Nacon regains the WRC license to make rally racing games from 2027

WRC has announced a new licensing partnership with Nacon, granting them exclusive rights to develop and publish the official WRC games and run esports competitions for six seasons, from 2027 through 2032.

The news comes not long after EA announced that they were giving up on the WRC license after one game (albeit with a year of additional content added) and halting the development of rally games in general. While no studio has been confirmed, it’s likely that Nacon will entrust the license to KT Racing once more, the studio having previously made the official WRC game series from 2015 through 2022.

This is described as being “an all-new WRC game series” that is “a complete reboot of the franchise, based on an entirely fresh vision, and marks an ambitious new chapter in the brand’s development.”

That’s not entirely surprising given how long it will have been since WRC Generations. Launched in 2022, the game was a greatest hits of sorts for KT Racing’s WRC series, launching across generations and with the then incoming Rally1 hybrid cars as the headline act. A few years on an WRC has ditched hybrid engines from Rally1, and there would be further changes by 2027.

“We are thrilled to renew our collaboration with WRC Promoter. This iconic license provides an exceptional playground to build a highly refined driving experience that lives up to the expectations of rally fans,” said Alain Falc, CEO of NACON. “Between 2015 and 2023, we had the opportunity to work closely with the championship’s official teams and many drivers, allowing us to gain solid and unique expertise in translating rallying into a video game experience. This new venture marks a major milestone: a fully reimagined project driven by a passionate and specialized team, with a clear ambition to elevate rally games to new heights.”

“After a comprehensive evaluation, we are delighted to have reached an agreement with NACON,” expressed FIA World Rally Championship’s Chief Marketing Officer Arne Dirks. “Their vision for the franchise stands out, and their expertise in delivering great rally games is unquestioned. We look forward to breaking new ground together in this collaboration, to truly turn the WRC games into epic adventures and offer gaming experiences beyond rally as we know it today.”

It’s great to see WRC and rally gaming continue, after a few years that could be seen as lost to fans of the racing sub-genre. Codemasters’ game, EA Sports WRC, was a good effort, though it brought new technical challenges as the studio adapted to Unreal Engine 4, and clearly didn’t sell enough copies to keep EA invested in the license or genre of racing. It certainly feels like Codemasters might have pushed to acquire the license to make themselves more attractive as an acquisition target, eventually being folded into EA Sports.

In the meantime, KT Racing had the difficult final stretch of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown development and a fraught release, and has Endurance Motorsport Series in development, expected for later this year.

Source: WRC