WRC Franchise Returns to Nacon, Beginning in 2027

Terronium-12 · Monday at 9:00 PM

This is the discussion thread for an article on GTPlanet:

WRC Franchise Returns to Nacon, Beginning in 2027

The official World Rally Championship game franchise will be returning to a familiar home shortly, with Nacon announced as the publisher for the next title in the series — and for years to come...

CarreraGT · Monday at 10:32 PM

Thanks a lot EA. What a let down

evldave333 · Tuesday at 5:09 AM

I would've been day one for Codies output... not so sure now. Ive just read the game will have a new game engine so there's hope the gameplay will evolve. I own all the rally games but only have dirt 2 and wrc 24 installed, there's something about the gameplay in the old wrc games that isn't engaging.

RobertHammer · Tuesday at 5:22 AM

ZedNinetySix · Tuesday at 5:53 AM

Urgh... the 2020's has been god-awful.

SimTourist · Tuesday at 7:30 AM

What a mess, all that effort and money to get a WRC license only to put out one game. Isn't their F1 license running out next year too? Selling out to EA was a terrible decision, now we get no Grid, no Dirt, former SMS and Evolution folks relegated to support work. The racing genre is on the ropes right now.

Ryan81 · Tuesday at 9:21 AM

So, why on earth did they bother buying the rights to the WRC franchise if they had no intention of investing in it? Total p***** 🙄 To be honest, perhaps it's better in Nacon's hands. I like the way they're listening to customer feedback as far as TDU SC is considered and there's been significant improvement since launch and have already announced the content for seasons 4 and 5. EA are a terrible company imo. Just look at the train wreck which is the NFS franchise.

fleskebacon · Tuesday at 9:32 AM

WRC Generations wasn't too bad in my opinion. In many aspects much better than CM''s WRC. But the lack of proper FOV settings, no FreeSync/Gsync support and no VR made it difficult to enjoy it in a proper sim rig.

Cosbuster · Tuesday at 9:48 AM

This has been a wild ride.

Miroku · Tuesday at 2:52 PM

What a fail.
Also the fact that EA only released WRC on PS5 was another odd decision since they missed out on so many potential players.

Pearl Jam · Tuesday at 3:00 PM

Miroku
What a fail.
Also the fact that EA only released WRC on PS5 was another odd decision since they missed out on so many potential players.

I play it on PC

Fezzik · Tuesday at 3:15 PM

Miroku
What a fail.
Also the fact that EA only released WRC on PS5 was another odd decision since they missed out on so many potential players.

There were 90 million PS5s and Xbox Series consoles sold at the time the game launched, 3 years into the current generation. The potential userbase wasn't the issue.

Sasek · Tuesday at 4:42 PM

What a joke...

AttackDickie · Tuesday at 4:45 PM

Just need to improve the car sounds for me.

MagpieRacer · Tuesday at 4:45 PM

SimTourist
What a mess, all that effort and money to get a WRC license only to put out one game. Isn't their F1 license running out next year too? Selling out to EA was a terrible decision, now we get no Grid, no Dirt, former SMS and Evolution folks relegated to support work. The racing genre is on the ropes right now.

If they didn't sell to EA then they would have ceased to exist full stop.

SimTourist · Tuesday at 5:00 PM

MagpieRacer
If they didn't sell to EA then they would have ceased to exist full stop.

They will soon if they lose F1 as well. It's a sad situation either way.

Eunos_Cosmo · Tuesday at 5:22 PM

MagpieRacer
If they didn't sell to EA then they would have ceased to exist full stop.

Source?

If they didn't sell to EA, they would have sold to Take Two, who were the original interested party. I haven't seen evidence that Codemasters was at risk prior to all this either. The real issue seems to be that Codies in****tified themselves by hiring a marketing/business boy (Frank Sagnier) to transform them from a company who makes video games to a company that engineers balance sheets for the purposes of looking appealing for acquisition. Typical late stage capitalist ********.

MagpieRacer · Tuesday at 6:40 PM

Eunos_Cosmo
Source?

If they didn't sell to EA, they would have sold to Take Two, who were the original interested party. I haven't seen evidence that Codemasters was at risk prior to all this either. The real issue seems to be that Codies in*tified themselves by hiring a marketing/business boy (Frank Sagnier) to transform them from a company who makes video games to a company that engineers balance sheets for the purposes of looking appealing for acquisition. Typical late stage capitalist *****.

If they didn't get bought out they were going down. Take Two taking over would have been even worse than EA.

There's no official sources, ex and current Codemasters employees have alluded to the situation that Codemasters faced in various public forums.

MagpieRacer · Tuesday at 6:41 PM

SimTourist
They will soon if they lose F1 as well. It's a sad situation either way.

They basically already have now since the WRC/Dirt studio was shuttered.

F1 '25 needs to do very well I think for them to retain that.

Pearl Jam · Tuesday at 6:59 PM

EA are basically modern day pirates, roaming the gaming world to see who they can plunder if it earns them a few shiny gold coins..I absolutely despise them.

SimTourist · Wednesday at 4:37 AM

Pearl Jam
EA are basically modern day pirates, roaming the gaming world to see who they can plunder if it earns them a few shiny gold coins..I absolutely despise them.

I'm surprised Bioware is still around, they haven't made anything good since what Mass Effect 2

CarreraGT · Wednesday at 9:46 AM

Miroku
What a fail.
Also the fact that EA only released WRC on PS5 was another odd decision since they missed out on so many potential players.

Not sure I agree with this. PS5 has been out for nearly 5 years now, continuing to support last-gen consoles only holds developers back.

Although in the case of EA WRC, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a last gen game!

SimTourist · Wednesday at 10:31 AM

CarreraGT
Not sure I agree with this. PS5 has been out for nearly 5 years now, continuing to support last-gen consoles only holds developers back.

Although in the case of EA WRC, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a last gen game!

I was shocked when I tried it on gamepass, incredibly ugly game, I swear Dirt 2 and 3 look a lot better

EngieDiesel · Thursday at 10:08 AM

At least EA dropping the franchise means we won't end up seeing a "WRC Ultimate Team" mode where you have to buy $50 worth of fake card packs to use an upgraded turbo for 4 races.

That said, it really is a shame that racing games with more focused disciplines don't seem to get any proper video game representation anymore, outside of F1. Just kind of confirms my belief that motorsports as a whole is in decline, but that's a rant for elsewhere.

evldave333 · Thursday at 10:18 AM

EngieDiesel
That said, it really is a shame that racing games with more focused disciplines don't seem to get any proper video game representation anymore, outside of F1. Just kind of confirms my belief that motorsports as a whole is in decline, but that's a rant for elsewhere.

Was playing wreckfest yesterday and scrolled the car list all the way through, and discovered the ride on toilet, now that's some "focused discipline" lol.

Fezzik · Thursday at 10:19 AM

EngieDiesel
That said, it really is a shame that racing games with more focused disciplines don't seem to get any proper video game representation anymore, outside of F1.

There is Le Mans Ultimate for endurance racing, and the upcoming Nascar game from iRacing.

Sadly games are just too expensive to make these days, along with the licensing fees. Even F1 and the not-FIFA game aren't financial powerhouses for EA.

WRC Franchise Returns to Nacon, Beginning in 2027

Terronium-12

For My Mom, Always