Yesterday marked the much-anticipated Early Access launch of Assetto Corsa EVO on Steam, with the latest chapter of this beloved racing series making its debut for both PC screens and VR headsets. However, it’s sparked a range of reactions. While some players are diving right in, VR users are sounding the alarm bell, suggesting potential buyers hold off until forthcoming updates improve the game’s current shaky optimization.
The talented folks over at KUNOS Simulazioni, known for their previous hits like Assetto Corsa (2014) and Assetto Corsa Competizione (2018), have rolled out the long-awaited Assetto Corsa EVO. In its Early Access form, players can enjoy five tracks, twenty cars, and single-player modes, all while utilizing SteamVR support and triple screen capabilities.
Though the promise is there—the developers aim to deliver an expansive roster including 100 cars, 25 tracks, an open world map, career progression, and multiplayer options—it’s clear that VR enthusiasts aren’t thrilled with the present performance of the game.
With over 2,700 reviews rolling in, the game currently holds a ‘Mixed’ rating. While feedback about the absence of some features is noted and well-understood as par for the course in Early Access, the critiques about VR performance are pointed and serious. The game simply lacks the necessary optimization for it to be effectively playable in VR at this stage.
Taking to the Steam forums, user Poloman commented, "I won’t comment on the performance issues, as this is early access, only remark is that VR is currently unplayable. I have 150 fps on 3440×1440, but can’t get more than 30 [FPS] in VR.”
Echoing these sentiments, Mattios shared, “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."
On a similar note, reviewer Dan noted, “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, that happened mostly on the menu for me. Besides that, the default FFB settings are not at all what I expected from Kunos. All in all, wait for the coming patches to even consider it.”
Historically, KUNOS Simulazioni has approached its series with similar Early Access strategies—gradually rolling out features over time. Given their track record, it’s not entirely unexpected. VR integration has been a key component of their games, dating back to 2013 with Assetto Corsa‘s early support for Rift headsets, followed by expanded support in 2017 through OpenVR. Even Assetto Corsa Competizione offered full VR compatibility shortly after its initial monitor-based release.
With plans for a full version 1.0 launch in under a year from now, fans eagerly anticipate smoother VR performance improvements to make the $32 investment worthwhile. Here’s hoping the patches deliver what they promise and elevate the VR experience to the level expected from this acclaimed series.
