Assetto Corsa Competizione, The Official Blancpain GT Series Game Announced!

[Paul Jeffrey]

Top GT3 licence, UE4 graphics, day to night cycle, dynamic weather, advanced physics with a focus on realism.. is Assetto Corsa Competizione the sim we've all been waiting for?

When Kunos Simulazioni hinted at a big announcement a few days ago, many thought it would simply be a case of confirming another licence for the already well developed Assetto Corsa software, or at the very most a potential AC2 first announcement. Not so, the team over in Italy have been hard at work behind the scenes developing a very exciting new piece of software, and what is more the new Assetto Corsa Competizione title will focus on a single racing category, the incredible Blancpain Endurance GT3 series.. a welcome hark back to the days when racing simulation developers focussed all their attention to detail on a specific racing series, something that Kunos are keen to replication with this newly announced IP.

Set to feature a pretty significant shift away from the basis of the Assetto Corsa title we all know and love, Kunos have confirmed that AC Competizione will feature what are described as "photo realistic" graphics thanks to the use of the incredibly powerful Unreal Engine 4 graphics engine, allowing Kunos to move away from the single light source solution of Assetto Corsa and finally bring both time of day and weather effects to their racing game - a must when you consider the Spa 24 Hour is a key event in the real life Blancpain championship.

As well as the obvious visual benefits brought from a move to Unreal 4 (see screenshots attached to this article), another key talking point from the simulation announcement comes by way of confirmation that Kunos are looking to build a sizable offline career mode around the new game, with driving school tutorials making a welcome return to a popular modern day simulation.

Alongside what promises to be a substantial offline element, the initial press release indicates that Kunos are also aiming to make considerable changes to the way Assetto Corsa veterans experience online play, with an eye on the emerging eSport marketplace the Italian developers are promising a well rounded ranking and matchmaking online system, potentially encouraging a much more evenly balanced online experience and less of those famous public lobby first corner crashes...

Although only initially announced this afternoon, it looks like development is well on the way with this exceptionally exciting new title. Projected for a summer Steam EA release, I'll leave you with the new trailer to get the juices flowing for now...

Assetto Corsa Competizione should be available on Steam Early Access Summer 2018.

Check out the Assetto Corsa Sub Forum here at RaceDepartment for the latest news and discussions regarding the sim. We host quality League and Club Racing events, have a selection of fantastic mods to download and some of the best community conversation. Join in the discussion today.

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Excited? Looking forward to the new title? Let us know below!

 

[GianmarcoFiduci]

Even a Sandwich maker PC can handle the UE4, it is a very well optimized middle ware graphics engine.

Really?

 

[Steve Worrell]

People already talking about price, and how much they think is too much.

Personally I would pay a decent amount for this title. It is indeed the SIM I've been waiting for (providing it ticks the boxes I want ticking).

 

[Eero o.]

I know I read this morning that VR support is in but now I can't find where it said that.

http://www.assettocorsa.net/forum/i...ione-official-blancpain-gt-series-game.49130/

Assetto Corsa Competizione is VR Ready

 

[Zombie Boy]

Despite me previously being apprehensive about this...

Kunos have been really clever here. The GT3 races at Spa in the AC public servers are so popular that it has become a joke, and they've actually capitalised on this.

At the same time, they haven't made the first AC obsolete as you can still play that if you want to race road cars and the like (and I'm sure the modders will continue to update this game if modding isn't a feature of ACC).

Kudos, Kunos!

 

[Jan Larsen]

When I read 'Unreal engine', I instantly popped a question in my mind - minimum game specs for 60 fps?

 

[MarcG]

I read the press release at work earlier, so surprised and happy I must've glossed over the VR bit! Well that's it then, new PC required

 

[Shaun Clarke]

I read the press release at work earlier, so surprised and happy I must've glossed over the VR bit! Well that's it then, new PC required

Why? no min specs released yet? Trust me I want to know as well LOL

Shaun

 

[Steve Worrell]

Seriously surprised that people feel limited by the single series, and the fact it's GT3.

This to me looks like a playable (well thought-out may I add) tech demo. A bit like how red dead redemption is a platform for rockstar to try new techniques to implement in to their hero product, GTA.

 

[Emery]

Looking forward to seeing what physics compromises, if any, have to be made to use UE4.

Not too happy that we're going to see a round of Steam early-access, though. Guess I'll be waiting until it's a "finished" game before buying.

 

[David Peres]

I think the title speaks for itself?

View attachment 237027

Marco Massarutto, Co-founder and Brand & Product Manager of Kunos Simulazioni: “This announcement represents a dream come true for us. The Blancpain GT Series license is just the tip of the iceberg. By combining the potential of Unreal Engine 4 and the feedback received from our community, we are producing a completely new simulation aimed to redefine the racing game genre, improving the features that made Assetto Corsa so popular, and introducing those demanded by players for a high-level racing simulation game - with no compromise, and remaining loyal to our philosophy."

Source

Lets wait and see...

 

[Eero o.]

Why? no min specs released yet? Trust me I want to know as well LOL

Shaun

MXGP3 which uses same Unreal Engine 4 has following min specs :

• 
  MINIMUM:
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    
  • OS: Windows 7 64-Bit or later
    
  • Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K; AMD FX-6350 or equivalent
    
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 with 2 GB VRAM or more; AMD Radeon HD 7950 with 2 GB VRAM or more
    
  • DirectX: Version 11

 

[MarcG]

Why? no min specs released yet? Trust me I want to know as well LOL

Shaun

Because I'm looking to upgrade anyway that's why

 

[NoXiD]

It came unexpectedly for me, but this news is a very good news from kunos for a long time

#HypeOn

 

[Zombie Boy]

MXGP3 which uses same Unreal Engine 4 has following min specs :

• 
  MINIMUM:
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    
  • OS: Windows 7 64-Bit or later
    
  • Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K; AMD FX-6350 or equivalent
    
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 with 2 GB VRAM or more; AMD Radeon HD 7950 with 2 GB VRAM or more
    
  • DirectX: Version 11

If Kunos can pull off a game that looks as good as the trailer with those specs, I'll be very happy!

 

[Ian Navarro]

That looks like great news! I wonder if in the future they will add more series to the game, so there is more variety to the competition

 

[Jani1980]

Oh my f...

and every time I wrote the real night was missing and the rain was laughed.

And now hrhrhr... yes yes yes

 

[Zuffenhausen Weiss]

Marco Massarutto, Co-founder and Brand & Product Manager of Kunos Simulazioni: “This announcement represents a dream come true for us. The Blancpain GT Series license is just the tip of the iceberg. By combining the potential of Unreal Engine 4 and the feedback received from our community, we are producing a completely new simulation aimed to redefine the racing game genre, improving the features that made Assetto Corsa so popular, and introducing those demanded by players for a high-level racing simulation game - with no compromise, and remaining loyal to our philosophy."

Source

Lets wait and see...

Realism, I bet they will claim to make it realistic but in fact far less ball-breakingly realistic (as rF2) to not alienate their usual fanbase, the Top Gear watching, Ferrari poster hanging on their bedroom wall console gamers...like Battlefield fanboys claim their fave FPS to be more sim compared to CoD (and one had the gall to compare BF3's realism to rF1).

 

[Will Mazeo]

If Kunos can pull off a game that looks as good as the trailer with those specs, I'll be very happy!

that quote has minimum specs and trailers are done running max settings so you wont be happy lol
Not like UE4 is a super mega heavy engine anyway

 

[ouvert]

If Kunos can pull off a game that looks as good as the trailer with those specs, I'll be very happy!

well those are minimum specs .. which means it is not tolerable for simracing ..

 

[Mitja Bonca]

GT1 class should be in too, with RSS's cars. Its just the livences would be cool to get, to have real names.

Btw, didn't they say, the announcement will come tomorrow on 22, not today