EA Sports WRC: General Discussion

[Jtheripper]

I think the game looks super, just the optimization isn't perfect, although almost now on ps5 in cockpit pov, and replays.
Just the launch state wasn't ideal really.
Plus on pc i think there's lots of complaints still about that.

I like dr2 looks too, but wrc24 looks more modern ofc, crisper textures, lighting, etc.
At least going from dr2 ps4 to wrc24 ps5..

 

[m355y]

For me much as I love EA Sports WRC it still doesn't run half as well as DiRT Rally 2.0, and now never will. Sometimes it's perfectly smooth ofcourse, but also sometimes you get a random choppy or stuttery stage or a stage covered in bright green slime patches or it turns into a slide show half way through a 30km stage. These things still happen a lot. They happen on Xbox and on PS5, hooked up to either of my TVs. I appreciate the work that's gone into improving it since launch and it's certainly better now but it's still quite an inconsistent experience both on that and on the visuals themselves which sometimes look really lovely and sometimes quite rough depending on the stage or seemingly what mood the game is in when I boot it up.

DiRT Rally 2.0 on an Xbox Series X in its full glory is gorgeous not to mention completely robust in terms of frame rate and performance - this is why personally I still wish they'd continued with Ego. I'm impressed by the longer stages but I think maybe they bit off a little more than they could chew technically and personally when the longer stages in DR2.0 already take up to ten minutes, that's probably enough for me anyway.

 

[Jtheripper]

I did notice that in 3rd person, there's often heavy screen tearing though.
But i never had big problems like missing textures, etc.
And even on long stages, i didn't get more slow downs, stutters.
Maybe depends on weather, tod, and game mode.
Probably happens less and less noticeable too in my usual pov cockpit.

 

[m355y]

I think it’s worse using chase cam, definitely. The green slime bug seems PS5 specific.

 

[Jtheripper]

I think it’s worse using chase cam, definitely. The green slime bug seems PS5 specific.

That's strange, im on ps5, never seen that green bug yet..🤞

 

[TypeRDC5]

I only saw the green bug but once.

The screen tearing can be awful however, the last clubs rally I done (in Corsica i believe) it was fine until you get to the village section and from then until the end of the stage it was like a sideshow, not what you want in a rally game with narrow roads and high speed, some rallies run buttery smooth though.

Although screen tearing was the only major complaint I had with EA WRC it's a big complaint considering how bad it can be.

 

[Tool1312]

Occasionally I do get some screen tearing and the occasional stutter on Xbox Series X. And sometimes I may get some staccato audio for some reason. Also the game can freeze when using the photomode. But my overriding experience every time I play, is how good it really is all round. I find new things to be pleased about very time I watch a replay back. The gravel physics are really sweet and even more so with a good setup ( which alterations really do make a difference ).
I will say that tarmac physics are less sweet but this does vary. Some of it can feel a bit too grippy such as Croatia and Iberia but some like Monte Carlo and CER feel really good. There are really good variations between surface types, as in it's not just one type of gravel or tarmac. The gravel in Chile is very different from Sardinia and so on. Same with tarmac.
I won't say it's without fault obviously but it's a joy for me to play it on a wheel. I couldn't get on with anything KT put out, I loved 2.0.

I know that the vast majority of game issues are to be found on PC especially the anti cheat and graphics problems and I feel for those users.

It's a crying shame that EA has done to Codies what it's done to other game companies and I hope that the rumours that someone is going to take up the baton of developing a new rally game in the future.
But at least we have EA WRC to still play with

 

[Jtheripper]

Occasionally I do get some screen tearing and the occasional stutter on Xbox Series X. And sometimes I may get some staccato audio for some reason. Also the game can freeze when using the photomode. But my overriding experience every time I play, is how good it really is all round. I find new things to be pleased about very time I watch a replay back. The gravel physics are really sweet and even more so with a good setup ( which alterations really do make a difference ).
I will say that tarmac physics are less sweet but this does vary. Some of it can feel a bit too grippy such as Croatia and Iberia but some like Monte Carlo and CER feel really good. There are really good variations between surface types, as in it's not just one type of gravel or tarmac. The gravel in Chile is very different from Sardinia and so on. Same with tarmac.
I won't say it's without fault obviously but it's a joy for me to play it on a wheel. I couldn't get on with anything KT put out, I loved 2.0.

I know that the vast majority of game issues are to be found on PC especially the anti cheat and graphics problems and I feel for those users.

It's a crying shame that EA has done to Codies what it's done to other game companies and I hope that the rumours that someone is going to take up the baton of developing a new rally game in the future.
But at least we have EA WRC to still play with

For sure each rally is different in surface, deeper gravel, or coarser, with variations with degradation on the race line, especially with max degradation.
And tarmac too, well iberia im loving it even.
For me i just find the sweet spot in set-up of each car.
Especially the rear driving differencial, and brake bias, so it's still responsive for weight transfers, on braking, and power oversteer.
The Toe-in and suspension help too ofc depending on the stage too etc.

Makes it more fun too.
If you put all at most stable, it becomes not lively enough, lifeless.

Depends esch person ofc, and it's easier to handle maybe on a wheel, with a just enough sweetspot of stability and responsiveness.

On sweet spot, each car becomes a joy, especially on tarmac.
My lastest one is renault5, another distinct fun car.
On dirt, it's all fun anyhow.🤣

 

[whannel]

Lay offs confirmed

Seems strange to spend $1.2bn to buy Codemasters, without being able to support them. Or was it solely so Take-Two's $1bn offer didn't see 2K games gain an even stronger foothold against EA?

Could we see a 2K WRC yet? And/or a 2K F1 given it's sales have tanked under EA?

"The next biggest new release is F1 23 from EA. It's a disappointing launch for the official racing game, with sales down almost 47% compared with what F1 22 managed over the same period.

Just under 65% of F1 23's sales were on PS5, with just over 22.5% on Xbox Series S and X and 12.5% on PS5. PC accounted for just 0.3% of sales." - GamesIndustry.biz

(assume that 12.5% is meant to say PS4).


With F124 being reviewed as worse than F123 I can't imagine it did too well either? Maybe F125 will be EA's last, if it's the last year of their licence too?

"In June 2020, Codemasters announced a turnover of £76 million and profit increase of 4.5% to £65.2 million. Recently, the business has extended its contract with Formula One Management and secured exclusive game rights from 2021 until 2025 for the FIA Formula One Championship franchise ." - RowanGroup

If they were only making £65m profit, then that looks like it's halved surely there's no way EA could ever make up their losses, except that they stopped Take-Two, whose shares will no doubt explode in 2026 with GTA6. Will they still be interested or is it too late?

"EA was on Thursday set to lose nearly $6 billion from its market value of $37.3 billion, if the losses hold. The stock trades at nearly 17 times its 12-month forward earnings estimates, compared with Take Two Interactive's 27.72.

EA makes money both through sales of its soccer titles as well as spending by players within the game on services such as "Ultimate Team", a mode where people can use in-game currency to purchase players for teams that compete in online matches.

"EA FC" generally sells around $2 billion annually, of which live-service revenue makes up $800 million, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter." - Reuters, January '25

Maybe it's all just down to their recent 15% losses due to their failure with their former FIFA title?


Personally I still hope everyone reviewing F1 25 doesn't forget that EA just ended the Colin McRae series, regardless of whether it's an improved game.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Could we see a 2K WRC yet? And/or a 2K F1 given it's sales have tanked under EA?

Personally I still hope everyone reviewing F1 25 doesn't forget that EA just ended the Colin McRae series, regardless of whether it's an improved game.

To that first bit, I very, very seriously hope not. I've said in this thread and in F1 threads before on this topic, and I'll say it again, 2k will be far worse on the ani-consumer, MTX, pay to win, gambling, buggy mess front than EA. Could we see it? Yes, would we want to? Absolutely not, no way, thank you.

And yes EA deserve to be dragged for what they've done, but there is still the underlying Codemasters studios making F1, so no I don't want to see them get dragged for the F1 game, because F1 '25 is a massive improvement, in all aspects. I'd rather it reviewed well regardless of what EA have just done, sell well enough for them to take up at least the first year option on extending the license deal, if only to keep it out of the hands of take two/2k.

Neither of those companies cared about Codemasters when they were vying for control of them, they were both targeting the F1 license, everything else was collateral, as EA have proved and would have been exactly the same under Take Two. They don't care.

 

[MrCrynox]

It's disgusting what EA have done to the Colin McCrae series, I mean it's only been going 26 odd years. Utterly despicable.

 

[kjb]

I hate that they got rid of Grid and now WRC. The crazy thing is Need for Speed maybe be done as well. So EA went from having a portfolio that covered a broad range of racing games to almost none. Criterion is working on Battlefield and whoever is left For Codies are being sent to different departments. This is what happens what when publicly held video game publishers make decisions based on quarterly earnings and dividend payments

 

[m355y]

They’ve essentially just killed off the greatest racing game developer of the last 30 years. They’re unlikely to be popular on here!

I get that Codemasters probably needed to be bought out at the time, but ultimately for what?

I just hope the developers who have poured their hearts into these games over the years end up somewhere where they can do the same again in the future. Battlefield and FC26 can **** right off.

 

[Jtheripper]

They’ve essentially just killed off the greatest racing game developer of the last 30 years. They’re unlikely to be popular on here!

I get that Codemasters probably needed to be bought out at the time, but ultimately for what?

I just hope the developers who have poured their hearts into these games over the years end up somewhere where they can do the same again in the future. Battlefield and FC26 can **** right off.

If it was just up to the money suits, we'd only have the very few top profitable games on the market.
Nothing else matters to them.

 

[sirjim73]

They’ve essentially just killed off the greatest racing game developer of the last 30 years. They’re unlikely to be popular on here!

I get that Codemasters probably needed to be bought out at the time, but ultimately for what?

I just hope the developers who have poured their hearts into these games over the years end up somewhere where they can do the same again in the future. Battlefield and FC26 can **** right off.

I feel like I'm going to have to repeat @UKMikey 's link from elsewhere, from my favourite TV show...

PS I met Billy Zabka at the London Comic Con around the time of season 2 of Cobra Kai (sorry guys he'll always be Scott McCall son of Robert to me) and got him to sign my S1 DVD booklet.



Just hoping that there is an early announcement regarding who is picking up the WRC licence as otherwise its going to be all...

...around here for a while.

 

[Tool1312]

Just had a revisit to Dirt Rally, could never get on with it on controller but on the wheel it's actually pretty good. My handbrake doesn't work even though the game recognises the handbrake axis within the button mapping setup.
I did a comparison with the 95 Impreza on the same Monte Carlo stage ( well the same on 1 and 2.0 but couldn't find the same one on WRC )
I thought the audio was actually better on the older games and the tarmac on 2.0 wasn't that bad, less grippy than WRC certainly and the lighting was really good as well.
Also though obviously the graphics have got better the damage model has got worse. In DR1 you can really mess up the whole bodywork, even the shell, doors dent, headlights get broken and wheel can etc ripped off.
Just wish they could have done that in WRC but obviously that was never going to happen but it's not an issue.
The difference in physics between the three games, you can see and feel the evolution but it's still nice to be able to play the two older ones

 

[kjb]

If it was just up to the money suits, we'd only have the very few top profitable games on the market.
Nothing else matters to them.

I agree 💯 %. All we are are dollar signs with legs to be exploited

 

[Ken134]

Did WRC them selves pull the license or have EA pulled out.

 

[CapnScrub]

Did WRC them selves pull the license or have EA pulled out.

I'd be interested to know this as well. If you compare WRC Generations features to EA WRC features there is bunch less from WRCs standpoint. No leagues/e-sports, no real tire wear, weird hybrid implementation (could maybe be said for both titles though), Career is pretty stale compared to WRCg, might be more i cant think of right now. While the driving, sounds, peripheral use, moments and car variety is better (win for the players), I wouldnt be surprised if there was some disappointment from WRC with the game.

 

[FrankieStail]

Whilst this news won’t stop me enjoying wrc, I do have an urge to punch my monitor at the ea sports startup screen!

 

[peniu]

Whilst this news won’t stop me enjoying wrc, I do have an urge to punch my monitor at the ea sports startup screen!

You can delete the intro files, at least on PC. That's what I did to fix that. Really wish developers would give this option in the settings.

 

[Meythia]

You can delete the intro files, at least on PC. That's what I did to fix that. Really wish developers would give this option in the settings.

Isnt this the first thing PC players learn - if only to reduce forced waiting times by unskippable shows of logos one after the other?

 

[UKMikey]

Whilst this news won’t stop me enjoying wrc, I do have an urge to punch my monitor at the ea sports startup screen!

At least on Series X we have the option for quick resume. It didn't work for me today because the evil EA wanted me to restart the game to sign an updated EULA before letting me back in.

 

[Tool1312]

At least on Series X we have the option for quick resume. It didn't work for me today because the evil EA wanted me to restart the game to sign an updated EULA before letting me back in.

We do, but be aware that sometimes rejoining with quick resume the ffb disappears. Does the same with ACC

 

[UKMikey]

We do, but be aware that sometimes rejoining with quick resume the ffb disappears. Does the same with ACC

Thanks but I use a controller.

 

[Tool1312]

Thanks but I use a controller.

Aah, that's a different kettle of fish

 

[Hasnain282]

Don't know if you still need these @Speedster502 but these are the controller settings I use. They may need some tweaking to suit your driving style

 

[RYAN]

So gutted to hear of the news regarding WRC and Codies. They have been one of if not my favourite studios since I've been gaming as young kid. I personally loved EA WRC and really enjoyed my time with it. I was always a bit scared that Rallying might be too niche and not as sellable as EAs usual offerings so I cant say I'm surprised. Hopefully It wont be the end for Codies as that would be terrible.

Best of luck to you @PJTierney

Social Media Managers sometimes have a thankless task and don't get the recognition they deserve. You worked so hard and even visited us here on GTP to answer questions and take part in the discussions, Going way further than any other Social Media Managers for other projects have done.

Thank you so much for all your hard work. You helped make the codies Rally games like EA WRC and DR2 so enjoyable by being here and interacting with us.

 

[Speedster502]

Don't know if you still need these @Speedster502 but these are the controller settings I use. They may need some tweaking to suit your driving style

View attachment 1449575

Thanks! Will give these a go, I got myself dialled in a little better (better, not faster) but relying heavily on assists to get me round currently 😅

 

[Abyss1]

On a tangent here but does anyone here play this in VR.

I decided to go from playing this on my PS5 to my computer the price drop in Stream is ridiculous right now its $15