Although we’ve known about it for quite a while now, Kunos Simulazioni has finally made an official announcement of Assetto Corsa EVO with a special trailer just for the occasion.
Originally referenced as just a follow-up title to Assetto Corsa, this sequel has been in the works for some time. That’s little surprise, as the original is now approaching ten years old, and even that doesn’t take into account the year AC spent in early access.
The EVO name itself was first revealed around six months ago, with a 2024 launch window originally mooted back in 2021 having more recently become apparent will not quite come to pass. However the parent company of Kunos and AC series publisher 505 Games, Digital Bros, did reveal that ACE would enter early access for PC in January 2025 — and today’s trailer confirms that with slightly greater precision.
The early access period for ACE is confirmed as beginning January 16, 2025. That’s likely to result in a full release, on PC at least, towards the end of 2025. However the title has only been hinted at for other platforms — presumably PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles — so there’s no information on when that may happen.
There’s quite a lot to take in from the rest of the trailer too, which shows off quite a bit of in-game footage featuring road and race cars from across a good chunk of automotive history from the mid-1960s to the present day.
We’d already seen a few vehicles in stills through the game’s Steam listing, but it looks like we can now add a good deal more. That includes the Rover-era Mk6 Mini and Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT, Lotus Emira, modern Porsche 911 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 cars, Ferrari 296 and Daytona SP3, Hyundai IONIQ 5N, Mk1 and Mk8 Volkswagen Golf GTIs, BMW M4, and the Morgan Super 3. If anything, that last one’s going to be a physics challenge…
There’s more than a few shots showcasing what we’d expect to be a more advanced physics simulation in the new game engine — particularly the one with the Mini skittering across the road — as well as both day-night and weather options. We’d assume both will be dynamic, considering Kunos chief Marco Massarutto’s comments to us that the studio knows it can’t make a game that is no better than AC with community mods.
Notably, as well as plenty of track driving, a lot of which takes place at the tracks we’ve already seen — Brands Hatch, Imola, and the Nurburgring — with a brief glimpse of Fuji too, there’s also some clips that look to take place on public roads. It remains to be seen whether that’s something that features in the game’s driving or is some kind of GT7-like dynamic scene.
Of course this is only a two-minute teaser showing a preview of the early access title, so there’s likely to be plenty more information coming over the next few months and leading up to the full launch. Watch this space for more, and let us know what you think on the forums.
