Rally racing games looked to be in a worrying spot with the recent dissolution of the Codemasters team that built EA Sports WRC and Dirt Rally. Fortunately, the folks behind Assetto Corsa are coming to the rescue with the surprise announcement of Assetto Corsa Rally. This is a new project developed by a team called Supernova Games Studios, comprised of folks from Codemasters, Milestone, and Slightly Mad Studios—people who know sim racing and, more importantly, rally. It’s also due to release via Steam Early Access in less than a month.
This definitely comes as a welcome surprise, particularly if you’re the kind of sim racer who found Dirt Rally too easy and have longed for a proper replacement for Richard Burns Rally. Although Assetto Corsa Rally is based on Unreal Engine 5, it’s built atop Kunos’ proprietary physics engine.
Stages in Rally are laser-scanned, just like the circuits in Assetto Corsa, and at early access launch, the game will have four: two from Rally Alsace, and two from Rally Wales. It’ll also include 10 cars, spanning front- and rear-wheel-drive classics from the ’70s, to early-aughts WRC machines, to modern junior categories like Rally4. The full release should have 30 cars, but here’s the debut roster:
- Alfa Romeo GTA 1300 Junior Gr.2 – 1972
- Citroen Xsara WRC – 2001
- Fiat 131 Abarth Gr.4 – 1976
- Fiat 124 Sport Abarth Rally 16V Gr.4 – 1973
- Hyundai i20N Rally2 – 2021
- Lancia Delta HF Integrale EVO Gr.A – 1992
- Lancia Stratos Gr.4 – 1976
- Lancia Rally 037 EVO 2 Gr.B – 1984
- Mini Cooper S Gr.2 – 1964
- Peugeot 208 Rally4 – 2020
Because Supernova has been chipping away at Assetto Corsa Rally for four years at this point, its development reportedly hasn’t come at the expense of Assetto Corsa Evo’s, or vice versa. They’re run by separate teams, with Kunos Simulazioni sharing tech and lending assistance to the rally effort where necessary. Personally, I’ve been a bit disappointed at the progress of ACE’s development since its early access launch at the start of this year, so I don’t know if I’ll be metaphorically lining up to pre-order ACR. But you have to imagine that in a year or two, both games will be in a solid place.
Of course, we haven’t gotten our hands on ACR yet, but it was playable at Sim Racing Expo 2025 in Germany, and I recommend checking out this preview from Overtake if you’re looking for driving impressions or want a peek at how the game is shaping up.
