Rumours about WRC 23 have been swirling for months. Taking over from where KT Racing left off, Codemasters and EA are set to release their first officially licensed WRC game this year, yet WRC 23 has yet to be announced.
WRC 23's announcement could be around the corner though, as the release date has reportedly leaked along with a name change.
EA Sports WRC reportedly coming in November
A few months ago, reliable leaker billbil-kun claimed WRC 23 was on track for a July release before being internally delayed for some extra polishing. According to the same leaker, EA’s first eagerly anticipated WRC game will be called EA Sports WRC, not WRC 23, with a release date set for 3 November on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Removing the year from the title could signal EA's era of WRC games will focus on live service updates rather than annual game releases, but we’ll have to wait and see.
A Standard and Champions Edition will allegedly be available, with the latter offering three days of early access from 31 October 2023. EA Play subscribers will also reportedly get a ten-hour free trial. A November release means EA Sports WRC will launch around a month after Forza Motorsport, rounding off a busy second half of 2023 for racing game fans.
As for pricing, the PC version is expected to cost € 49.99 in Europe, £44.99 in the UK, and $49.99 in the US, which is cheaper than expected. The leaker has also apparently seen the cover art, which shows the Ford Puma Rally1 M-Sport sliding in the snow at the 2023 Rally Sweden.
When will EA Sports WRC be announced?
With Codemasters' rally game pedigree (EA Sports WRC is apparently based on the cancelled DiRT Rally 3), we can’t wait to see the next generation of WRC games. But when will EA Sports WRC be announced?
EA has been announcing its racing titles closer to release than usual lately. F1 23 was unveiled before launching in mid-June. Likewise, Need for Speed Unbound was announced less than two months before it arrived in late November.
If the early November release date is accurate, EA Sports WRC will likely be announced in September, possibly around an official WRC calendar event. Acropolis Rally Greece takes place on 7-10 September, followed by Rally Chile on 28 September – 1 October, so we could see an announcement around either of these dates.