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!

 

[randMracer]

No, no, nooo..... You announce it in May, then you release it in June. Don't tease us for months and months! You're like a girlfriend, that wants us to drool with anticipation, just because she can. I'd rather just be surprised. Oh well, guess I'll start drooling.

 

[Patrik Marek]

wow, if this will get done with quality and internals model will get enriched to match level of rF2, this seems like a dream. I found no rules/safety car in a text though, hopefully this won't be omitted.

matching rf2 cockpits would be downgrade

 

[Jeremz Pou]

AC + UE4 + VR = End of the world !!
I just want to live a little bit after to enjoy it...

 

[Riblo]

Finally a official GT game!
I am Happy that a new dedicated single series game is coming
Time to upgrade my 5 years old PC i guess

 

[topaloglu321]

Will this game be moddable or encrypted?

 

[Jacco van der Zaag]

Well, now Blancpain. Next, WEC/IMSA?

 

[cpt_gandy]

Well I love the race series, love AC and this seems the best of both worlds.

The only downside is the long wait

 

[Edivad82]

I hope will be "free" for the modders as AC. Only this. Project Cars, yes, beautiful, but too much encrypted. Have no future. Modders are the lifeblood. AC is since 2014 that we use it.

 

[Tr3voRR]

THIS IS AMAZING ! I love how there will be animation in the cockpit and around the car with all the mecanics. I notice we have a in-helmet view (finally).
I also hope they will have all moving parts on the car (the same way PCars and Forza 7 as introduced).

 

[Zombie Boy]

So all this talk of specs...

I currently run an FX8350 with a GTX 1060 3gb. I can run AC with most settings at max (reflections and smoke at medium) and get a constant solid 60fps (I cap it at 60fps to avoid fluctuations).
I can not afford a new GPU in the current market, but plan to upgrade to a GTX 1070 when this whole bitcoin issue is sorted out.
So unless I can get a decent framerate with medium settings (and at least a 12 car grid) with my current set up then I'll hold off buying ACC until I can upgrade my GPU. This is no criticism of Kunos or the game itself (which looks awesome), but I simply cannot afford a new GPU at the current inflated prices and I don't want to make myself miserable with low fps and low settings when I don't really need to.
In the meantime, I shall continue to play AC, which still looks awesome IMO.

 

[DrRob]

I read about people complaining that ACC is all about endurance. Was it been said somewhere that Blancpain Sprint series will not appear in the game? And there you would have a typical 1 hour game, right? With Intercontinental GT Championship also under the Banner of SRO you could get Bathurst too as well as Suzuka and Laguna Seca!

As for GTR3 I am not worried that they didn't make a new announcement so far. Maybe more a good sign that they focussing all of their efforts to actually coding the game. Reading about SRO going to ACC I would think ADAC GT3 would appear in GTR3 as it did in RRE. And seeing the lineup also this year this is a strong series. And you would get different tracks from ACC, so why not have the diversity?

I'm seeing good times ahead. Hopefully they implement all the typical wishes of users seen on this and other forums like Flag Rules, Code60, Safety Car, etc and then .....happy days!

 

[Stanislav Minakov]

But what will be with original AC? Will it develop further? Will it receive the same engine instead of their original one?

 

[Shap]

But what will be with original AC? Will it develop further? Will it receive the same engine instead of their original one?

AC is done.

 

[throughalens83]

But what will be with original AC? Will it develop further? Will it receive the same engine instead of their original one?

I really hope this will happen, 'cause for me, a single series is a great limitation.

 

[luisalulu75]

I really hope this will happen, 'cause for me, a single series is a great limitation.

Assetto Corsa is finished as it is now and won’t be updated or upgraded anymore.

 

[Zombie Boy]

Assetto Corsa is finished as it is now and won’t be updated or upgraded anymore.

It won't be upgraded BY KUNOS any more. There is still a great AC modding community out there, adding apps all the time. Sure, we won't get proper weather effects, but I'm constantly amazed at the mods that are coming out.

 

[MarcG]

I'd like to think a few Bug fixes and perhaps small items still may come ACs way but Kunos cannot hang onto a past title forever, every game dev moves on at some point so it's wasted resources to constantly go back and upgrade an old game when you have a new one out unless it's financially viable of course.

AC had a good 4 years of support behind it, countless DLCs, feature advancements and is right now a very good Sim and one that will remain on my Games List for many years to come, but for me it's best left as is, time to move on forwards.

 

[mrbungle83]

When racing in VR at night i really hope you can see the glow from your own cars position number and roof strips, complete immersion boner! also hope theres a catogory behind AM where people just get a turd on the back of the car (a glowing one) if you have a bad rep.

 

[natedogg1867]

Why do so many people in here seem to think that Kunos is going to make a new game that only people with $800+ graphics cards are going to be able to play?

You arent gonna need a Titan V, 1080ti, or whatever the next high end generation is... Yall are gonna be fine with your 1060's, 1050's and RX 480's, and even lesser cards.

 

[Hor-hay]

this could be amazing, fingers crossed.