rFactor 2: Ferrari 488s & Le Mans To Be Delisted

rFactor-2-Ferrari-Le-Mans-License-Expiring.jpg
Images: Motorsport Games / Studio 397
Two icons are set to disappear from the buyable rFactor 2 content roster: Le Mans and two Ferraris will no longer be available for purchase once 2025 commences.

Studio 397 and Motorsport Games are laser-focused on Le Mans Ultimate, so naturally, rFactor 2 has hardly seen any news since the official WEC game launched into Early Access in February of 2024. As the year winds down, however, there is a bit of news surrounding the sim - the Circuit de La Sarthe in Le Mans and the Ferrari 488 GT3 and GTE cars will no longer be available for players to purchase from January 1, 2025 onwards.

An expiring licensing agreement means that the content pieces cannot be sold anymore. Anyone who owns them, however, will still be able to run them. They are also part of the current Steam Sale and will also be part of the Steam Winter Sale, which should commence right before Christmas.

rFactor-2-Le-Mans.jpg


The two versions of the 488 are the only Ferrari cars available as first-party content in rFactor 2. Of course, that does not keep the community from creating mods for vehicles with the iconic prancing horse on them. Le Mans, meanwhile, used to be a staple for rF2, especially when Virtual Le Mans was the center of attention during the COVID pandemic.

For Motorsport Games, this is not the only content that cannot be sold anymore once 2024 is over. The publisher also cannot sell its NASCAR games any longer after December 31, 2024, since the NASCAR license has switched hands to iRacing. The latter are currently developing NASCAR 25.

Are you planning to get the outgoing Le Mans and Ferrari content for rFactor 2? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our rF2 forum!
About author
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

Comments

OverTake
Premium
The rF2 Silverstone license expired a couple years ago. I recall MSG saying there would be no more licenses that would expire, so I'm rather surprised by this announcement. Leaves us with another reason to not trust MSG statements.
You remember where you read that? Would be interesting to look into it.

Licenses running out is quite normal unfortunately, and not much that can be done there. Last years, tracks heavily upped their prices for licensing. If you don´t renew, it has to be pulled from shops as it can´t be sold anymore (using it is still fine obviously if you own the track). So while I would prefer for anyone to still be able to buy whatever cars/DLCs of whatever sim the want at any time, I think it is more than understandable that it doesn´t make a lot of sense to pay for an extension right now, when they work on a newer product, are short on money (as it seems), and the game is also very old (although I still love driving it).

It is the nature of the beast when it comes to licenses.

I agree tho that LMU and rF2 are two very different products (at least right now) but that still does not outweight the costs of such deals (and their actual use). Additionally, there are so many competitors now in this space when it comes to sim, so old ones at some point will have to be "left behind".
 
So this is why having a private server option not run by S397 is important. Then you can continue racing the content when the license runs out.

I bet this is going to be the next thing from the greedy people supplying the licenses: subscription for 1 year to circuit x etc. This is why modding is so important.
 
I understand if you already have the content you can still use it, but what if say you had to do a full uninstall/reinstall, or got a new computer and were doing a new install on that machine? Even if they're not listed for current sale would those pieces still be installed, or do we need to manually back them up for safe keeping and/or reinstalling later if needed?
 
I understand if you already have the content you can still use it, but what if say you had to do a full uninstall/reinstall, or got a new computer and were doing a new install on that machine? Even if they're not listed for current sale would those pieces still be installed, or do we need to manually back them up for safe keeping and/or reinstalling later if needed?
My understanding is that you can still download the content if you own it, but new users can not buy it anymore.
 
This is some very wierd way of looking at a product like rF2. How is a product like rF2 going to "die"? It isn't going anywhere, people who buy the content can use it for the years to come and some creative people are still adding 3rd party content to it. Lately there has been an update that garantuees offline mode support aswell. Do you have the impression that GTR2 has died because license agreements with Ferrari or Porsche weren't extended? Or do you have the impression that AC has died after Kunos stopped supporting it?
AC was dead the minute it came out :p
Ok, let me reword my post for you. Don't want to spend money on content for a game that will receive no further significant updates. Which it desperately needs, despite my love for it. I don't do mods, either.
 
I understand if you already have the content you can still use it, but what if say you had to do a full uninstall/reinstall, or got a new computer and were doing a new install on that machine? Even if they're not listed for current sale would those pieces still be installed, or do we need to manually back them up for safe keeping and/or reinstalling later if needed?
The content you buy is in your inventory and stays there as long as Steam exists ... no need to back anything up. The only stuff people might need to back up at one point are mods from steamworkshop, because once they get taken down, they get uninstalled.
 
Congratz to Ferrari and Automobile Club de l'Ouest for being so cheap that amazing content for many fans might halt and can become a problem for more and more simulators and arcade games. It's also us that go to real-life events thanks to these amazing virtual experiences. I'm serious here.
 
Unfortunate, but it's the same with many racing games nowadays - certain licences run out, and the game gets delisted. In this case, it's just content that gets delisted.
Shame, really - but that's the reality nowadays.
 

Article information

Author
Yannik Haustein
Article read time
2 min read
Views
2,113
Comments
33
Last update

What do you think about subscription models in simracing?

  • It's fine

  • It's fine for hardware

  • It's fine for software

  • I don't like it

  • I don't like it for hardware

  • I don't like it for software

  • Other, please comment


Results are only viewable after voting.
Back
Top