularly among VR enthusiasts, there’s a shared sentiment to hold off for upcoming patches, as the game’s current optimization leaves much to be desired.

KUNOS Simulazioni, the brains behind the original Assetto Corsa in 2014 and its successor Assetto Corsa Competizione in 2018, has finally released their much-anticipated next installment, Assetto Corsa EVO. This Early Access launch offers players five tracks, twenty different vehicles, single-player mode, and support for SteamVR headsets and triple screens.

While it’s a promising start with a pledge from KUNOS to roll out more features over time, culminating in 100 cars, 25 tracks, an open world, and career and multiplayer modes, the VR community is currently not thrilled. The initial user reviews are flooding in, surpassing 2,700 and resulting in a ‘Mixed’ rating. Many concerns revolve around the meme features, but words like ‘unplayable’ echo notably among VR users who cite significant optimization issues.

In one of the many reviews, a Steam user named Poloman remarks, “I’m reserving my judgment on the overall performance since this is just early access, but the VR is practically unusable. I can get 150 fps on a 3440×1440 display, but in VR, I’m stuck at a frustrating 30 FPS.”

Another user, Mattios, highlights, “Even with an RTX 4090 and i9 13900k set to the lowest settings, targeting just 80hz, VR is unplayable. Constant latency spikes ruin the experience at every setting. On flatscreen, it runs perfectly fine, using only minimal GPU and CPU power.”

Dan’s review also voices frustration, “Can’t recommend it as it stands now. There’s a stark lack of performance optimization, at least for VR. Using a Radeon 7600X and a 7900 XT, I’m struggling at 50 fps on a Quest 3 with Link and OpenXR with just one car on track. That’s on the lowest settings. Adding to that, visual glitches pop up, especially in the menu. Kunos’ default FFB settings were also unexpected. My advice? Wait for patches before even considering a purchase.”

Looking back, KUNOS Simulazioni’s strategy for releasing Assetto Corsa games via Early Access isn’t new, and the gradual introduction of features is something fans of the series have come to expect. Although VR wasn’t always a launch day element, it has been a significant part of the series identity.

The original Assetto Corsa was among the VR pioneers, with experimental support for Rift headsets as far back as 2013, later embracing more devices with OpenVR in 2017. Full VR capabilities for Assetto Corsa Competizione followed one month after its traditional screen debut.

The studio assures that the full version 1.0 will roll out in “less than a year from this Early Access start,” and gamers are eagerly awaiting necessary optimizations ahead of that, hoping VR will soon justify the $32 price tag.