‘Assetto Corsa EVO’ Debuts on PC VR Headsets in Early Access; Consider Holding Off

Assetto Corsa EVO hit Steam early yesterday in its Early Access form, marking the next step in this popular racing series for both traditional screens and PC VR headsets. While it’s generating mixed reviews, there’s a significant buzz among VR enthusiasts who suggest waiting for updates to fix the game’s shaky optimization.

The developers at KUNOS Simulazioni, known for their previous hits Assetto Corsa (2014) and Assetto Corsa Competizione (2018), have finally rolled out their much-anticipated sequel, Assetto Corsa EVO. This initial release offers five tracks, 20 different cars, and comes with both single-player modes and support for SteamVR headsets, not to mention a triple-screen setup.

It’s worth noting that the studio has promised a wealth of new content with future updates. They’re aiming for a comprehensive lineup of 100 cars, an expansive 25 tracks, an open world environment, career and multiplayer modes. However, for now, VR users seem a bit let down with the current state of gameplay.

With over 2,700 reviews already logged, Assetto Corsa EVO is sitting at a ‘Mixed’ rating. The grumbles largely revolve around missing features, which the developers have acknowledged are on their way. But the VR feedback is particularly pointed: the game’s not well-optimized, and it’s affecting playability dramatically.

Take Steam user Poloman’s experience, for instance: “I’m not going to get into the performance issues since this is an early access version, but right now, VR is simply not playable,” they note. “My setup hits 150 fps on a 3440×1440 screen, but I can’t push it past 30 FPS in VR.”

Meanwhile, Mattios adds, “With an RTX 4090 and i9 13900k, even on the lowest settings targeting 80hz, the game is unplayable in VR. Latency spikes are constant no matter the settings. Flatscreen mode is smooth, barely using 80% of the GPU and 10% of the CPU without upscaling.”

Another user, Dan, has similar concerns. “I can’t give it a thumbs up in its current form; VR performance needs a lot of work. Even with my Radeon 7600X + 7900 XT, I only get 50 fps on a Quest 3 using Link and OpenXR, and that’s with just one car on track in practice mode at minimum graphics. That’s not counting the visual glitches, mostly in the menu. Plus, the default force feedback settings fell short of what I expected from Kunos. Honestly, it’s better to wait for patches before diving in.”

Historically, KUNOS Simulazioni’s Assetto Corsa titles have all embarked on a similar Early Access journey, so the gradual rollout of features isn’t unexpected. VR has been a crucial component since the series’ early days.

The original Assetto Corsa was among the first to explore VR, introducing experimental support for Rift headsets as far back as 2013, expanding further with OpenVR in 2017. Assetto Corsa Competizione followed suit, with full VR support a month post its monitor release.

The studio is aiming for a complete 1.0 release “within less than one year from the start of Early Access,” which gives them ample time to iron out the kinks. Let’s hope these VR optimizations make it into the final product, justifying the $32 investment.