DiRT Rally 2.0 Codemasters Confirms DiRT Rally 2.0

[Paul Jeffrey]

Earlier today British development studio Codemasters confirmed DiRT Rally 2.0 will be heading to stores in February 2019.

Designed as a sequel to the highly regarded DiRT Rally of 2015, DiRT 2.0 will be the thirteenth entry into the franchise formally known as the Colin McRae Rally series of games. With the new release, Codemasters have promised this new title will be bigger, better and more authentic than the previous DR game, something that is sure to please fans left feeling cold at the more arcade orientated DiRT 4.

Little is known of the new title at this early stage, although judging from the reveal trailer it does look like plenty of work has been undertaken by the developers already, suggesting that much of the heavy lifting is already complete as we head into the final stages of fine tuning prior to release.

What we do know makes for interesting reading however. Seemingly keen to make more of the attractive World Rallycross licence present in the original DiRT Rally, Codemasters have confirmed the initial release of 2.0 will feature no less than eight official circuits of the 2018 WorldRX season “at launch”, suggesting that more locations could be added to the game as DLC at a later date.

With WRX well covered, Codemasters have also confirmed six traditional rally locations and a wide selection of iconic rally cars from the history of the sport.

According to the announcement statement from Codemasters, players who make use of the pre order options will have an array of different benefits and perks from which to choose from, as detailed below:

All pre-orders editions of DiRT Rally 2.0 will include access to the amazing Porsche 911 RGT Rally Spec as a bonus vehicle to use on the stages. In addition there will also be a DiRT Rally 2.0 Deluxe Edition which also includes the first two seasons of post-launch additional content, each with three locations (split between rally and rallycross) and five early vehicles unlocks (Ford Escort MkII, Lancia Stratos, Subaru Impreza 1995, AUDI Sport quattro S1 E2 and Ford Fiesta OMSE SuperCar Lite). The Deluxe Edition will also allow players to get their hands on the game four days early, launching on 22nd February 2019 and also includes upgraded starter cars for My Team, in-game bonuses and high reward events. More details about the seasons will be revealed soon.​

DiRT Rally 2.0 will release February 22nd 2019.

If you want to discussion the game with our passionate community, and read about the latest news, check out the upcoming RaceDepartment DiRT 2.0 Sub Forum for a great place to pick up mods, catch the latest news and chat about the game with our community. Give it a go, just keep it DiRTy!

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[Matthew Allington]

I'd love for Codies to implement VR just to make the dozens of cynics drowning every DR2.0 thread on the internet eat some humble pie

 

[Ceolmor]

I'd love for Codies to implement VR just to make the dozens of cynics drowning every DR2.0 thread on the internet eat some humble pie

If Codemasters were to take on board the views of VR users expressed loudly on the forums, and implement VR to DiRT Rally 2.0 at some stage, I would be the first to congratulate them.

The vast majority of negativity to the announcement of DR 2.0, on this forum at least, is due to the lack of VR.

Codemasters, generally, are a producer of good 'arcade' racing games, which appeal to a wide range of people on all platforms. Serious sim racers are a minority, and those using VR are an even smaller minority.

In my view, the problem has arisen because Codemasters produced, against type, DiRT Rally which was not an 'arcade' game, but very much considered to be a serious sim. And it had VR.

So sim racers were expecting DR 2.0 to be another serious sim [time will tell] and VR sim racers were expecting, as a serious sim, that it would again include VR support. Hence the disappointment.

 

[north]

New road book from codies. http://blog.codemasters.com/community/09/dirt-rally-2-0-road-book-28-09-18/
Until Monday before any news though.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

from their recent blog: "and we’ll have the first eight rounds of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in the game at launch, with more to come afterwards." nice, though I must confess, i never played the rx campaign in dirt04, shame on me, so much to do - so little time.

 

[samekyo]

ROTFL I just got banned at CM forums for being skeptical about Dirt 2. I just expressed my doubts after Dirt Rally 1 and Dirt 4, I actually was quiet clear that I want this game to succeed and that it looked nice from leaked gameplay, but after over 700 posts including very analytical and time consuming feedback on Dirt 4 physics thread it took just saying "Can't wait to Monday, I really, really, really hope DR2 onboards will convince me, I want to buy it so bad, but at the same time I still don't trust CM. " to get banned there. First time it happened to me in my life, it is just astonishing they do that.

EDIT: it was an automated ban, been unbanned since. CM staff were super cool about the whole thing.

 

[maxxim]

rally without wrc car is not real rally.

 

[Case_]

though I must confess, i never played the rx campaign in dirt04, shame on me, so much to do - so little time

I don't particularly care for rallycross either, but it is by far the best content in Dirt 4 IMO, with the car handling being very close to what I would expect it to be - it makes sense and you can drive the cars the way you'd expect to drive them, unlike in rally mode.

 

[Belgakinen]

ROTFL I just got banned at CM forums for being skeptical about Dirt 2. I just expressed my doubts after Dirt Rally 1 and Dirt 4, I actually was quiet clear that I want this game to succeed and that it looked nice from leaked gameplay, but after over 700 posts including very analytical and time consuming feedback on Dirt 4 physics thread it took just saying "Can't wait to Monday, I really, really, really hope DR2 onboards will convince me, I want to buy it so bad, but at the same time I still don't trust CM. " to get banned there. First time it happened to me in my life, it is just astonishing they do that.

You are SamRWD right ?

They seems to be on the edge since the announcement, looks like any kind of criticism will get you banned or attacked by a bunch of fanboys. Meanwhile some well known members are insulting people without any punishment...

I'm going to avoid that place from now on.

 

[samekyo]

You are SamRWD right ?

They seems to be on the edge since the announcement, looks like any kind of criticism will get you banned or attacked by a bunch of fanboys. Meanwhile some well known members are insulting people without any punishment...

I'm going to avoid that place from now on.

Yup, that was me. If you check http://forums.codemasters.com/discu...t-of-car-feel-and-physics-the-ultimate-thread you will see how much I tried to give constructive feedback, I did the same with Dirt Rally, but now I am done with them.

 

[Belgakinen]

Yup, that was me. If you check http://forums.codemasters.com/discu...t-of-car-feel-and-physics-the-ultimate-thread you will see how much I tried to give constructive feedback, I did the same with Dirt Rally, but now I am done with them.

Yeah i know that thread very well, i remember participing in it quite a bit.
You were one of the only one who actually gave pretty good feedback.
I'm Accro2008.

 

[Nigel Mansell]

I'd never thought I'd be actively defending Codemasters!

Point one is true, this goes for all games.
DR1 half-hearted... it was a passion-project, that got thrown in to Early Access as the board didn't really believe in it, and didn't feel that we, as customers would like such a game. There's a reason why a company, of Codemasters size actually went down the Early Access route there, it wasn't expected to do well.

WRC fans will then be put off by the absolute majority of rally games throughout history. RBR with 5 rallies, V-Rally 3 with 6 (4 for S1600), CMR series had 8 rallies for a long time and so on. With the exception of the official WRC rallies, you usually don't get more than 8 rallies. The fact that 8 is the least amount of rallies we'll have in DR2.0, and 12 is the current potential max. Is quite good for non-WRC games standard.

Most WRC-fans are rally fans, and would rather have a fun game to play, than a half-arsed, bad WRC game where what you see on stages, don't even fit with what the results say, and where you can switch difficulty level mid-stage, and thus change the pre-determined stage times.

We can disagree in a public forum, and it proves nothing. One thing I'll clarify first is, I'm not out to bash Codemasters singularly. I point out any negatives I can with any devs. To be fair to Codemasters - they don't give a flying f**k what I think lol. One role of a successful developer is to do what they want regardless, as you can't and won't please everyone. Just be seen to be "behind" the community.

As a staff member of RD, if you expect me to believe your notion that all games aren't passion projects, then you're fighting a losing battle. I'm old enough and smart enough to read marketing BS and know when things don't stack up.

Codemasters did know that DiRT Rally would succeed.

Huge numbers of people loved RBR as a platform, for its extra depth and realism. It wasn't anywhere near a gamble on Codemasters part. The ONLY gamble would have been, if Codemasters weren't sure if they could build all the elements required to complete the game. Don't kid yourself, and certainly don't attempt to kid me.

Even if they only took feedback from criticism of every rally game they previously produced as proof, from their own fans, in their own forums - they'd have long term and clear indication that DiRT Rally wasn't ever going to be anything other than the success it was. Codemasters are very good at ignoring criticism, and like it when people blow wind up their ass. That might sound strong, and there's ONE vital reason I hold that view.

The racing genre has been starved for many years in major development. For too long, many devs have just been happy to do just enough. One case in point is the F1 franchise. One year forwards, one year backwards, one year sideways. That doesn't help push the genre. Would iRacing have upgraded their frankly tired platform, like they have done recently, if they had not seen a growing trend for other devs to give players long requested features? New experiences? No, no they would not. You can believe what you want to believe, but please don't quote marketing from a games company at me.

Codemasters knew exactly what they were doing.

It's funny how you compare the lack of a decent WRC game, with a "fun" rally title. Both games don't push our genre, in fact they hold the genre back. You might find that acceptable, I certainly do not. All that does is create an environment for everyone to do just enough. The poor WRC titles in the last 2 releases, and Codemasters Rally title have one thing in common sadly. Clever marketing. A way to get people to part with their money. I want more from my software, and from the devs behind it - not less.

Bottom line profit=passion, that's the only passion that Codemasters need and care about.

You do know that Codemasters "board" did not risk studio bankruptcy bringing DiRT Rally to market don't you. The studio wouldn't have signed off on that. I'm in the lucky position, that I am not staff, and I don't have to feel like I must stroke a devs ego in here. There are many benefits to releasing a project on Steam EA. Especially when you tell a group of passionate Motorsport fans that you are listening to them, and will work to give them what they want. A bit odd, since a bunch of that same passionate demographic have been telling them in their own public forums for years how they'd like to see the genre progress lol.

DiRT Rally wasn't thrown anywhere, or rushed, or a gamble. Codemasters had seen plenty of other developers have new titles come to market with the community funding resourcing part way in. I will and do back developers, and have done for many years. But the Motorsport genre has been held back, I'm annoyed by that.

In fact what we have seen, is in the last few years most people attempting to mix-up the sim scene, has come from really small studios like Reiza and Kunos.

I bought AC for PC, PS4 and XB. I bought DiRT Rally for PC, PS4 and XB. I bought PCars 2 for PC, XB and PS4. I bought SLRE for PC and PS4. I have also bought the F1 franchise for PS4 and PC on a few occasions, but not all due to lack of quality. I certainly won't be purchasing F1 again any time soon.

So, unlike what my words may suggest, I have no issue at all backing studios. I'm sorry if you feel that my view of Codemasters is harsh.

The reality is, it's no more harsh than the criticism from other paying customers in their own public forums over the years.

 

[Case_]

Codemasters did know that DiRT Rally would succeed.

Not according to people involved, who were often quite candid about what was going on in the background.

 

[Nigel Mansell]

Not according to people involved, who were often quite candid about what was going on in the background.

I think it's safe to assume I don't believe what Codemasters said internally, and it would not matter if 1,000 people from this site told me they didn't agree with me either. I'm unlike most people you will know or meet. All my points about what fans clearly had been telling them they wanted, the success they saw that came to other studios via EA solutions, and that nobody would have signed off on something financially damaging, and the 1,000's of posts about the longevity of RBR as a platform over the many years, etc., etc., they all stand.

I actually think Dirt Rally 2.0 will benefit most from closed no-access development. If a sim is built well, it doesn't need testing to make its handling better, that's what real drivers bring to the party.

All current devs, know what the public thinks about each others projects now, that data has been available for a many years online for free.

 

[Nigel Mansell]

I'm not saying that we cannot help the QA progress of a title, that's something entirely different, and that's another huge benefit of platforms such as Steam.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

As a staff member of RD, if you expect me to believe your notion that all games aren't passion projects, then you're fighting a losing battle. I'm old enough and smart enough to read marketing BS and know when things don't stack up.

Codemasters did know that DiRT Rally would succeed.

There's a difference between developers making games in a genre they like, and developers doing whatever they want. Small indie-devs, or hugenormous devs will be be able to do just what they like. Pure passion projects.
DiRT Rally was such a passion project, from the sources I have, I fully believe that the Codemasters board were not too keen on it. And it wasn't meant to be the fairly hardcore rally-thing it became. (There is e.g a reason why Paul Coleman himself did the co-driving)

Huge numbers of people loved RBR as a platform, for its extra depth and realism. It wasn't anywhere near a gamble on Codemasters part. The ONLY gamble would have been, if Codemasters weren't sure if they could build all the elements required to complete the game. Don't kid yourself, and certainly don't attempt to kid me.

They did, but that was built over many years, with mods etc. it wasn't a massive blockbuster when it arrived though.

The racing genre has been starved for many years in major development. For too long, many devs have just been happy to do just enough. One case in point is the F1 franchise. One year forwards, one year backwards, one year sideways. That doesn't help push the genre. Would iRacing have upgraded their frankly tired platform, like they have done recently, if they had not seen a growing trend for other devs to give players long requested features? New experiences? No, no they would not. You can believe what you want to believe, but please don't quote marketing from a games company at me.

This I wholeheartedly agree with. Look at features that's hailed as new and fantastic now, and then realize you had some in GTR1, others in GTR2, and some even back to Grand Prix 3.
Same with racing management games, Things that Grand Prix Manager from the first half of the 90's had, and GPM2 evolved for the 96 season game, doesn't exist now.

It's funny how you compare the lack of a decent WRC game, with a "fun" rally title. Both games don't push our genre, in fact they hold the genre back. You might find that acceptable, I certainly do not. All that does is create an environment for everyone to do just enough. The poor WRC titles in the last 2 releases, and Codemasters Rally title have one thing in common sadly. Clever marketing. A way to get people to part with their money. I want more from my software, and from the devs behind it - not less.

Clever marketing, but poor sales. The newer WRC games have sold so bad that it is embarrasing. DiRT 4 sold less than DiRT Rally did. Doesn't matter with marketing if the game is not up to it.
Which is why e.g DiRT Rally have sold more than the last WRC games combined. Because, even though the WRC games have more countries and stages, the game just ain't fun to play.

Bottom line profit=passion, that's the only passion that Codemasters need and care about.

That's what the shareholders and board care about. Which is why they felt it would be safer to go the traditional DiRT route. And not the hardcore route.

You do know that Codemasters "board" did not risk studio bankruptcy bringing DiRT Rally to market don't you. The studio wouldn't have signed off on that.

Indeed. But it wasn't the big project that the other games have been. They didn't want that risk.

I'm in the lucky position, that I am not staff, and I don't have to feel like I must stroke a devs ego in here. There are many benefits to releasing a project on Steam EA. Especially when you tell a group of passionate Motorsport fans that you are listening to them, and will work to give them what they want. A bit odd, since a bunch of that same passionate demographic have been telling them in their own public forums for years how they'd like to see the genre progress lol.

Luckily I don't have to either. We do have a good relationship with most of the sim-developers (Sector 3, Studio 397, Reiza, Kunos). Reiza used to host their official forum here at RaceDepartment, Kunos invited us to the press launch of AC at Vallelunga, including a trackday(I was one of two from RD travelling down. We had to cover travel and hotel ourselves), Marcel Offermans from S397 ran RDLMS here before, and is a previous staffie. Sector 3 is the old SimBin, Bram had a professional work-relationship with them for a while.
We still publish critical things about the games (remember the AC Open Letter?).
So we don't have to stroke any egos, certainly not of a studio that, unless there is a short time before an announcement, stonewalls us (Codemasters).
I'm also no fan of Codemasters, they've become a yearly franchise (or bi-yearly in terms of DiRT), and doesn't seem to spend time to make awesome games. Anyway, trust me, we staffies speak 100% freely in our posts.

I'm personally, not a fan of Early Access, I find it to be a bad thing for the gaming industry. The few times it actually works out, it's great. But more often than not, it's halfway abandoned, and many features never sees the light of day. Early Access is a great thing for new concepts, risky things, and indie-devs. Not big developers and publishers.
Same goes for pre-order bonuses, DLC's etc.

In fact what we have seen, is in the last few years most people attempting to mix-up the sim scene, has come from really small studios like Reiza and Kunos.

Indeed. They are small studios, that can work truly on their passion, not answering to a typical board and shareholders.

 

[Case_]

I think it's safe to assume I don't believe what Codemasters said internally, and it would not matter if 1,000 people from this site told me they didn't agree with me either. I'm unlike most people you will know or meet.

Oh, I've absolutely assumed you won't believe that, it just didn't change a thing for me - I just presented you with a fact, what you decide to do with it is up to you (though I'm not really sure what you mean by "said internally", as the stuff I was talking about was said publicly, otherwise I would have no knowledge about it for obvious reasons).

And I've also definitely noticed you're unlike most people I will know or meet (though I wouldn't be sure about the "most" part, to be honest, based on my experience, sadly).

 

[Bruno Iwanczuk]

Codemaster just did not understand that VR is essential for a simulator. After the failure of Dirt 4 now again to make the same mistake is just stupid. Without a VR no purchase and goodbye!

No it's not essential. There are many things more important than VR. Content, bug fixes, realistic physics, etc. VR is the last thing i want to see working in a racing sim.

 

[bogani]

ROTFL I just got banned at CM forums for being skeptical about Dirt 2. I just expressed my doubts after Dirt Rally 1 and Dirt 4, I actually was quiet clear that I want this game to succeed and that it looked nice from leaked gameplay, but after over 700 posts including very analytical and time consuming feedback on Dirt 4 physics thread it took just saying "Can't wait to Monday, I really, really, really hope DR2 onboards will convince me, I want to buy it so bad, but at the same time I still don't trust CM. " to get banned there. First time it happened to me in my life, it is just astonishing they do that.

Yep, I saw that you got banned and truly wondered why. I didn't see anything worthy of a ban in any way. Strange.

 

[Filip Carlén]

As the WRX calendar is 12 tracks, and having the WRX license. It's pretty easy to assume they are going 12 tracks. Probably better championship support and spectator mode for their e-sports championship.

Yea, but I thought so last time with D4, and we didn't even get half... CM works in mysterious
ways sometimes

 

[RaceWasGood]

Do you know if the pre-purchases (steam) are eligible for refund as per usual terms?