--- title: "Assetto Corsa Evo Will Have a 600 Square Mile Open-World Map Around the Nurburgring" date: "2024-12-11" modified: "2024-12-11" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/assetto-corsa-evo-will-have-a-600-square-mile-open-world-map-around-the-nurburgring" categories: - "Culture" - "News" - "Video Games" tags: - "Nurburgring" --- # Assetto Corsa Evo Will Have a 600 Square Mile Open-World Map Around the Nurburgring ![In-car view screenshot of Assetto Corsa Evo.]() *\Misha Charoudin via YouTube\* I've never been to the Nürburgring. Like most of you, it's on my to-do list—but life, ya know. Because I've never been there, I've never driven its surrounding countryside roads, either. And I've heard they're spectacular. I've even heard that they're more fun than driving the 'Ring itself. If that's true, gamers are about to have a blast in *[Assetto Corsa Evo]()*, as it's going to feature the Nürburgring's entire surrounding region of Eifel. *[Assetto Corsa]() Evo* is the latest entry in the fan-favorite sim racing series, set to launch on January 16. While it will include racetracks from all over the world as you'd expect, it will also feature an open-world map simply called "Eifel" with roughly 600 square miles of German countryside for players to roam. Italian developer [Kunos Simulazioni LiDAR scanned the entire region]() surrounding the Green Hell to accurately bring the 'Ring's outskirts to life. That means plenty of hills, snowy weather, and distant castles—but hopefully, the game won't emulate the traffic jams outside the Nürburgring *too* authentically. ![]() ![]() ![]() *Evo* is a unique entry in the *Assetto Corsa* series, in that it appears to meld the franchise's highly realistic, sophisticated driving physics with the RPG elements of [buying, upgrading, and customizing your cars](), like *Gran Turismo* or *Forza*. However, in *Evo* you'll supposedly even be able to rent cars from a real-life local business in Eifel. More specifically, you can rent and tune your cars from shops like RSRNurburg and Vulcan Alpha, the latter of which is co-owned by YouTuber and racing driver [Misha Charoudin](). If you're a local Eifel business who also wants in, you can apply to have Kunos laser-scan your shop into the game. This won't be the first time that *Assetto Corsa* fans will be able to free-roam in real places, though typically those experiences have come courtesy of modders and not the devs at Kunos. The *Assetto Corsa* modding community has lavished extensive work on the title dating back to 2014, and through it, players have been able to drive fanmade recreations of Pikes Peak, [Tokyo's Shuto Expressway](), and Romania's Transfagarasan highway, to name a few locales. While early access to the game begins on January 16, the Eifel map won't immediately be available. When it does finally release next summer, it won't be the full map, either. Instead, it will be a smaller version that will slowly expand to its full size through successive updates. When that happens, though, gamers around the world will be able to get a taste of the Nürburgring's famous back roads without having to hop on a plane. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA74Asvp5g8 *Got tips? Send 'em to tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()