Will Assetto Corsa EVO Have Free Roaming?

Will Assetto Corsa EVO have free roam.jpg
Image: Kunos Simulazioni / 505 Games
Speculation is rife that Assetto Corsa EVO will feature free roaming after a road outside the Nürburgring was seemingly spotted in the trailer.

It’s been a few days since Kunos Simulazioni provided a first glimpse of Assetto Corsa EVO before its early access release in January 2025. The announcement trailer showcased several new cars, weather effects, and other hidden details. But one particular shot has sparked speculation that Assetto Corsa EVO may feature free-roaming elements. This would be a surprising direction for the series, which primarily focuses on circuit racing.

Towards the end of the trailer, a Morgan Super-3 is shown cruising down a country road as a BMW M4 CSL drives past it on the opposite side. This has caused fans to speculate if this means Assetto Corsa EVO will have explorable environments with traffic cars cruising the streets.

Assetto Corsa EVO free roam Porsche.jpg

Image: Kunos Simulazioni / 505 Games

Open-world environments with traffic are popular in the Assetto Corsa modding scene, but this would be unprecedented in the standard version of Assetto Corsa EVO. If free roaming is in Assetto Corsa EVO, Kunos has seemingly been inspired by Assetto Corsa’s active modding community.


Visiting The Real Location​

Specifically, the stretch of road in the trailer appears to be a hairpin corner on the L92, a public road near the Nürburgring leading to the town of Adenau in Germany. Our own Michel Wolk visited the location to compare it with the Assetto Corsa EVO trailer, and the similarities are striking. Everything from the cobblestones, angled guardrail, roadside posts, and trees closely match the real location.

L92 road Nurburgring Michel Wolk.jpg

Image: Michel Wolk

With its hairpin turns, elevation changes, and fast-flowing layout, the L92 is like a rally course. It is a heavenly driving road and would be a fun addition to Assetto Corsa EVO outside of circuit racing.

Furthermore, an eagle-eyed fan on Reddit spotted a house appearing in the Morgan's wing mirror. This was then matched with a house in Hauptstraße outside the Nürburgring, further implying that players can visit the circuit's surrounding roads in Assetto Corsa EVO.

Assetto Corsa EVO free roam Morgan house mirror.jpg

Image: Kunos Simulazioni / 505 Games

Of course, this is not confirmation that Assetto Corsa EVO will have free roam. The shot could have been created specifically for the trailer, or it could simply be a Gran Turismo-style cinematic in the game showcasing the roads outside the Nürburgring. Considering it is an M4 CSL, the car driving on the opposite could also be returning from the Nürburgring rather than a traffic car.

However, this would be an exciting new direction for the series. Games like Forza Horizon 5, The Crew Motorfest, and Test Drive Unlimited let you enjoy the freedom of the open road in exotic cars, but these titles tend to be simcade or pure arcade games. With Assetto Corsa’s class-leading physics, EVO would provide the most realistic open-world driving experience yet.


Alas, we will have to wait and see if Assetto Corsa EVO has free roaming when Kunos shares more details. But having the freedom to explore the surrounding roads before hitting the track and doing some hot laps is a tantalising prospect. Free roaming would add a new dimension to Assetto Corsa EVO and potentially broaden the appeal of sim racing.

Are you hoping to see free roaming and explore an open world in Assetto Corsa EVO? Let us know in the comments below or join the discussion on our forum.
About author
Martin Bigg
Arcade racing addict. Can usually be found causing carnage in Wreckfest and still craving a new Driver and Burnout game. Car movie nerd.

Comments

great thank you.. yes still working on Hydrofoil Generation but this is not really the place to talk about it :)
Hi, Stefano. I have a question for you. I've yet to try Hydrofoil, but I understand it was made in Unigine. What is it like working with said engine? I hear its simulation capabilities are class-leading, so I'm quite intrigued to hear about your experience with it if it's okay with you.
 
Didnt one of the OT team members play an early version of the game or something?

I wonder what the chances are that they would write an article speculating on features they knew were not part of the game. Juuust something to think about.
 
I remember back when Assetto Corsa released for console, I contacted not Marco but the other one from Kunos suggesting they make an equivalent to AC but for open road driving, dubbing it Giro d'Strada (yes, I know it's not grammatically correct my Italian friends).

He basically convinced me he was taking it seriously and then just rudely said "Good pitch but we aren't interested". Clearly he was the sort of person to dress up as Santa, sit a kid down and say "Santa isn't real so grow up".

Fast forward eight or so years, and they are essentially doing it in some form.
Dont worry, that happened with a lot of things that Kunos scoffed at initially, who can forget the "VR Mafia" quips :)
 
VR mafia does exist indeed , even I that am on my 5th headset and started with Vive at launch felt it in some way,shape or form :) ...
 
you probably mean how we were among the first (if not the first, can't remember now) in simracing to release AC with oculus DK1 prototype headset support back in 2013-2014? Totally scoffed that one huh?
Yes, and I still have this DK1, after trying SIM racing in AC in VR back then, I never looked back.
Funny enough, AC, today, is my best VR experience, now with my G2 using open composite and OpenXR tool. Better clarity and graphics in VR than any other SIM I use.
Looking forward to try EVO in VR as soon as possible.
Long live the VR mafia, we were a very small group then, but vocal for sure. Last poll here showed that we are now about 20% of the SIM community. I thought we would be more by now, but 20% is already good.
Kunos has been at the fore front of many thing taken for granted now, from what we now of EVO (very little unfortunately) I have no doubt, Kunos will raise the bar again.
Nice to read from you as always. :)
 
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I like the idea of free roaming, but never enough to get it working in AC. But if Konus will do it for me in AC EVO I would be happy with it.
It looks to me that Kunos have taken a close look at the entirely modding scene and have put everything from it into AC EVO which they think is populair for a big audience. And with this, I think that will meet many expectations. No more hassle with installing all kinds of mods that have to be coordinated and set up correctly, everything just works from the moment go.
I allways read about people going through the "hassle" of finding and installing mods. Having the choice is the key aspect here. Noone is stopping you to boot AC without any mods. Mods are for me an integral part of my gaming experience, not just in sim racing. Modding itself is a source of creativity and talent and at the end it helped me and a couple of other people I know to find their profession. People completely underestimate the role that modding can play in shaping lives eventhough you don't necessarily end up in the gaming industry and acquiring skills you never thought you had. Currently there is no sim in development and actually sold that offers modding support wich clearly shows where we are moving.

I just hope that they do it better this time and use the steamworkshop. rF2 and ArmA III perfectly show how you offer mods through steam.
 
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Premium
I allways read about people going through the "hassle" of finding and installing mods. Having the choice is the key aspect here. Noone is stopping you to boot AC without any mods. Mods are for me an integral part of my gaming experience, not just in sim racing. Modding itself is a source of creativity and talent and at the end it helped me and a couple of other people I know to find their profession. People completely underestimate the role that modding can play in shaping lives eventhough you don't necessarily end up in the gaming industry and acquiring skills you never thought you had. Currently there is no sim in development and actually sold that offers modding support wich clearly shows where we are moving.

I just hope that they do it better this time and use the steamworkshop. rF2 and ArmA III perfectly show how you offer mods through steam.
I am a modder. I build tracks which you can download here on Overtake. So no need to boot AC without mods. If I would do that I would go 10 years back in time and miss all the bells and whistles which Content Manager, CSP and Sol / Pure has to offer.

I am not only using Assetto Corsa but also rF2. And I don't like the steamworkshop for rF2 at all. There are a lot of bad mods which have a lot of problems. And with the steamworkshop there is not much you can do about it when there is a problem with a mod. In the old rFactor and in AC I can do whatever I like to fix any problem. AC has much more users than rF2 and there are much more mods available for AC than for rF2. There are different reasons for this, but I certainly think the way the workshop for rF2 is now has something to do with this.

The thing with Content Manager, CSP and Sol/Pure is however, as a mod creater, you don't know what a user has installed and how it is setup. So a track can look very different on different systems. So if Kunos can integrate all the nice Content Manager / CSP / Sol / Pure stuff into AC EVO, that would make us a lot happier.

But please Konus, don't go the steamworkshop route, that would be a disaster.
 
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OverTake
Premium
Didnt one of the OT team members play an early version of the game or something?

I wonder what the chances are that they would write an article speculating on features they knew were not part of the game. Juuust something to think about.
Yes I did, which is why I try to stay away from our articles etc. ;)
The only thing I did on OT about AC Evo was the stream with analyzing the trailer, because I am obviously also hyped for a new sim.

But more importantly: What I tried was an early build, it is not like I saw all the features, all the cars, tracks or whatever. I had a minor glimpse into the game and thats it. So I am 100% sure that there are way more things still to uncover.
 

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