WEC Game Expected in 2023

WEC 1.jpg
Motorsport Games’ Motorsports Advisor Gerard Neveu has revealed that a racing game based on the WEC series is in the works and scheduled to be released in 2023.

Former FIA World Endurance Championship CEO Gerard Neveu now works as Motorsports Advisor for racing game developer Motorsport Games. He has shared with Motorsport.com that based on the success of the 2020 Le Mans Virtual event, the team is looking to extend the involvement of WEC in the virtual world.

This is the latest in a series of major announcements from Motorsport Games, which had previously announced development of games based on the BTCC, NASCAR, and IndyCar race series. These titles hold special promise for sim racers, since Motorsport Games has acquired rFactor 2 developer Studio 397 and plans to use their renowned physics engine for at least the forthcoming NASCAR title.

The WEC series has been partially represented in the virtual racing world across a variety of titles dating back many years, but a complete title based on the series is a popular request from fans of the series. Currently, WEC classes such as GTE and LMP1 can be found in titles like Assetto Corsa, the Project CARS series, RaceRoom Racing Experience, iRacing and Automobilista 2.

The game development announcement comes at a time when the World Endurance Championship is undergoing significant changes. The series has recently replaced its top class of cars. Gone are the popular LMP1 class cars, which competed for 16 years and broke several lap records in that time. The LMP1 class has been replaced by the LMH, or Le Mans Hypercar, class. These new Hypercars have yet to compete at Le Mans, so Motorsport Games will have to start anew with performance data collection and implementation.

WEC 2.jpg


Like the other titles under development by Motorsport Games, it’s still too early to tell whether the upcoming WEC title will be aimed more toward hardcore sim racers or casual gamers. Wherever it lands, it’s certainly a welcome announcement for fans of endurance racing.

In the interim, Motorsport Games will be hosting another Le Mans Virtual event this winter, with more details to be released following the real-world 24 Hours of Le Mans event in August.

Are you excited for this announcement? Let us know your thoughts on the forthcoming WEC racing title in the comments below.
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

It is a great news i we can get a WEC game.
I mean if made like ACC, or even deeper into the sim aspect.

All trial session with real length
Car shared with team friends and/or with bot cars..
Real weather only, night, rain, wind
Real detailed liveries for all cars, detailed tracks, ...


Without that ?
Just another no purpose game.
Endurance racing needs a complete
other approche as other racing series. It is not made for quick game.
I would agree on that. But I think we can agree as well that this approach would be a risky business (to say the least). If you have to pay for development and expensive licenses, you will want to make sure to not limit your target market to die-hard sim-enthusiasts. And even limit it more to those especially into endurance racing.

My guess would be that it's more [seems there will be a Console version] Simcade (if not Arcade altogether). Fortunately my guess does not count so let's wait and see:)
 
Premium
I don't know if this approach of releasing four different games for each different racing series that are technically basically the same thing will work. We're not in the noughties anymore where this was used regularly, and the worst case scenario is that Motorsport Games will fragment its own audience, with none of the games getting a large enough player base. Or modders will simply port content from one game to the other, as seen with GTR2 and GT Legends.
I can understand it from the point that producing sim content takes a lot more time, effort and money these days than it did in the early '00s. And better to release one full title with all content in it from day one, than have a "one fits all" title that has some of everything, but not enough content from either series to really work as a competition game (see AC and it's lack of representing a full grid of any series it took a slice from).
 
As far as I know there is next to nothing GTE/LMP content in AMS2. Let alone tracks like LeMans. That content is addressed in a WEC-game. Although I would agree that it looks a little inefficient to proceduce a distinct game for every series and season:)
You are wrong, i bought Racing Usa for AMS2 and now i can drive 3 GTE and one DPI/LMP, one of the most interesting dlc for Ams2, we are just waiting Lemans and driver swap and Ams2 will be the new king of simracing games
 
I can understand it from the point that producing sim content takes a lot more time, effort and money these days than it did in the early '00s. And better to release one full title with all content in it from day one, than have a "one fits all" title that has some of everything, but not enough content from either series to really work as a competition game (see AC and it's lack of representing a full grid of any series it took a slice from).
They said "troubles with licence" or incompability, i wonder why RaceRoom do it, it has Dtm, Porsche Cup, DRM, etc etc maybe the answer is just money, but is not less expensive sell dlc using the same game? And maybe cheaper than develop a new game? We got ACC why not let them release another licence like RR? I use F1 EA for formula games, Dirt2.0 for rallies and ACC for GT, no more new games please we need more dlc to enjoy our games
 
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You are wrong, i bought Racing Usa for AMS2 and now i can drive 3 GTE and one DPI/LMP, one of the most interesting dlc for Ams2, we are just waiting Lemans and driver swap and Ams2 will be the new king of simracing games
Correct! Looks promising - this might become the long awaited challenge for rf2.
 
There will never be a generalist sim anymore. AMS2 is the last of this kind, and it's heroic.
Expect only serie based sims from now on. The market has proven that's what crowds want.
 
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When you have one company getting all these licences you know its going to end badly/poor quality..
 
We don't need different games for difference licences, we just need one game with different licences, one we can use LMP, GT and some classics, and drive on legendary tracks like Lemans, Spa, Bathurst or Nordschleife, is so difficult to understand?

That’s not for us to decide, but for the publisher, developer and the license, especially if it is an exclusive license.

There is also a risk of creating a jack of all trades master of none product.
Finally with a seasonal sports franchise it is all about focus on getting a game out every year.

So it is not a matter of difficulty to understand, but the difference between what you want and what makes business / development sense. Again keep in mind the licenses you need for a sports franchise and the yearly game cycle. It just does not match the universal game approach, unless you have a lot of resources and deep pockets.
 
There will never be a generalist sim anymore. AMS2 is the last of this kind, and it's heroic.
Expect only serie based sims from now on. The market has proven that's what crowds want.

iRacing has multiple licences in one game. As does Real Racing 3 and as did the TOCA Race Driver series.

But I can see how standalone games with rules/menus/controls optimised just for that game would be more focused. Then maybe storyline type stuff?

It does, however, leave me wondering where something like rFactor2 would actually fit in, if all the licensed content is greatly shaved away from it. I expect a standalone Formula E game might be coming too from the same team, given the amount of content they have in rFactor2.
 
I think its not only simracers who are "greedy". I see some other being greedy here, namely the big series you talk about and Motorsport games.

Anyhow ita a pity the only atudio who have done this single series concept well, Kunos, are not doing some of these.
How are the big series being greedy? If you are Indy car and you can

(1) license out your car to a bunch of games who will throw it in a bucket with all their other content and will get a few months of attention from each developer, that have a totally different track lineup and a few ovals (which will not be optimized for physics or AI) at best where the car will race slower than an F1 and not have a true championship mirroring yours; or

(2) make a dedicated sim to your series where the devs spend years making a true championship on all tracks with the cars specifically developed to work well in all circumstances for your game

Which do you think is the better for them?
 
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There will never be a generalist sim anymore. AMS2 is the last of this kind, and it's heroic.
Expect only serie based sims from now on. The market has proven that's what crowds want.
Suppousedly AC2 is coming.

With that said RF2 (as much as some simmers love it) hasn't been a huge business success, it makes business sense to use it's tech to develop a variety of titles, they'll probably make more money this way than with RF3 +DLC.

Each one of us pick and choose what we like, for me, WEC and Indy? Yes please.
Nascar? I'll pass.
BTCC? Maybe.
 
.....and yet one of the best series in the world, V8 Supercars get ignored. We need this as a proper game...
 
.....and yet one of the best series in the world, V8 Supercars get ignored. We need this as a proper game...
Blame the owners, cause they are people that decide about things like this. At least there is iRacing esports championship now (that is mainly on foreign tracks, cause there is close to zero from Australia in iR)
 
Premium
Sounds like Motorsport Games is the new EA for racing titles?
Hope the quality will not suffer. Always quality over quantity for me.
 
I don't like this slide very much. Much like pleasing everyone. Such compromises are not very good - PC3 for example.

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Yikes, that’s not what people are going to want for all of these Motorsport games. Would be nicer if they took different approaches for each of their license on how “sim” to make it.
 
Premium
.....and yet one of the best series in the world, V8 Supercars get ignored. We need this as a proper game...
What is the global viewing audience for Supercars compared to the other series? I think this may be a factor on while this is not a game title. Not that the USA is the only market but we have very few people that have even heard of V8 Supercars. I think I have only watch a total of about 10 minutes of the series. I agree it seems to be an outstanding series from what I have read.
 

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