Nearly six months after its initial release, EA Sports WRC is getting VR support on PC next week via a free update.
PC players will experience the thrill of rallying in VR via Steam, Epic, and EA App.
EA Sports WRC VR update release date announced
Following Season 4 starting this month EA Sports WRC's free VR update is launching on April 30.
Once the free update is live, EA Sports WRC will support a wide range of VR headsets including Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro, Valve Index, Oculus Rift S, Oculus CV1, and HTC Vive. All single-player and multiplayer modes will be playable in VR, including the career mode where you can build your own rally car from scratch.
Codemasters' first in-house VR game
Codemasters is labeling the VR update as a beta, so it may not be fully optimized for all setups. This is because EA Sports WRC's VR update was developed in-house, unlike DIRT Rally.
"Our implementation of VR into EA Sports WRC is referred to as VR Beta as it is a new project for our development team," an online FAQ reads.
"Previous VR implementations (like those seen in DiRT Rally and DiRT Rally 2.0) were built with the help of external partners, whereas for EA Sports WRC, Codemasters have been developing VR in-house for the first time.
Due to the wide range of VR headsets available in the market, on top of the wide range of PC hardware specs in general, we currently cannot test for all possible scenarios and configurations."
EA Sports WRC’s much-anticipated VR update will add a new layer of immersion while navigating the treacherous rally stages at terrifying speed. A gameplay video showcases high-speed runs through Finland, Kenya, Monte Carlo, and Sweden, and it looks very intense. The gameplay looks smooth with no noticeable visual downgrades, but this will depend on your setup.
“We are really excited to be bringing VR to EA Sports WRC”, said Creative Director, Matthew Battison,
"With VR, players will be able to experience rallying directly through the driver’s eyes and immerse themselves fully in the challenging experience that the WRC offers. They will be able to feel the adrenaline as they reach incredible speeds and tackle gravity-defying jumps in the unforgiving asphalt, gravel, and snow stages, while soaking in the highly detailed environments of the 18 game locations."
While EA Sports WRC isn’t Codemasters’ first racing game that’s playable in VR, it’s the first official WRC game to offer VR support. None of KT Racing’s WRC titles released between 2015 and 2022 were playable in VR.
A VR demo of WRC 6 was shown off at E3 2016, but VR support never made it into the final game. This paved the way for DiRT Rally and DIRT Rally 2.0 to set the standard for VR rallying.
No PSVR2 support
Sadly, Codemasters has no plans to add support PSVR2 for EA Sports WRC for PS5 players. According to FAQ, there are "currently no plans to add VR to EA SPORTS WRC on console in any capacity, Beta or otherwise."
With F1 24 also unlikely to support Sony's VR headset, it looks like PSVR2 owners will need to stick with Gran Turismo 7 to get their VR racing fix for the foreseeable future.
Are you looking forward to rallying in VR next week? Let us know in the comments below.
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