Le Mans Ultimate December Update: Interlagos, Hosted Servers & 4 LMGT3 Cars Are Coming


The December update for Le Mans Ultimate is waiting for the green flag: On December 10, the new version will feature new content, hosted servers, and online championships.

Images: Studio 397

December 10 is shaping up to be a big day for updates to sim racing titles: iRacing's 2025 Season 1 is expected then, RaceRoom will deploy its Super Tourers, and finally, Le Mans Ultimate looks to add another track and the first batch of LMGT3 cars in order to continue its quest to complete the 2024 WEC grid.

It is not just content in the update, however: Hosted sessions will be possible, and online championships arrive as part of online subscriptions that have been announced previously. Here's everything you can expect in LMU's December update.

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Le Mans Ultimate LMGT3 Cars: Four New Sets Of Wheels​

As GTE has been phased out in favor of GT3 machinery at the start of the 2024 WEC season, sim racers had to make do with the full 2024 Hypercar grid racing the 2023 GTEs so far. The four new cars will change that a bit - but only three will be paid DLC, as the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo has been announced as free DLC for all players already.

The other cars that hit LMU on December 10 are the Ferrari 296 GT3, the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, and the BMW M4 GT3. By process of elimination, this leaves the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, the Ford Mustang GT3, the Lexus RC F GT3 and the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) for the final GT3 DLC cars of the 2024 season, which are expected to join the grid in early 2025.

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LMU Goes To Brazil​

The same now goes for the Losail International Circuit, which hosted the 2024 season opener, as Interlagos is confirmed to be the next track to join the Le Mans Ultimate calendar. A favorite of many, and not just Formula One fans, the iconic Brazilian circuit was the site of round 5 of the 2024 season, and it saw the #8 Toyota team around Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa take the overall victory while the #92 Manthey PureRxcing squad around Klaus Bachler, Alex Malkhyn and Joel Sturm won the LMGT3 class.

The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, named after the Brazilian 1970s F1 and sportscar racer, is plenty popular in sim racing, so most LMU players will most likely not be too upset about having to wait for Losail in favor of the Sao Paulo-based circuit.

The three LMGT3 cars and Interlagos will be available for £13.99 / €16.99 / $17.99.

Hosted Servers​

Content aside, the online portion of Le Mans Ultimate will look different once the December 10 update is deployed. Thus far, racing with your friends was not possible unless you happened to be in the same split for an online event, and hosting leagues was not an option at all. The arrival of hosted servers will change this, although their implementation might not be the what many sim racers might have hoped for.

For one, they will be quite accessible according to the announcement. Hosted Servers will be run via LMU's RaceControl platform, and they can be set up and controlled via the racecontrol.gg website. That should mean no dedicated server tool for players to install, and hopefully a rather easy and straight-forward way to set things up.

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On the flip side, the hosted servers will be a paid service. Depending on a server's size, they start at €0.38 per hour (potential local taxes excluded). The obvious comparison would be iRacing, which makes hosted servers available for roughly €0.48 (converted from the $0.50 price listed by iRacing) per hour, although a bulk purchase discount for these sessions is also available.

Hosted servers can be made available publicly or run as private sessions, which can be found via a five-digit code.

Spectator Mode & WEC Overlay​

Furthermore, the addition of a spectator mode coupled with WEC-style overlays means that sessions can be broadcast once the update is deployed. Streaming league races with commentary is supposed to be made easy with this.

However, even POV streams could benefit from the overlays, which are set to look like the graphics and animations used in the broadcasts of real WEC races. According to the update announcement, "the broadcast overlay outputs to HTML outside of the game and can be used as a transparent layer in most streaming tools". A guide on how to use them properly is set to follow.

Optional Online Subscriptions​

Finally, LMU's December update will also introduce online championships that will be part of a subscription model, which is set to feature two tiers. The rest of Le Mans Ultimate's online modes are not affected by this.

The lower tier is called RaceControl Pro and allows users to take part in the aforementioned online championships. Players commit to a car for the entire season to compete in, and the races will take part on set days "with a limited number of attempts per week depending upon the difficulty of the championship", according to the official announcement. RaceControl Pro is set to cost €3.50 per month if players opt for an annual subscription.

Above this sits RaceControl Pro+ at €6.50 per month on an annual subscription. This higher tier lets players unlock all Studio 397 content in both LMU and rFactor 2 in addition to what the lower-tier RaceControl Pro gets them.

More benefits are also planned to come.

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"The optional RaceControl Pro subscription includes a unique Online Championship mode that ramps up the importance and excitement of races powered by skill-based matchmaking and will in future host the the future qualifying for our important Le Mans Virtual esports series", states Motorsport Games CEO Stephen Hood. "The premium Pro+ tier of RaceControl is a landmark moment in our ambition to integrate games, features and content within a seamless platform for the benefit of our players."

Hood continues: "We sincerely hope players enjoy this update as the passionate Studio 397 team continue to pour their hard work into making this FIA WEC experience the best it can be, with many more exciting updates planned for 2025."

Other Improvements​

Meanwhile, VR will be much more accessible than before. LMU can be fired up without adding a launch option line in Steam, the UI can be customized, and VR-related keybindings will be added as well. For VR enthusiasts, this should be great news as the mode has worked so far, but not in a very streamlined way - but Studio 397 has more in mind for VR as well down the line.

Smaller tweaks concern the physics with a slight increase of grip at the limit, the implementation of ABS for the LMGT3 cars, and smaller performance improvements, particularly at the start of a race when all cars are crowded together in what is usually one of the more performance-heavy parts of any track with the main grandstands and pit building being present.

What do you make of the incoming Le Mans Ultimate update for December 10? Let us know in the comments and join the discussion in our LMU 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

The question is will they ever release an offline championship now that they have a paid online one.

Well I am sure other studios have done this in 10 months of EA.

mdr.gif


Any other studio did what S397 have so far in less then a year they would be lauded as genius.

lol
 
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Well they won't. The licence will restrict what cars and tracks can be put into the game.

The licence will do whatever WEC allow it to do. I think that’s ACO with the licensing and they have other series so there’s always hope. Codemasters/EA and, before them, Nacon both were allowed to include historic locations in their WRC games (and boy are they better for it).

I’m not saying you’re wrong; sadly it likely won’t happen - but that’s not to say it couldn’t. Then again, relying on the ACO to make sensible decisions is a bit like waiting for Godot.
 
Well there isn't gonna be +10 tracks. It's the official game of the 2023/2024 season so tracks that aren't part of the championship won't be added.
Where are people taking their wisdom from? Nowhere was it ever stated that it is the official 2023/2024 game so that no other content could be added. If you have taken a proper a look at the survey you might have noticed that the options for future content are pretty wide spread. They have to license the tracks and cars seperately so they aren't locked into something that dictates what else can be added to the game. Given the links to the ACO ELMS and ALMS are very strong possibilities given they can keep developing the sim and with the links between IMSA and the ACO I wouldn't rule IMSA content aswell. That was part of the survey aswell btw. Taking a proper listen at the video development plans go atleast as far as summer 2025. So I am not sure the game will be dead and burried by the end of next year as many believe ;)

About the update: bit of a shame to see no updates regarding offline season modes wich are clearly needed to take this title beyond EA. Same goes for dedicated servers. Also not too excited about custom skin uploads being behing a paywall. If I put in the work to create my own livery I want to use it and not pay for it to be able to use it. That will backfire greatly and not help building a community that contributes to the product because noone besides a few heardcore esports teams will use that function. Atleast that's how it sounds in the video.
On a positive note: the quality of the content seems outstanding once again with alot of attention to detail and I am glad that Interlagos is finaly being added. Allways a great track to race on. It's also nice to see some QoL improvements and well worth to mention that a publisher like MSG - allways considered as a bunch of greedy bastards - shows a certain other developer how you combine content offerings and subscriptions without dicking deep into the wallet of your customers. And it's all optional with some of the content being added for free. :)
 
it's obvious than they should give at least the lendary tracks mentionned here :

Silverstone, Paul Ricard, Barcelona, Shangai, Mexico, Nurburgring.


Without those tracks, I fear about the game, not enough content.
Historical cars and tracks would be a dream come true. Porsche RSR 1970, 917, Sauber C9, old Le Mans without chicanes... The list is endless, I hope the game will survive and thrive on the long run.
 
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The fact that you mentioned that you spent $65.00 over 2 years shows that apparently, you care.
$65 per year ( 2 seasons ) but that has gone up slightly ;)

Of course you avoided the elephant in the room.
What studio gave you a championship in 10 months of EA ? :whistling:
Answer no one because it's simply unreasonable considering it needed to be done from scratch.

Whether rF2 and LMU can make headway in 2025 ? ....... of course I care ! lol
 
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Of course you avoided the elephant in the room.
So did you. The question wasn't WHEN, it was IF (at all).
They're gonna release the online live service paywalled championship and the question is whether they keep their promise of doing the single-player one instead of telling people to pay the subscription.
THAT was the question. Not whether it can be done in 10, 20, 30 months.
What studio gave you a championship in 10 months of EA ? :whistling:
AMS2. ACC wasn't far off AFAIR.
But of course none of this matters because you'll twist the meaning of my post yet again to fit your own manic narrative.

Yes, against my own good judgement I fed the troll. I'm not proud.
 
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It's clear where they're heading and I think it's a solid plan provided their finances remain viable. 1st Q 2025 will finally bring LMU to a proper level for multiplayer online experience as driver swaps become possible.

What's equally clear is that Project Motor Racing and Assetto Corsa Evolution are the last great hope for a new generation fully moddable simracing title (unless Reiza have a change of heart about documenting AMS2). Moddable titles are the only way to try out content not covered by the current titles. Unfortunately we already know ACE won't be offering that in 2025 and PMR hasn't yet published any release dates, so rF2 & AC will continue to fulfill that role into at least 2026.
 
It's clear where they're heading and I think it's a solid plan provided their finances remain viable. 1st Q 2025 will finally bring LMU to a proper level for multiplayer online experience as driver swaps become possible.

What's equally clear is that Project Motor Racing and Assetto Corsa Evolution are the last great hope for a new generation fully moddable simracing title (unless Reiza have a change of heart about documenting AMS2). Moddable titles are the only way to try out content not covered by the current titles. Unfortunately we already know ACE won't be offering that in 2025 and PMR hasn't yet published any release dates, so rF2 & AC will continue to fulfill that role into at least 2026.
I was thinking about this while playing farming simulator 25 the other day and going off of how easily moddable farming simulator is then project motor racing if it ever materialises will take the mod crown from assetto corsa
 
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Great news... This is the update that'll make the game viable...

With the buggy choice or the expensive choice there instead of ACC, LMU will be the new GT3 home for anyone that really cares about physics...

Those aids are a real advancement and one of my biggest complaints with driver aids is how they do not represent the real world driving aids and often add extra grip... This LMU ABS may actually get me using ABS...

And that subscription model for specific events is epic, don't need to worry that's an instant buy... That's going to change the financial picture alone, but GT3s in a market where the options just aren't worth it for those who want the hardcore sim racing package...
 
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It's clear where they're heading and I think it's a solid plan provided their finances remain viable. 1st Q 2025 will finally bring LMU to a proper level for multiplayer online experience as driver swaps become possible.

What's equally clear is that Project Motor Racing and Assetto Corsa Evolution are the last great hope for a new generation fully moddable simracing title (unless Reiza have a change of heart about documenting AMS2). Moddable titles are the only way to try out content not covered by the current titles. Unfortunately we already know ACE won't be offering that in 2025 and PMR hasn't yet published any release dates, so rF2 & AC will continue to fulfill that role into at least 2026.
I agree, after the release of AC Evo AC numbers wil fall down but it'll stay relevant for a long time cause all the people that are purely driving mods right now won't disappear overnight.
 
let them stick their hosted ones in.....
They will eventually understand that the way is dedicated servers from custom skis.
 
Being as outspoken as I had been previously about this game I am turning, slowly. But I am turning from my previous comments and opinions. I have even changed it on the steam reviews to reflect that change in thought and opinion.

The fixes that have come (although slower than I'd personally like but I get it) are making headway and improvements. AMD was a big one for me personally. The future fixes that are suppose to come, make me happily interested. The level they went to for 2nd opinions on vehicles (ex. the McLaren 720 EVO) does give me some hope and happy feelings.

Seeing that the subscription won't affect me is a plus in my book also (I don't race online because real life requires me to be able to pause at any given moment, so SP only and even then I only do hotlaps or practice laps until I get bored or life requires me to pause/alt-f4).

I am still waiting on a proper TrackIR and/or better Triple Monitor support. As of right now getting my seating position correct in game to be able to see the dash or at least parts of my dash that the simhub dash doesn't/can't cover yet (check forums still missing features for proper simhub dashes the guy does update it decent'ish, if i read right still telementery issues and a few others)
How to improve the support of three monitors? It works absolutely without problems. I use 3x 32" 1440 monitors to my complete satisfaction.
And the support of the tracker nowadays? I have been using it since 2008. But after switching to 3x32" monitors, the transmitter cannot be placed functionally on the monitor. Too high.
 
So you're being invited to pay a subscription for a game that has 7 tracks and 3 car classes. Even EA would be raising an eyebrow to that.
You, the buyer, are purchasing a WEC endurance racing sim. Soooooo....that means you get WEC endurance cars and tracks. If you, the buyer, were expecting a veritable sandbox of cars and tracks, one would think you, the buyer, would purchase something OTHER than a sim based on WEC endurance racing.
 
You, the buyer, are purchasing a WEC endurance racing sim. Soooooo....that means you get WEC endurance cars and tracks. If you, the buyer, were expecting a veritable sandbox of cars and tracks, one would think you, the buyer, would purchase something OTHER than a sim based on WEC endurance racing.

Just a classic case of the customer is NOT always right...

There's a lot of casual racers who want the cars to drive the same and be easy because "Endurance cars are meant to be easy"...

The jack of all trades games are their favourites because they don't have to think too hard when switching cars as the physics isn't at the level it is in LMU...
 
Just a classic case of the customer is NOT always right...

There's a lot of casual racers who want the cars to drive the same and be easy because "Endurance cars are meant to be easy"...

The jack of all trades games are their favourites because they don't have to think too hard when switching cars as the physics isn't at the level it is in LMU...
Well if they want all the cars to drive the same then just buy AC and the mods that are made with absolutely no data. Although you will still get people claiming these mods have "better physics" than LMU.
 
I hope they fixed the missing shadows in non clear weather in VR. I wonder if replays will work in VR now.

Amazing physics.. oh apart from having to fix the excessive lockups under braking. Always hear this crap about amazing physics that have to be fixed all the damn time. Real sims.. on tire model 100. All these sims are basically "games". They all have their unrealistic behavioral traits.

I was expecting more GT3s to be on offer tbh.
 
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