The first official World Endurance Championship game in over 20 years, Le Mans Ultimate is out now on PC in Early Access. But is Le Mans Ultimate coming to PS5?
Helmed by the veteran sim racing team Studio 397 best known for rFacor 2, Le Mans Ultimate will let players tackle every circuit on the WEC calendar and experience the challenge of endurance racing.
Here's everything we know about Le Mans Ultimate on PS5.
Will Le Mans Ultimate be on PS5?
Despite Motorsport Games cutting 40% of its workforce and suspending the IndyCar game's development, Le Mans Ultimate hit Early Access in February 2024. Unfortunately, it’s bad news for PS5 players.
For now, there are no plans to bring Le Mans Ultimate to PS5. These plans may change, however. While Le Mans Ultimate will initially be PC-only, Studio 397 hasn’t ruled out bringing it to PS5 in the future.
Speaking with RacingGames, Motorsport Games CEO Stephen Hood said it "makes sense" to bring Le Mans Ultimate to consoles.
"People want it on the PlayStation and Xbox. Getting the official Le Mans World Endurance game onto PlayStation and Xbox would be amazing. It’s our dream,” he said.
Sim racing games are more common on PC due to their complex physics engines and cutting-edge graphics. However, the surprise of Assetto Corsa and its sequel Assetto Competizione shows that sim racing isn’t only popular on PC - nearly 40% of Assetto Corsa’s sales were on consoles.
A console release ultimately depends on the success of the PC version, however. “If we get the wheel turning on PC and people are really enjoying the product, the ecosystem, the online platform we’re building, and the content we have planned, I think it makes sense to go to consoles,” Hood told us.
Simulating the demands of the epic 24 Hours of Le Mans on consoles won’t be easy, however, so the graphics may need to be downgraded on PS5 to improve optimisation. If Le Mans Ultimate comes to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, it will be the first time a game based on rFactor 2’s graphics and physics engine has launched on a platform other than PC.
Release date
Originally set for a December 2023 release, Le Mans Ultimate hit Early Access on PC on 20 February 2024. If it’s popular on PC, we expect a console release to likely follow in late 2024 or sometime in 2025. To get a taste of Le Mans Ultimate, you can watch the release date announcement trailer below.
Players can hit the track in the full grid of WEC cars including the new Le Mans Hypercar class from the 2023 season, racing around iconic circuits including Monza, Spa, and of course the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans. An asynchronous race mode will also see you race with AI or your friends as a team at times that suit you.
We’re hoping Le Mans Ultimate will eventually come to consoles and bring the WEC to a wider audience.