From the creators of DiRT Rally, EA Sports Rally marks a new era of rally racing, with a new graphics engine powered by Unreal, over 370 miles of stages, and a car builder mode. But there’s a burning question on the minds of virtual reality aficionados: Does EA Sports WRC support VR?
Codemasters’ DiRT Rally 2.0 is one of the best VR racing experiences out there, but does EA Sports WRC also have VR support? We have the answer right here!
Is EA Sports WRC VR compatible?
Leaving the last-gen consoles in the dust, EA Sports WRC drifted onto PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC last November. Virtual reality fans will be hyped to know that as of April 30 EA Sports WRC does support VR - but not for everyone.
VR support was touted as one of EA Sports WRC’s headline PC features on the game’s Steam page, but it wasn't available at launch. Like DiRT 2.0, VR support has been added in a post-launch update.
Update 1.8 to EA Sports WRC brings VR support to the game, but only for PC players. In VR, EA Sports WRC will undoubtedly deliver an immersive, intense, and exhilarating rally racing experience – but you’ll need a powerful PC to run it.
EA Sports WRC's VR mode is currently in beta. This is because EA Sport's WRC was developed in-house for the first time. Codemasters hasn't confirmed when the final version of EA Sports WRC's VR will be released. "When we are confident enough to say that VR is in a fully completed state, we will no longer refer to it as VR Beta," Codemasters said on an online FAQ.
Compatible VR headsets
EA Sports WRC supports a wide range of VR headsets on PC. Here is a list of supported headsets tested by Codemasters:
- Meta Quest 3
- Meta Quest 2
- Meta Quest Pro
- Valve Index
- Oculus Rift S
- Oculus CV1
- HTC Vive
The HTC Vive Cosmos and HTC Vive Pro 2 are listed as "partially supported" on the online FAQ. Codemasters notes that OpenXR-based headsets that aren't listed may work but may not have "full functionality."
Will EA Sports WRC support PSVR 2?
VR support was listed as a “PC exclusive” feature on the Epic Games store page. This made it likely that EA Sports WRC wouldn’t support PSVR 2 on PS5. This wouldn't be surprising as F1 23 also isn't compatible with PSVR 2.
Codemasters has now confirmed that there are no plans to bring VR to console in the future, meaning PSVR2 players once again miss out on the immersion.
It’s a shame because the PSVR 2 should have enough power to run EA Sports WRC in VR. A patch update added full PSVR compatibility for the original DiRT Rally. Since then, however, none of Codemasters racers have supported Sony’s VR headsets. It's a big blow for PSVR 2 players, with Gran Turismo 7 being the only major racing title that supports the headset.
Gran Turismo 7 is phenomenal in PSVR 2, but this is a first-party Sony game. VR is still niche, making it hard for third-party developers to justify the resources required to make games compatible with PSVR 2 without investment from Sony.
Are you happy to see VR arrive in EA Sports WRC? Are you sad that there is still no VR support for console? Let us know in the comments below!
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