Assetto Corsa EVO has officially launched on Steam Early Access, though many users are reporting it’s currently “unplayable” in VR.
Shortly after yesterday’s early access launch of Assetto Corsa EVO, which includes optional PC VR support, reports soon emerged about performance issues in VR. Across social media, numerous players advised they’re currently facing optimization issues leading to poor performance in VR, even after tweaking various settings.
“7600X + 7900 XT getting 50 fps running on a Quest 3 with Link and OpenXR, and that’s with a single car on track in practice, on the minimum graphics settings,” states one Steam reviewer, and EVO currently sits at a “mixed” score with over 3,500 user reviews.
UploadVR’s video producer, Don Hopper, also encountered similar performance problems during our own testing despite using a high-end PC. We’ve contacted publisher 505 Games for an official statement regarding these issues, and we’ll update this article if we learn more.
Since these issues emerged, a potential workaround has also been suggested on the official Discord server. “Launch the game, change the quality preset to Very Low, hit apply and then close the game, restart the game, then increase the graphics quality again,” stated Ben McConnell, a community manager at 505 Games for the Assetto Corsa series.
If that doesn’t work, Assetto Corsa EVO’s 2nd major update on the early access roadmap promises “step 2” for VR support. However, what this specifically entails is currently unknown.
While Assetto Corsa EVO’s initial launch includes 20 cars and five circuits, developer Kunos Simulazioni is targeting 100 cars and 15 circuits at full release. The first content drop listed in the above roadmap includes two new cars, new special events and the Fuji Speedway. A specific release date for this first drop remains unknown, but the roadmap states it’s “coming soon.”
Assetto Corsa EVO is available now for $32 on Steam Early Access with a 20% launch discount. A Steam FAQ confirms the full release should be “ready within less than one year from the start of Early Access.”