It's hard to imagine that we saw the original Assetto Corsa already way back in the spring of 2014. Kunos Simulazioni, the developers, took the world of sim racing by surprise and competed with proven contenders like Project Cars, GRID and Forza and Grand Turismo.
It's realistic nature challenged drivers across all different platforms in different series and manufacturers.
That a sequel is in the making is no surprise then. Especially given the enormous success of Assetto Corsa Competizione, which evolved solely around GT3 and GT4 racing. This new instalment is expected to have a wider variety of content than its predecessor, while still maintaining the high level of realism that made the original game so popular
What you should know about Assetto Corsa 2
The new game will move away from Assetto Corsa Competizione’s Unreal Engine underpinnings, and instead use Kunos’ own proprietary game engine, just as it did in Assetto Corsa 1. Not that Unreal Engine 5 won't live up to the ask. They move towards a self-built engine for creativity purposes. This will allow the developers to have more control over the game’s physics and graphics engines, which should result in an even more realistic driving experience. UE5 has been criticised for its lack of wiggle room. Kudos then to Kunos for protecting their own vision of what the game should look and feel like.
Cars and tracks
The original Assetto Corsa featured a huge variety of road and race cars, and it’s expected that Assetto Corsa 2 will continue this trend. That's going to be an important difference with ACC. The developers have also confirmed that the game will feature a wide range of cars from different eras and disciplines, including GT3, GT4, touring cars, and more. That way, it will also appeal to more racers that don't necessarily want to stick with just one discipline.
Next to the addition of even more cars, AC2 (?) will bring new tracks and intriguing racing locations to the screen. At this time there's no track list, but it's likely that the usual fan favourites are included.
Looking forward to it?
Yes! More racing games means more fun, right? AC and ACC have been two of my favourite sim racing games of the past decade. With its improved physics engine, expanded car roster, and new tracks and locations, it’s sure to provide hours of entertainment for racing fans everywhere. Seeing this next instalment already launching in Q2 of 2024 means we don't have to wait much longer either. Afterall … 2014 has been a while, hasn't it?!