Could Rennsport Become the New Assetto Corsa?

Rennsport, the new hardcore racing simulator from Germany, is trying to take the sim racing world by storm. With promises like using Unreal Engine 5, full modding support and a wide variety of vehicles, Rennsport is surely aiming to be none less than the be-all-and-end-all of sim racing and sim racing eSports. But what do they need to achieve that lofty goal?

The Timing is on Rennsports’ Side​

Announcements of Rennsport could hardly have come at a more opportune moment. The Sim Racing niche still riding on the after-effects of an all-time high in interest and cries becoming louder about the ageing competitors means the time is ripe for something new. All that is left now is for the Munich developer remains to keep developing the hype and execute on their promises.

Who are the direct competitors?​

As the premise of this new simulator is realism in combination with user-created content, basically all existing sim racing games are the likely market for Rennsport. Especially, however, the current modding platforms of both Assetto Corsa (AC) and rFactor 2 (rF2). As those titles, released in 2014 and 2013 respectively approach their 10th anniversary without another serious challenger in the modding field so far, the German simulator has all the chances to take the laurels.

Since we must not forget the other titles, a good selection of base content and the promise of focus on online multiplayer and eSports may also take drivers from Assetto Corsa Competizione or iRacing. The least affected community could still be RaceRooms’. Since that sim enables a single- and multiplayer experience for virtually any PC; the graphical superiority of Unreal Engine 5 may make low-end PC users struggle to run Rennsport. Speaking of graphics, …

Graphics and Modding of Rennsport​

With the ever-growing trend of many end-users increasingly craving hyper-realistic graphics, the bar for modding will be quite high in the Rennsport community. Simple conversions of existing AC or rF2 tracks will most likely not do. Models, as well as textures, will have to be redone completely to match the high-quality standard of the base game. Not to even begin with the different physics models for vehicles. Otherwise, nobody would pay for them.

Speaking of paying for mods, Rennsport will also need to deal with their “real digital ownership” model. How would that work exactly? The premise on their website is set to be: “Your assets will be owned by you. And you can trade them through the marketplace of your choice.”

Personally, my immediate thoughts about this statement wandered towards the Steam Marketplace, where mostly skins for Counter-Strike or Team Fortress 2 weapons circulate.

Would this mean the market would establish the price of a mod and the modder would gain a part of the transaction money each time a transaction is made? Or can the modder establish the price themselves and sell the item for a price they want, while follow-up sales do not reimburse the original creator?

And since these are only 2 options amongst several more, a more detailed overview would need to arise before passing judgement. About prices though …

How will Rennsport price its official content?​

One of the biggest questions that still needs an answer is the pricing of official content. Will it follow the iRacing formula of having to pay a monthly fee to access your purchased content? Or will it follow the more standard pricing policy of a fully-priced base game and purchasable extra content or DLC?

There is also another option of financing that would arise in the aforementioned Steam Marketplace-kind of a deal. Valve, the developers of the Steam platform, skim between 5-10% off the top of any Marketplace sale. If Rennsport were to use a similar system and end-users embraced it, this could help finance the ongoing development.

What’s still in Store for Rennsport?​

With impeccable timing on their side, the new German developer has all possibilities to hit the ball out of the park and create the one sim to rule them all. However, the tightrope walking of pricing content will either make or break the success. Make content too pricey and people will be hesitant to try it out. Too cheap and you could be bankrupt rather quickly.

But of course, it will also need to be accepted by the sim racing community first. So, what are your hopes and fears for Rennsport? Be sure to let us know in the comments down below!