Customisation has become a bigger and bigger part of racing games over the years. As titles let you create your own team, with that comes a need to make your car both recognisable and also fit in naturally with the grid around you.
Which is why limited customising options are such a blow, and when a game brings the heat with fully customisable liveries it needs to be celebrated. And WRC 10 is bringing the heat!
Make it your own
WRC 10 said it would have custom liveries, and with its new trailer it hasn't disappointed.
This is a fully customisable mechanic, with the ability to adapt and transform shapes and slap them onto your car, letting you create virtually anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxkv17e6wGE
With stickers and logos as well as sponsors, you can make a car that looks like one of a kind, or one that wouldn't be out of place in the actual WRC paddock.
It also gives the true artist painters out there the chance to recreate historic liveries, and make some outstanding cars.
What it also does, is further highlight just how far behind the livery options are in a game like F1 2021.
Codemasters' livery issues
The WRC license is moving from KT Racing to Codemasters in 2023. For those that have played the DiRT Rally series this shouldn't be a worry when it comes to gameplay. Codemasters is every bit as capable of making a challenging, enjoyable, and realistic rally title as KT Racing is.
The worry for us is when it comes to the smaller touches like customisation.
The F1 series has only just branched into custom cars and immediately monetized it, using Podium Pass to sell pre-made skins that plays can only adapt the colouring of. While having more options and an unlock rather than purchase method, DIRT 5 also suffers from less than ideal customisation, though it does at least have real-life sponsors to plaster onto your car.
Some of these issues are undoubtedly due to the requirements of F1 themselves. However, when the WRC series is pulling out exceptional tools like this, it feels like F1 fans have been short-changed when it comes to creativity.
While PC players can mod their F1 cars to create basically anything, that is far from accessible for most players, and prevents the kind of community feel that sharing amazing creations in games like Forza Horizon can generate.
While the livery editor in WRC 10 looks amazing, we hope that it is just the first step to the growth of fully custom cars in these officially licensed titles. We also hope it comes with a sharing tab so that painters can show off their designs, and those less creative players (like us!) can download them.
WRC 10 release date
WRC 10 hits the shelves on 2 September.
Players can get 48 hours early access with the Deluxe Edition. Pre-ordering the Standard Edition gets you access to Colin McRae's iconic Subaru Impreza while pre-ordering the Deluxe Edition gets you the Impreza and its rival, the great Mitsubishi Evo.