‘Assetto Corsa EVO’ Debuts on PC VR Headsets in Early Access: Why You Might Consider Holding Off

Yesterday marked the exciting debut of Assetto Corsa EVO in Early Access on Steam, bringing a fresh chapter to this famed racing saga, available for both flatscreen gamers and those hooked on PC VR headsets. The initial reception has been a mixed bag, especially among VR enthusiasts who are urging others to hold off until some crucial updates drop to fix the game’s less-than-optimal performance in VR.

Developed by the experienced team at KUNOS Simulazioni, which gifted us the original Assetto Corsa in 2014 and Assetto Corsa Competizione four years later, this latest installment has finally arrived. This Early Access release lets players explore five tracks, rev up one of 20 different vehicles, and dive into solo play. It’s also equipped with support for SteamVR gear and even accommodates triple monitor setups.

While KUNOS has assured fans that more content will roll out in subsequent updates—promising a whopping 100 cars, 25 tracks, an open-world map, and multiplayer modes—the current feedback from VR players is far from glowing.

With over 2,700 user reviews trickling in, the game is sitting at a ‘Mixed’ rating. While there’s grumbling about missing features yet to be added, the chatter around VR highlights a clear issue: the optimization just isn’t there, leaving VR functionality in a bit of a mess.

One Steam user, Poloman, stated, “I won’t comment on the performance issues, as this is early access, but VR is currently unplayable. I have 150 fps on 3440×1440, but can’t get more than 30 FPS in VR.”

Similar sentiments are echoed by Mattios, who mentioned, “Unplayable in VR with a RTX 4090 and i9 13900k at lowest settings (only targeting 80hz too). It has constant latency spikes making the game unplayable at any setting. Flatscreen works fine, maxed out it barely hits 80% GPU and 10% CPU usage without upscaling.”

Dan chipped in, advising, “Can’t recommend it in its current state, performance optimization is just not there, at least for VR. [I have a Radeon] 7600X + 7900 XT getting 50 fps running on a Quest 3 with Link and OpenXR, and that’s with a single car on track in practice, on the minimum graphics settings. And that’s already disregarding visual glitches, mostly on the menu. Besides that, the default FFB settings are not what I expected from Kunos. All in all, wait for the coming patches to even consider it.”

Historically, KUNOS Simulazioni’s racing titles have navigated similar Early Access paths, so the trickled release of features isn’t unexpected. While VR may not have always been a feature right from the start, it’s certainly become a significant component of the series over time.

The original Assetto Corsa was pioneering in VR support, initially experimenting with Rift headsets as far back as 2013, and later embracing OpenVR in 2017, allowing for a broader range of headsets. Assetto Corsa Competizione, on the other hand, integrated full VR support roughly a month post-launch on traditional screens.

The developers are steadfast in their promise that the complete 1.0 version will be ready within a year from the Early Access launch. Until then, many are crossing their fingers for some serious optimizations to justify the $32 investment for VR aficionados.