Codemasters to Develop Official WRC Titles from 2023

[MagpieRacer]

The news many people will have been waiting a long time for!

5 year deal with the first game slated for 2023.

I'm so happy with this news, this is fantastic for Codemasters who can now push on and make the WRC game we've always wanted.

 

[Matt Stephens]

Posted something similar on the Codemasters forums but I’m curious as to how they approach things. WRC might have seen how popular the F1 series is and might want something similarly accessible to try and bring in new fans. Will be interesting to see. I guess with them having the licence it might allow them to continue the DiRT Rally series as a more hardcore sim option for fans but also having the benefits of official cars and locations.

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

Great news for the driving, hopefully the game is complete though, they have never managed to get a full grid of cars (I mean big teams like EKS/GRX) for the FIA WRX in Dirt Rally or all of the events. If they get that right I'm very happy!

 

[RedRockValley]

Apparently they're still going to push on with DiRT Rally regardless. So I guess we'll have the mainline DiRT series, DiRT Rally and then WRC... That's a whole lotta rallying (and work!)

 

[Northstar]

I have mixed feelings on this.

On the one hand Codies makes great games despite their questionable content choices, so I’m interested to see how they do with the official license.

Unfortunately it seems to be an exclusive license though, which is always disappointing, especially when the current holder is a smaller company that is starting to make some quality games. At least they have the V-Rally name, which gives them something to build on.

 

[RedRockValley]

I have mixed feelings on this.

On the one hand Codies makes great games despite their questionable content choices, so I’m interested to see how they do with the official license.

Unfortunately it seems to be an exclusive license though, which is always disappointing, especially when the current holder is a smaller company that is starting to make some quality games. At least they have the V-Rally name, which gives them something to build on.

I have a feeling the WRC promoters will have a say in how DLC is distributed, so I don't think it'll be a service model like other Codemasters games.

 

[FT-1]

I think this is really great news - past DiRT Rally games have been restricted by what stages they can include due to the lack of the WRC license, hopefully more environments are included from launch in the next game.

 

[SlimCharles]

I would say it's good news for most of the people. Not for me. The way it was we had more and different rally games to choose.

One thing stands out for me: BOY Codemasters is showing off money recently. They are buying everything

 

[MagpieRacer]

I think this is really great news - past DiRT Rally games have been restricted by what stages they can include due to the lack of the WRC license, hopefully more environments are included from launch in the next game.

Well having the official license exclusively I'm pretty certain they're obliged to include all rounds and teams. So expect a full calendar. Its not like they only release half an F1 gane each year.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Apparently they're still going to push on with DiRT Rally regardless. So I guess we'll have the mainline DiRT series, DiRT Rally and then WRC... That's a whole lotta rallying (and work!)

That's in part down to firstly the mainline Dirt series is a totally different studio to Dirt Rally. Plus the next Dirt Rally game is already under development, no need to stop work on that as its 3 years till their licensing starts and that's not even a guarantee we'll get a 2023 WRC game from them, I'm sure we will though, and a good chunk of Dirt Rally work will translate nicely into it which will certainly help development time.

 

[Scaff]

Personally I'm not 100% comfortable with this, I think the end product will look great and sound great, but I have my doubts that they can match the stage design, physics and FFB of the last few WRC titles.

 

[T0MMY3688]

I'm more worried on what KT will be doing after this, they did a fine job with WRC and they have been improved it at each release. Codemasters and their games often launched with fairly lacking track content is worrying.

 

[RedRockValley]

I'm more worried on what KT will be doing after this, they did a fine job with WRC and they have been improved it at each release. Codemasters and their games often launched with fairly lacking track content is worrying.

They're currently developing a new entry in the Test Drive Unlimited series and I have a feeling they'll make another V-Rally. They'll be alright, hopefully.

 

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Codemasters to Develop Official WRC Titles from 2023

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on June 1st, 2020 in the WRC Series category.

 

[Calmlity]

Finally. Although 2023 is still long to wait.

 

[FT-1]

I'm more worried on what KT will be doing after this, they did a fine job with WRC and they have been improved it at each release. Codemasters and their games often launched with fairly lacking track content is worrying.

As @RedRockValley said, KT has the V-Rally and Test Drive Unlimited franchise. They are both big names and as long as they can deliver quality products, I wouldn't be worried about them.

 

[DivitLad]

I find it a right pita too get any kind of good wheel settings in codemaster games and no doubt be the same with this

 

[Scaff]

I'm more worried on what KT will be doing after this, they did a fine job with WRC and they have been improved it at each release.

Without the WRC licence, I can see they releasing a stunningly complete rally sim...



...which almost no-one will buy.

Codemasters and their games often launched with fairly lacking track content is worrying.

I expect a lot of recycled content from past DR titles, with very little change. I expect that Germany will still be just the military ranges, with a tiny bit of forest and bugger all from the Vineyards, for example.

 

[MrCrynox]

No doubt CM are very capable of making great games but I'm sad that KT have lost it. I like the idea of competition as it drives progress, at this rate CM is building a monopoly on the racing genre, not sure if this is a good thing tbh. It's a shame for KT as they have made big improvements in every release so far & their stage design is second to none. I like the physics & experience in both WRC & DR games. Let's hope that they keep this up & go out with a bang.

Also I hope CM WRC games do not require an internet connection to play career mode, that would definitely be a minus.

 

[MIE1992]

Apparently they're still going to push on with DiRT Rally regardless. So I guess we'll have the mainline DiRT series, DiRT Rally and then WRC... That's a whole lotta rallying (and work!)

As somebody who's never really played a game dedicated to rally, I wonder which one I'd want? I'm thinking about DiRT 5...

 

[evldave333]

I hope we still have competition within the genre, I like both franchises at the moment (WRC & Dirt) hopefully both companies will continue to share the market regardless of who has the licence... Im not overly excited about getting half a WRC game and the rest behind a paywall... Still at least Codies do quality if not quantity...

 

[MrRaahzeel]

That's a good news but i hope they will make the game accessible for the large public not like the Dirt Rally series..

 

[evldave333]

That's a good news but i hope they will make the game accessible for the large public not like the Dirt Rally series..

Its perfect physics it just needs customisation options, I agree with you. I would like the option to turn damage off and have rewinds when im doing my own custom rallies, maybe not so much in the career mode (although optional difficulty wouldn't be a bad thing). I frequently turn the game off after crashing / punctures there's nothing worse than doing a sweet full stage run and make one minor error and be heavily punished. I quite like a game were I can relax while playing Dirt definitely is needing fighter pilot concentration levels... not so good if you're tired or inebriated. Its heresy on here, but Im sure ive put more hours in grid than dirt despite it being superior as a game...

 

[paulpg87]

Super news

 

[T0MMY3688]

They're currently developing a new entry in the Test Drive Unlimited series and I have a feeling they'll make another V-Rally. They'll be alright, hopefully.

As @RedRockValley said, KT has the V-Rally and Test Drive Unlimited franchise. They are both big names and as long as they can deliver quality products, I wouldn't be worried about them.

V Rally had some good ideas but it seriously lack polish and I'm not sure what are they going to do with the TDU IP either. I like the WRC titles they made but I don't really enjoy the other they made so far, they just feels rough and unpolished. I wonder which IP they will chose to polish it up at 2023 after the WRC games are gone.

I expect a lot of recycled content from past DR titles, with very little change. I expect that Germany will still be just the military ranges, with a tiny bit of forest and bugger all from the Vineyards, for example.

Recycling is fine, just hope they are not leaving them out from launch then reselling as DLC. I do hope they have more unique routes per country by 2023 too.

As somebody who's never really played a game dedicated to rally, I wonder which one I'd want? I'm thinking about DiRT 5...

depends on whether you want it realistic or arcade, DiRT 5 looks to be a fun arcade game.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Personally I'm not 100% comfortable with this, I think the end product will look great and sound great, but I have my doubts that they can match the stage design, physics and FFB of the last few WRC titles.

Not sure i agree with stage design. WRC stages are OK nothing more. The epic stages are cool in terms of length and difficulty but I'd say DR2 has stages pretty comfortably already over WRC, likewise with physics, WRC8 can feel great at times but too often it just decides to be utter garbage and your car baclflips off a pebble or just decides its spinning out for no reason.

Just my opinion on thsy and I'm fairly certain everyone will have their own views on it shich will also all be different.

 

[FT-1]

V Rally had some good ideas but it seriously lack polish and I'm not sure what are they going to do with the TDU IP either. I like the WRC titles they made but I don't really enjoy the other they made so far, they just feels rough and unpolished. I wonder which IP they will chose to polish it up at 2023 after the WRC games are gone.

The smart money would be on polishing TDU since that has a much bigger scope and potentially a wider audience than V-Rally. I'm expecting TDU3 to be released before the WRC license is handed over to Codemasters. Like V-Rally 4, I will be expecting it to be rough around the edges but packed with good ideas, which can be expanded on once KT has one less franchise to worry about.

 

[SPhilli911]

Very good news, even though I think the current WRC games have been great from KT. I am still hoping for a Dirt Rally 3 alongside a WRC title from CM, because I would assume they want to use a more accessible physics engine to attract a greater audience and I like Dirt Rally's realism and difficulty.

 

[RedRockValley]

Not sure i agree with stage design. WRC stages are OK nothing more. The epic stages are cool in terms of length and difficulty but I'd say DR2 has stages pretty comfortably already over WRC

WRC 8 stages are more made up while DiRT Rally 2.0 stages are more true to life. Personally I'd prefer more realistic stages in a WRC game, but it's just personal preference.

 

[SlimCharles]

For me it would be good news if it doesn't mean Coddies will drop the DR franchise and if it helps KT to expand themselves.

They have performed very well in many areas and their progression has been remarkable.