ACC Version 1 Won't Have Competitive Multiplayer Events

[Paul Jeffrey]

A recent clarification by Kunos confirms Assetto Corsa Competizione won't feature online organised racing as part of their matchmaking functionality.

Having taken on something of a life of its own since the online functionality of Assetto Corsa was first discussed post early access release, Kunos Simulazioni have taken to the official forums to offer some clarification on what the online aspect of the title will look like come full release this May 29th - and to clear up some misconceptions around the meaning of "matchmaking" within the game.

Now I'll be honest on this one.. I'm not sure why people clamour for organised scheduled multiplayer racing, similar to the type of events seen in such simulations as iRacing, so this clarification from Kunos isn't personally much of a big deal to me - but, I've had quite a few community members reach out to me over the last 48 hours in various states of confusion and distress, so I thought it good timing to put together a feature and give us a space to discuss this in more detail...

According to the posting from Kunos, which can be seen below, the online multiplayer aspect of the sim will be broadly similar to what it is today, but the developers fully intend to continue working on what is already a very, very solid implementation after the game comes out of early access.

So probably nobody has read any of this anyway, and moved directly to the quoted passage before, so I'll leave off here and let you read and comment away...

We see some occasional confusion and rumors around what 1.0 will change in the Multiplayer system, how to interpret the word "Matchmaking" and especially what role the Competition (CP) rating will play.

Let's go straight to the point: 1.0 will not introduce fundamental changes to the ACC Multiplayer. We used the Early Access phase to introduce, develop and tune the most sophisticated "Pickup Racing" Multiplayer system we could ever imagine, and so far we are very happy how the approach begins to work out. We could preserve most of the aspects of a quickly paced, accessible system that made Assetto Corsa "1" as popular - while improving the situation in the aspects where that way to organize Multiplayer action has issues. We managed to develop and integrate our Rating system without subscription model or a huge shift in pricing. Despite the significant rewrite (which is a confession for a long term strategy) of highly relevant game-play aspects between versions 0.5 and 0.6, especially the Safety Rating is in a very good shape, while the deep integration into the whole system is expected to be a vast improvement especially considering the possibility to find good and clean races.

Of course, Assetto Corsa Competizione is close to be released at the end of May, which is not the end of the road especially in terms of Multiplayer racing. We will listen to the feedback, we will analyze our data and of course - finally - also regularly participate in the Multiplayer races - so an ongoing process of finetuning and improvement is to be expected.


We know there are users that expected us magically switch the focus and go for a completely different way to organize Multiplayer, basically by copying the other title with high competitive ambitions (and a very different scale, focus group, the resulting price price model and so on). It appears that the word "Matchmaking" was mistaken to describe the whole system of scheduled races, instead of just being a tool in the toolbox of suggesting servers that both match your driving/safety abilities, and additionally take care of your preferences and friends. The matchmaking aspect in ACC acts in a quite subtle way, and changes the whole driver flow dynamics (in a non-intrusive way) to overcome known disadvantages of server lists, like we have seen in other titles and also in the AC1 Minorating system.

I do not say we are not looking into our own interpretation of a non-pickup, and more competitive Multiplayer addition. Still, this would have the character of distinct events and being an addition, not a complete move from the Multiplayer system we chose to go for. But for 1.0, we are happy to have both a very solid Multiplayer base, a good concept of a server selection and a well working Safety Rating system including a fairly usable integration. The biggest disadvantage may be that the mechanics are subtle, and it's not crystal clear where the system has its strong points. Also make sure you are aware of especially the SA Rating, and we expect the Multiplayer action to be at least as enjoyable as in AC1 with a Safety Rating plugin.

And of course the list of potential improvements is long, and without a doubt we will receive a lot feedback to become even better during the next days and weeks. ​

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[Urlauber]

So you don't care about the matchmaking but you are surprised that some people who do care about it are vocal about this change? All I get from your post is that because you don't have an issue here nobody should?

No, that's not what I wanted to say. I wanted to say, that I'm surprised that for many people one missing feature is such a deal breaker ("refund!11"). Like the game is only worth for matchmaking.

For me the cars and the tracks don't hold much interest in acc. But the competition structure and maybe a good single player career were the things that could push me over. Now that it is revealed that the online "matchmaker" is just a stripped down server browser (and worse than ac) with just driver ratings added on it I don't see anything in it that conveys the meaning of match making.

Could it be that people just want a cheaper iRacing? Look, I'm just trying to understand the (for me sudden) outbreak of anger.

Well duh. They said the online will be included in the base package price*. Doing a bait and switch later and taking out a feature from the base game and putting it behind monthly fee surely would be worth at least "a sh1tshow"? That kind of stuff is not just morally wrong but illegal . But you have no problem with that..?
*source: https://www.assettocorsa.net/competizione/roadmap/

I think a roadmap hardly qualifies as a legal contract.

 

[Ole Andreasen]

I have no problem with this personally, as I don't race online, but watching all the "hey, thats not a problem... It a business, and hey they are still great guys. Sure a bit disappointing but shucks... Kunos rocks" comments... And the likes of it....
And I just cannot even begin to imagine what would happen If the developer here had been Codemasters. The f-bomb nuklear sh1tstorm we would have had...

 

[Qazdar Karim]

Not shilling! But seriously, just get RD premium ...

 

[Andy-R]

I'm quite surprised by the seemingly massive support for an SRS/iR style system in here. I can see why it would really help people in time zones that have a much smaller player base but that is about it.
Playing AC with MR-A you have all the dodgy players kept out and can race with peace of mind over and over for as many hours as you want in a row, AC with SRS you don't really have anything keeping the race clean other than an appeal system AFAIK and you might find one 20min race in say the 3hour window you planned to race in. Isn't their driver rating system basically just a counter for the amount of races you have done there at SRS?
Living in Europe I don't get the appeal of a schedule system, I'd much rather a well thought out safety rating and the traditional server style MP but with increased functionality like track cycle or a championship where you can set the server to cycle through a bunch of tracks and choose a point system for a sort of one-race-after-another mini championship or even setup a scheduled championship within the traditional list system with a countdown timer to the next championship race. Matchmaking in terms of putting players with other players of a similar skill level I think is a good idea but exclusively scheduled races... meh. Having said that I could see scheduled races working better with a single series game like ACC than with AC as you don't have dislike of content removing huge chunks from the upcoming schedule.

 

[Germain Entete]

I bought the EA from day1 to support Kunos, even if I was not interested in a GT3-only simulation.
I don't see ACC having a great success, with all the flaws so far, some known upfront, some
others not (calendar delays, poor communication/marketing, poor fps=>VR; no matchmaking, no modding, etc).
A strong matchmaking/racing multiplayer could make up for the niche positioning of the game.
But now that it is gone, I don't see ACC being interesting for IR or RF2 aficionados.
I hope this project won't keep Kunos busy for too long, so that they can move to a next project, ideally, AC2 with all the tech. features showcased with ACC, but polished and performance-wise improved: fps, track-ir, 3 screens etc...
For sure they could keep extending the concept (of 1 series only) bringing GT4, or US additions for the tracks, but I'm afraid it won't be more successful than now (I don't have figures, but general comments -outside the Kunos world/forums- are pretty bad towards ACC).
AC2 is what is really needed. It is the concept of AC1 that made Kunos success. Doesn't take an Einstein brain to figure out an AC2 with ACC features would be a huge commercial success.
I guess they know it and that will come at a time, but it looks so far from now...

 

[Rodent]

Bit of a shame, I was hoping they'd bring about something similar to what GT Sport has done for the console racers. I guess it was a tad much to hope for considering the disparity in sales between a Sony backed title and what a smaller studio can do even with SRO backing.

End of the day it won't affect my enjoyment of the title much as I was and still am mainly stoked about finally having a sim where I can get a full Blancpain season experience, but I'm still waiting on the next watershed moment in simracing.

 

[David Wright]

AC2 is what is really needed. It is the concept of AC1 that made Kunos success. Doesn't take an Einstein brain to figure out an AC2 with ACC features would be a huge commercial success.

The thing is AC took four years to become what it is now from v1.0. One reason they went for ACC was they only had the resources to do an 11 trrack 20 car sim. If they had opted for AC2 it would still only have 11 tracks and 20 cars, and it would still have all the limitations of the Unreal engine.

 

[Germain Entete]

The thing is AC took four years to become what it is now from v1.0. One reason they went for ACC was they only had the resources to do an 11 trrack 20 car sim. If they had opted for AC2 it would still only have 11 tracks and 20 cars, and it would still have all the limitations of the Unreal engine.

Yes this is very plausible, but:
- It looks like they developed ACC way faster than AC (and addition of content can be paralleled, and pretty quickly -the addons for AC1 were pretty speedy as far as I remember)
- I am talking future-wise, the new features have been developed, the new engine embedded, all this would make the transition to AC2 faster.
All I'm saying is that ACC will probably not be a great commercial feature (too much of a niche), and I hope they onboard quickly on a new project rather than loosing time on this (somehow similar to AMS2 totally delayed with Reiza loosing time on extending AMS).

 

[ESPiritusanto]

" Assetto Corsa NO competizione "

 

[jimortality]

" Assetto Corsa NO competizione "

Blancpain is the Competizione.

 

[mariomario55]

The next step is to please the console racers. That's where the $$ is.

 

[vaurienkpn]

So, what append for endurance race in multiplayer if there are no real matchmaking ?

ACC is a very good sim, but rf2, AMS, etc... are very goods sims too. Kunos miss the opportunity to make a good difference compare to others titles.
I gonna still enjoy ACC but, hmm... I think the "addiction" and the motivation for coming back all day in this sim gonna miss

 

[Sergio Baquero]

Unistalling 3,2,1....


I seemed to see competizione in his name.....

 

[Amanda]

How about that, for once I completely agree with Gamer Muscle.

 

[Amanda]

Talking about losing the perspective. I'm really surprised and a bit shocked by this.

iRacing devs laughing while they swim in expensive champagne and comment on how the competition just isn't capable of competing.

Meanwhile the average Joe is defending ACC's "matchmaking" being quite literally just a glorified browser, not at all different from the Minorating servers in AC or PC2's server browser.

So let's think for a minute:
- People wanted an iRacing or SRS-like matchmaking;
- Kunos named their new baby "Competition" and promised "Matchmaking" from the get-go;
- People didn't get a matchmaking system;

Now let's continue thinking for a bit:
- Assetto Corsa has almost 200 official cars and many tracks, and has an iRacing alternative;
- Project Cars 2 has almost 200 cars and many tracks as well, while having the exact same glorified browser experience as ACC;
- ACC has 20 cars and 11 tracks, and didn't innovate on the multiplayer side of things despite creating hype and false promises.

Are you at all surprised people are mad after they've been shafted by Kunos in what can be considered one of the highest priority for serious sim racers?

 

[Amanda]

BTW, "a random callsign" (YouTube) also did a nice video on this.
Good to see the sim racing celebrities joining efforts to speak up about this.
Now all that is left is Nicki Thiim, Jardier, Jimmy Broadbent, and some more to bring attention to this.
Then maybe, just maybe, with a little bit of pressure, Kunos will hire the guy behind SRS and actually bring somewhat of a competition to ACC.

 

[DonZmeuheu]

I'm still looking forward to ACC's full release. But to all the people who compare SRS to Iracing. Its something completely different Of course Iracing is expensive but they nail the point to get the best Esports sim out there.
I really like SRS but you cant compare it to Iracing

 

[Javier Mtnz Iniesta]

Could it be that people just want a cheaper iRacing?

Of course!!! That´s what they sold in the begining.

I hope this project won't keep Kunos busy for too long, so that they can move to a next project, ideally, AC2 with all the tech. features showcased with ACC, but polished and performance-wise improved: fps, track-ir, 3 screens etc...

And who is trusting them after this massive lie called ACC???

ACC is a very good sim, but rf2, AMS, etc... are very goods sims too. Kunos miss the opportunity to make a good difference compare to others titles.

They have just shoot a bullet in their feet selling this...

See you on track!!!

 

[Dirk Steffen]

How about that, for once I completely agree with Gamer Muscle.

On that one disagree from a Kunos employee on that post I have to comment.

I am fully aware that the Youtuber linked in that video is polarizing.
I unsubscribed from his channel a long, long time ago as a lot of his content can be rather difficult to watch.

A downright disagree on this video though, ESPECIALLY in the context of what specialty field YOU are working on at Kunos and the current controversy is rather disappointing.

Apart from the usual childish format and opening of the video that is attributed to this youtuber he makes some really important and very valid points throughout the video that in my opinion should under no circumstances be ignored, much less disagreed with.

I could understand if it would be true that there simply was a misunderstanding of the improper use of the term "matchmaking" and this whole affair is just a Kunos employee setting the record straight and trying to limit a marketing damage so very close before a final release.

I could not understand to simply closing ones eyes and ears to a customer base and critics who have expected a next step in multi player gaming as a often used marketing term implied and got served the same old server browser based multi player online gaming experience we are so accustomed to since gaming in the 1990's.

Nothing is wrong with that 1990's online gaming experience, it works, it is proven and we all know how to use it. It is just that both the term used in describing the new experience as well as the entire product naming and focus on "competition" simply have strongly implied that we may get what others have already been doing (namely iRacing, Gran Turismo and SRS to just take examples from the race gaming world).

 

[Jonny Austin]

I think this is the main problem.
"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..."

From an earlier article on RD.
I would speculate that with deadlines etc looming that maybe the intention was to have some form of ranked multiplayer but for various reasons like cost,implementation etc. it did not make it into the final game.Maybe under promise & over deliver next time.Either way IMO for the price it represents good value.