Assetto Corsa EVO has recently made its debut in Early Access on Steam, marking an exciting new chapter for the racing series on both regular screens and VR setups for PCs. However, the launch hasn’t been all smooth sailing as the game is receiving mixed feedback. VR enthusiasts, in particular, are advising patience, suggesting that it’s wise to wait for forthcoming updates that could hopefully fix some of the optimization issues currently plaguing the game.
KUNOS Simulazioni, the development team that brought us Assetto Corsa back in 2014 and its successor, Assetto Corsa Competizione in 2018, is back with Assetto Corsa EVO. This Early Access version comes with five tracks, 20 cars, a single-player mode, as well as support for SteamVR headsets and triple-screen setups.
Although the developers assure players that more features will be rolled out in future updates—eventually offering a lineup of 100 cars, 25 tracks, an open-world map, career mode, and multiplayer—VR users are currently less than impressed with the game’s performance.
There’s been a flood of user reviews, bringing the total past 2,700 and earning the game a ‘Mixed’ rating. While some criticisms focus on missing features that are yet to be added, feedback from VR users is quite straightforward: the game isn’t running well in VR mode as it stands.
One Steam user, Poloman, shared their experience: “I won’t comment on the performance issues since it’s early access, but VR is currently unplayable. I get 150 fps on 3440×1440 resolution, yet it drops to 30 fps in VR.”
Another reviewer, Mattios, noted, “Even on a top-tier RTX 4090 and i9 13900k at the lowest settings, VR is unplayable, plagued with constant latency spikes that ruin the experience at any configuration. On a flat screen, though, it runs just fine, with graphics maxed out and GPU usage at 80% while CPU stays at 10%.”
Dan, another VR user, commented, “In its current form, I can’t recommend it. The performance just isn’t there for VR. With my Radeon 7600X and 7900 XT, I’m pulling 50 fps on a Quest 3 using Link and OpenXR—only one car on the track, all graphics settings at their minimum. I also encountered visual glitches, mostly in the menu. The default force feedback settings didn’t live up to KUNOS’s usual standards either. I would suggest holding out for patches before considering it.”
Historically, KUNOS Simulazioni has rolled out Assetto Corsa games in a similar Early Access format, complete with gradual updates and additions over time. While VR might not have been on the front burner from day one, it’s always been a significant part of the series ever since the original Assetto Corsa began supporting Oculus Rift headsets early on in 2013 and later expanded to more devices under OpenVR in 2017. Its sequel, Assetto Corsa Competizione, offered full VR support just a month after its non-VR release.
The developers assure fans that the full 1.0 version will launch “within less than one year from the start of Early Access.” As we look forward, there’s hope that improvements will make VR gameplay a good value for its $32 price tag.
