KT Racing and Nacon (formerly Bigben) are on a roll…
WRC 8 is a superb rally game, and one of the best games released last year in any category. Now, KT Racing, fresh off the back of the hugely impressive TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2 and all of its excellent improvements, have announced WRC 9 is coming on the 3rd of September. (WRC 10 and WRC 11 are also confirmed to have been licensed and approved for production, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.)
Of special interest is the announcement that WRC 9 is coming to next-gen consoles, too. The bespoke game engine used by Kylotonn Racing looks gorgeous, and as it is developed purely for racing games, it does a pretty good job with the handling too, but if we had one complaint about it, it’s the 30 fps frame-rate. With the significant power boost and ray-tracing available with the PS5 and Series X, hitting that 60 fps mark should be no problem, as well as hopefully shipping with glorious HDR and Ray Traced gorgeousness to boot!
Check out the announcement trailer:
WRC 8 had a great career mode, and it was a resounding success with fans. WRC 9 returns with a more varied roster of events, even more options for the team-management aspect, and closer tie-ins with the real-world rally teams throughout the season.
Three new rallies are being introduced, with the dusty, sandy roads of the Kenyan Safari Rally, the grippy, tight asphalt roads of the Japanese Rally, and the magnificent, mountainous scenery of the New Zealand Rally.
Not content to rest on their laurels, KT Racing have been hard at work refining and improving their handling model, with changes being made to the physics systems governing the suspension and brake feel, as well as pushing for more accurate simulation of mass transfer.
Taking advantage of the official license, WRC 9 is pushing for an authentic experience across all areas of the game, including:
- 3 new rallies: Japan, New Zealand, Kenya
- Over 50 official teams and their livery from the WRC, WRC 2, WRC 3 and Junior WRC
- Over 15 bonus cars that have left their mark on the history of the WRC
