In a little bit of a surprise announcement, Kunos Simulazioni has confirmed details about the open-world map that will feature in Assetto Corsa EVO — and it’s quite something from the sound of it.
As we’d somewhat expected from the video in which the open-world was teased, the map itself is based on the roads of the real world around the Nurburgring. It’ll be called “Eifel” — the name of the region and hill range in Germany in which the Nurburgring nestles.
Not only that, Kunos has gone to the trouble of laser-scanning the entire region in order to recreate it as close to 1:1 as possible in the game. All 600 square miles of it. Assuming a circle roughly centered on the Nurburgring, this would be the equivalent area to the map below:
That won’t initially be the case, nor will the map be available to players alongside the start of Early Access on January 16, 2025. A smaller, but undefined, area will be introduced some time in the summer of 2025, with the map expanding over time to reach the 1600 square kilometer (617 square mile) total.
In addition to the laser-scanning of the area, Kunos has developed a new terrain technology to recreate the landscape, and will release additional areas in stages. It’s not clear what the total road distance or type will be in the map, nor whether you’ll be limited to the asphalt areas or not.
However Kunos did comment that any local business in the area could become part of the game — featured not only as the premises but offering their products too. We’re presuming that’s limited to automotive-related concerns, although that may not necessarily be the case.
Players will be able to interact with these businesses — particularly when it comes to upgrading vehicles — as part of the game, and Kunos is inviting applications from businesses in the area to be part of ACE. One example provided is that of Nurburgring YouTuber Misha Charoudin’s “Vulcan Alpha” tuning firm, located near the ‘Ring.
Players in the USA will also have the chance to get a sneak preview of Assetto Corsa EVO this weekend, at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show in Indianapolis.
The PRI SIM Racing Arena Presented by U.S. Army & SRO America at the show will be providing short demonstrations of Assetto Corsa EVO to attendees, although it looks like it’ll be a case of waiting in line for a spot — and it’ll likely be in high demand!
