EA Sports WRC Career Mode: Everything you need to know

At the core of most racing games is the career mode. EA Sports WRC is no different. You’ll be spending a lot of time in career mode, aiming to lead your team to victory in the WRC. With Codemasters and EA taking over the WRC game license, what has changed in the EA Sports WRC career mode?

We've got everything you need to know about the EA Sports WRC career mode right here, from the car classes to managing your team and the groundbreaking car builder.

WRC classes

When you start your EA Sports WRC career, you must choose which WRC class you want to enter in the season. Unlike past WRC games, EA Sports WRC’s career lets you skip the entry-level Junior WRC and WRC 2 classes and start in the top WRC Rally1 class if you want to.

Introduced as part of new regulations for the 2022 championship, the Rally1 cars are equipped with a 100kW electric motor, a 3.9kWh battery, and a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine. This hybrid setup makes Rally1 cars significantly more potent than their predecessors.

Like in the real-life championship, the battery is charged during regenerative braking. Drivers will then get a speed boost when reapplying the throttle. There are three settings for the hybrid boost: aggressive, balanced, and cautious.

Choosing aggressive maximises the speed and acceleration but drains the battery quickly. This setting is ideal for stages with lots of high-speed straights. On the other hand, the cautious setting is ideal for technical stages with slow-speed corners. 

If you prefer starting from the bottom and working your way up, you can begin in the Junior WRC class. This class is a great entry point for new players as the Rally3 cars are less demanding to drive than the hybrid Rally1 cars. Alternatively, players can start in the mid-tier WRC 2 classs.

Creating your rally team

Once you’ve chosen your class, you’ll create your own rally team, much like F1 23's popular My Team mode. This begins with designing your team branding name and colours before working with a Chief Engineer and Benefactor.

Throughout the season, the Benefactor provides funding and sets goals and objectives. These range from staying inside the weekly budget to finishing in 5th place and scoring certain points.

Drive well, and you’ll get bigger budgets to hire a teammate, recruit engineers, and buy new cars for your garage.

Like in KT Racing’s WRC games, a calendar helps you keep track of upcoming rallies, special events, and milestones.

This career structure will be familiar to anyone who has played KT Racing's WRC games or Codemasters' F1 games. But EA Sports WRC introduces an innovative new feature that will transform the career mode: a car builder.

Car builder

Not only can you drive current and historic WRC cars, but you can design and develop your own car from the ground up for the first time in a WRC game. This has the potential to be a groundbreaking feature, offering a level of customisation never seen before in a WRC game.

After choosing a class, this revolutionary new mode sees you build a car to class regulations. You start with choosing the car’s engine layout.

Choose the layout carefully because the position of the engine affects the car’s weight balance and handling. A mid-engined car, for example, is more expensive to build and challenging to drive than a front-engined car. Choose the best layout that suits your driving style.

From here, you can then fit mechanical parts from the engine to the differential, gearbox, and clutch. Some parts are higher quality than others, while some allow for custom tuning. Higher-quality mechanical components will reduce repair times, but you’ll need to stay within budget. 

After choosing mechanical components, the next step is to customise the appearance. Everything from the bumpers, spoilers, and wheel rims can be customised. You can even change the body pins, lights, and air intakes as well as the interior to make the car your own. Cars created in the build mode can be entered in all game modes except for online esports.

Release date

As for the release date, EA Sports WRC slides onto PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on 3 November. Those who pre-order will get early access from 31 October.

With 78 cars, over 200 stages, and a new Momements mode offering scenarios based on real WRC events, EA Sports WRC is shaping up to be a comprehensive package for rally fans.

For more on EA Sports WRC, check out our interview with senior creative director Ross Gowing, who revealed there will be a touching tribute to the late Hyundai WRC driver Craig Breen.

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