Kunos Simulazioni Celebrates 8 Year Anniversary of Assetto Corsa Launch

Assetto Corsa 8 Year Anniversary 01.jpg
Eight years ago today, Kunos Simulazioni released Assetto Corsa into Early Access on Steam.

A tweet from the official Assetto Corsa account reminded fans of the title that it has been eight years since the sim racing title was released into Early Access on Steam. They also used the moment to thank the community that has stood behind them through the years.


If there were a Mount Rushmore of racing simulators, Assetto Corsa would rightfully have a spot on it. AC has become equally well known for its third-party mods as it is for its base content. Thanks in equal measure to a very active community that has grown the available content for the title to an almost inexhaustible amount, and to Kunos’ work in delivering a solid base game, the sim is more popular than ever eight years after its release.

Other than a few small tweaks, development work has ceased for Assetto Corsa. Kunos shifted their focus to Assetto Corsa Competizione after AC, which has been another successful title for the game studio. While there are very few public details available at this time, Kunos has confirmed that Assetto Corsa 2 is in development.

On behalf of the RaceDepartment staff, congratulations to our friends at Kunos for the eight-year anniversary of your timeless racing simulator.

RaceDepartment continues to be among the most active sectors of the Assetto Corsa community, be sure to check out the Assetto Corsa Community Forums and the huge Assetto Corsa Modding Database often for the latest cars, tracks and more for AC.
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

Premium
Personally I think that AC comes first compared to rFactor 2, RaceRoom and AMS. The game somehow feels more complete and smooth. Amazing modding capability and AI editing options are also a huge plus.

Also a special shout-out should be given to NetKar Pro which started all for Kunos. I remember having a blast playing that game as it felt so fresh and breathtaking in 2006.
 
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8 years and still roaring. What a tremendous job for these guys. They shows to simracing how important is to have a modder community and the work with them. AMS2 could just learn something about this....
 
right, because of ac i swapped from numerous static rigs to 3dof motion, from tv set to vr (i remember that feeling when i was waiting for the first batches of cv1 to get rid of this flat picture with trackIR), from g25 to af with custom wheel rim, from textures simulating headlights at night to proper night via CSP etc., etc., etc.! the only other sim i got attention since is am2 because of vr support and superb physics but still - ac is my nordschleife simulator ever!
 
Many thanks to all modders, specially Ilja and Peter Boese. If Kunos want to have success with AC2 they have to go a way which is very good moddable and they should contact Ilja for AC2. No development studio can do in the amount what modders are doing. The good FFB and and a modfriendly Base is the success of Assetto Corsa. I play 85% of my time in AC. I hope they see the unsurpassable contribution of modders.
 
Premium
An incredible sim, props to Kunos and more importantly, to all the modders out there who have made this sim what it is today.

I can race on it every day for the next ten years and not repeat the same car/track combo once, such is the diversity. For me, its the only 'modern' sim that really caters for historic racing, mainly due to the superb efforts of modders.

Graphically superb, with CM its incredibly easy to organise, it has pain-free mod management, its always improving, always getting better, its the undisputed King and long may it reign.
 
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I still think the best business decision for them, and the best experience for us is if they went back to work with AC1, upgraded some things like Pit Stops, AI behavior, more sophisticated championships and racing rules, some extra laser scanned tracks, and sold us as DLCs
 
I still think the best business decision for them, and the best experience for us is if they went back to work with AC1, upgraded some things like Pit Stops, AI behavior, more sophisticated championships and racing rules, some extra laser scanned tracks, and sold us as DLCs
I think so too.
 
Premium
Personally I think that AC comes first compared to rFactor 2, RaceRoom and AMS. The game somehow feels more complete and smooth.
funny, as I feel its rather the opposite. The stock game content was not complete, we got cars and tracks from all sorts of classes and disciplines, but none really complete. Like no full GT4/GT3 grid, no full DTM grid, rally cars but no rally stages. But the content showed what was possible and spurred the modding community into life, looking at how Kunos recruited 3D artists from the community this was probably even intentional at the start, leave wide enough gaps for people to show their craft.

The base game is not perfect, but incredibly versatile and "limitless", the game engine just gobbles up everything you throw at it till it crashes :roflmao:
 
I really don't think AC2 will be modable, simply because modding is overglorified - because without good base and direction and examples there would be few good mods or none at all. Also obviously longevity caused by modding is exceeding business plans. People always ruin good stuff.
 
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Premium
we have no idea how many copies of AC have been sold and continue to be sold due to modding, I assume its a substantial amount, Though I (we, us) don't even have a metric to quantify what a substantial amount would be. Therefor any assumptions made are just noise.

I'd say AC was a success due to a number of factors, one of which would definitely be the modding ability and community, and hopefully AC2 builds on that success. (but this was how I viewed the transistion from rFactor to rFactor two and that was and bizarrely continues to be a train-wreck)

I still have AC installed, and I'm amazed by the quality of the mods that are showcased on Youtube, But I rarely fire it up nowadays (but considering how long Ive owned it that might not be surprising)
 
I really don't think AC2 will be modable, simply because modding is overglorified - because without good base and direction and examples there would be few good mods or none at all. Also obviously longevity caused by modding is exceeding business plans. People always ruin good stuff.
AC2 exists, it's ACC.... and it gets so much hate so why bother with releasing another game?
 
That's what i love about games being moddable, gives them such a longer lifespan thanks too a wonderful modding community, ACC will be long forgotten and folks will still be playing AC
You are exactly right.
A sim with no modding possibilities is not very interesting for me. That's the reason I never bothered about AMS2.
 
Premium
I wonder what Kunos will do for AC's 8th anniversary... New update with new cars?

How about a large "Figure-8" track... for Demolition Derby... a-la Wreckfest... with Monster Trucks?!! :roflmao:
 
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