ACC | Stefano Casillo Leaves Kunos Simulazioni

Paul Jeffrey · Apr 2, 2020

One of the key men responsible for Ferrari Virtual Academy, NetKar Pro, Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizione has left Kunos Simulazioni - goodbye and good luck Stefano Casillo!

Universally regarded as one of the most impressive coding talents in the sim racing landscape, in his role of founder and lead programmer at Kunos Simulazioni, Stefano Casillo (that's Ste'fano, not Stefano! - I remembered!!) has been at the forefront of sim racing development for almost two decades.

Working on some of the most highly regarded racing simulations of a generation, from the likes of NetKar Pro, Ferrari Virtual Academy, the original Assetto Corsa and now Assetto Corsa Competizione, Casillo has proven time and again his ability to bring together a sublime racing experience for sim racers the world over.

Of course, many talented men and women have worked together at Kunos over the years, and that work will undoubtedly continue in the years to come with or without Stefano, so don't worry about the future folks - I'm sure it is in safe hands!

Taking to his personal Facebook account this morning, Casillo has confirmed he is no longer a part of the Italian Kunos Simulazioni development team, having taken the opportunity to move on to pastures new as founder of the new Jaxx Vane Studio. I'm sure I speak for all at RaceDepartment in wishing Stefano the best of luck with his new ventures, and wholeheartedly thanking him for the things he has achieved in the (virtual) sport we all love!

The Facebook announcement post in full:

Today is a different morning for me.

For the first time since 2005 I woke up and I did not sit at my PC thinking about Kunos Simulazioni software development.

Yes, this might come as a shock, but as of today I am not directly involved with Kunos Simulazioni software development anymore.

Of course this is not like I had imagined my first day as "full solo indie" back in September when I decided it was time to move on from Kunos Simulazioni, it was a different time back then, before the Corona Virus shook our lives... so, at the end, this post doesn't happen in a mood as festive as I hoped for.

Because of this, and out of respect for all the guys there trying to deal with one of the hardest times humans had to go through since the end of WW2 I will keep this as brief and informative as possible.

My relationship with the guys in Kunos and Digital Bros is and always was amazing, there is no friction and no bad feeling coming from my decision, that follows over time the one me and Marco took in 2017 when we moved the ownership of our company under Digital Bros umbrella.

Enough time was given in order to make the transition as smooth and painless as possible, and thanks to the amazing talents in there I am sure the company will continue to be a shining light in the world of simracing because of the amazing talents in the team.

At a certain point I started to feel like I had nothing more to give to the SimRacing genre and it was time for me to go look for new inspirations.

My deepest thanks to all the guys who made Kunos Simulazioni possible, these have been the most exciting 15 years of my life and you guys made it special day after day. Marco, Simone, Gianluca, Aris, Luca, Manu, Alvio, Davide, Gergo, Alessandro, Kevin, Valeria, Fernando, Fabio, Itho, Giovanni, Fabrizio, Cristian, Pietro, Kirill, Timothy, Manuela. Plus all the guys in Digital Bros especially Rami, Raffi and Andrew who gave us the amazing chance to work on Assetto Corsa Competizione with an amount of resources we could have never dreamed of and made us feel as part of the family since day one. Love you guys, keep on rocking!

As for me, I am as excited and impatient as I can be, sitting at my PC with a blank empty screen, ready to see what comes next; many ideas and fantasies running through my head as I try to remind myself I am now back in the world of real Indie development and whatever I'll do next will have to be scaled to match this new reality.

My plan is to make this journey available to all of you willing to follow through the usual platforms, starting with my Youtube channel and eventually expanding to other platforms such as Twitch with frequent streams and update videos. It's going to be an open window into a world of passion, frustration, dreams, shattered dreams, hopes, disappointments, study, research, failures, re-writes, revelations,roadblocks, broken keyboards but hopefully also lots lots lots of fun.. see you out there.

Stefano Casillo

Lead Programmer and Founder

Jaxx Vane Studio

Original Source: Stefano Casillo Facebook

manu68 · Apr 3, 2020

I remember that he never finished his bike simulation.
(he just posted a few information during netkar pro time.

Good luck to him for his "new" life.

Rosemaier · Apr 3, 2020

safi hellie said:
LOL...

I am still on the journey thanks, still play a heavily modded AC and absolutely love it...
Do i care if Stefano is still working for the company he sold ages ago?
Nope..
Am i still allowed to use AC?

He couldn't even add night racing...... yet there i am....with full 24 hour weather system....
Maybe he should never of sold out in the first place?

...and again, you clearly have no clue about the journey we gone through.
That said, welcome to the sim, m8

drifttony · Apr 3, 2020

Dear Ste'fano,

I don't think you truly understand what an immense hero you are to us! I would like to thank you for all your work and the unmeasurable joy you've brought us with your out of this world talent!

One can only hope that one day you will re-open the door to simracing development!

Wishing you all the well deserved best in your future endeavours!

safi hellie · Apr 3, 2020

Rosemaier said:
...and again, you clearly have no clue about the journey we gone through.
That said, welcome to the sim, m8

Well i started out with the console AC, so yeah, i know about the journey...console one was utter garbage.
The official forum just told me "well you should of got a PC then"
So i did..

PC AC was better...but was missing so much still....
then the modders got involved and lets face it...made it the fantastic game it is today...
Not looked back since.

Stefano sold out early on and kept on selling out.
He did ok from it..but in pure business terms he isn't a very go one to sell a game developer lock stock for £4 million...

I am different to many gamers in that i don't get involved in the cult of the personality...i don't care who develops the games i play....

I can still love playing games though right?
Is that OK with you?
Or must i constantly bow down to random people who make stuff.

Jim Layee · Apr 3, 2020

Nicecuppatea said:
So long and thanks for all the Ferraris.

Thanks also, Stefano, for hundreds of hours of entertainment and for helping to spark or rekindle an interest in everything from Blender modelling to Grand Prix history to car physics. Good luck in the future.

I like what you did there

Durge Driven · Apr 3, 2020

Best of luck in new adventure

My hope no dream you do evolution in engine, constantly developed like Unreal and for all / any studios to lease

Imagine the increased level of feedback when directed at same engine
pp filters and most other stuff would be universal
No more huge variations in all sorts of things from gfx settings to FFB tweaks

Best of all no more debate about what looks and drives best

Well apart from iRacing and RRE maybe

turbo86 · Apr 4, 2020

I've seen this happen before, and it didn't end well for the games. When an important chain link is gone, everything falls apart very quickly.

safi hellie · Apr 4, 2020

turbo86 said:
I've seen this happen before, and it didn't end well for the games. When an important chain link is gone, everything falls apart very quickly.

So tell me how this news affects assetto corsa............ right now.

InsaneOzzie · Apr 4, 2020

Good on Stefano, for recognising that he was no longer being intellectually challenged and doing something about it. I wish him all the best in whatever he pursues, regardless of the genre.

As far as Kunos suffering because Stefano isn't there, I don't think so, Stefano's knowledge would of rubbed off on many of the coders, there will be another who takes it to the next level. I don't believe for a second that the Kunos quality or physics in ACC will suffer in their next phase of DLC. Only time will tell I guess.

Neils on Wheels · Apr 4, 2020

Yeah i'm sure they can find somebody else to make the coffee & empty the trash.

Deleted member 197115 · Apr 4, 2020

safi hellie said:
So tell me how this news affects assetto corsa............ right now.

Not right now as far as ACC goes, but as was mentioned by Marco in the interview. their plan for the next title is to move away from UE4 to what sounded like in house developed engine. I don't know if they have developer of Stefano's caliber to drive that effort, it's a small studio after all.

Durge Driven · Apr 4, 2020

They all need to sit down and work out how they make online hardcore more popular and they will all make more money

Only "sims" in Top 100 online steam are ETS, ATS and Farming Simulator
That should be humbling any simmer and having them ask why

For me always comes back to hardcore sims have no consistency and need pilots licence to setup turns most away

azaralamouri · Apr 4, 2020

dud said:
There is enough depth in the physics to keep many more programmers busy.

But the question is whether the money in the market allows multiple developers go crazy on physics specialized programmers. Remember that for all the code they write there also needs to be^H^H^H should be testing. True end-to-end testing of car physics would be something like automated racing in the buildbot. That is $$$ that is probably only affordable by the top dog companies - and those are likely to look at how much more revenue this brings.

An open source game where people go crazy as volunteers has a better chance to amass physics personpower, but as we know open source games then often fall short in the art and content department, and testing is also an issue.

I kind of like what you said although I didn't quite understand it, lol. But you sound to discuss exactly the subject that makes sim racing /driving interesting for me. May I ask you to kindly rephrase what you said in simpler words for a dummy like me?

Pepega123 · Apr 4, 2020

Jim Layee said:
GTFU

What do you mean, can you explain in detail and who exactly is that directed at?

azaralamouri · Apr 4, 2020

dud said:
There is enough depth in the physics to keep many more programmers busy.

But the question is whether the money in the market allows multiple developers go crazy on physics specialized programmers. Remember that for all the code they write there also needs to be^H^H^H should be testing. True end-to-end testing of car physics would be something like automated racing in the buildbot. That is $$$ that is probably only affordable by the top dog companies - and those are likely to look at how much more revenue this brings.

An open source game where people go crazy as volunteers has a better chance to amass physics personpower, but as we know open source games then often fall short in the art and content department, and testing is also an issue.

Maybe my knowledge is much less than yours I'm just a normal car enthusiast and my ideas are only theoretical. The reality is as you said money and interests are always the drive.

My idea was that since simulators have many applications needed for big dog giant companies and also the other factor is the mutation that happened to sim racing now with super stars doing it (with all the possible ads money...etc), it's time to accelerate sim racing development.

Again my experience is very short but I can give you an comparison: VR is also new and niche, but day after day the development is going forward in a strong basis and what you wished for today is something you have today. Compare it to R3E where it is in general the same thing since 10 years except for a big December update here and there.

Finally the last point you talked about and I hope I understood right, but yeah, I really really hope that every volunteer who spends his time in making more mods and cars spends his time and effort in the real development of the core physics features to add some real game changer concepts.

azaralamouri · Apr 4, 2020

Personally what I do to help keep every dev in the business is that I buy every single sim or game in the market. Spending a few tens of dollars won't break my tight budget, but if we all did the same then the developers will collect enough money to keep working and giving us better products in the future.

safi hellie · Apr 4, 2020

Andrew_WOT said:
Not right now as far as ACC goes, but as was mentioned by Marco in the interview. their plan for the next title is to move away from UE4 to what sounded like in house developed engine. I don't know if they have developer of Stefano's caliber to drive that effort, it's a small studio after all.

I own ACC but barely touch it with the modded AC being what it is.

TTM75 · Apr 4, 2020

safi hellie said:
I own ACC but barely touch it with the modded AC being what it is.

Same here.. I have bought both of the games when Early Access version was released. I have played ACC 13 hours and AC over 1000 hours, but even AC is now collecting dust and i haven't played it much in past two years.

Ami_M3 · Apr 4, 2020

MarkR said:
His next game? Only rumours of course but these seem plausible to me:

Option 1: Lord of the Cats: The Ban Hammer of Eternity

A physics/text adventure crossover. Apparently, it's going to be a true hero’s journey about a lord* and his trusty cat setting out to find the Ban Hammer of Eternity. As there are well over 10,000 triple screen-wide pages of text discussing the exact physics of the Ban Hammer, a big argument with someone who used to wield one versus the purely theoretical calculations, I skipped to the end. Sorry for the spoilers here but I have to tell you it concludes with the lord and his cat on an island where he wields the ban hammer with impunity to make sure only those who agree with him and his devoted followers are ever heard from again. The game ends with this on-screen text: "They all lived 'appily eva afta as everyone agreed with me, even a popular Meta review site which gave it 100%** and best 'puter game eva award.***"

* Origin and authenticity of the title unverifiable.
** Based on only 4 reviews by local journalists who were given a free all-expenses trip to the island.
*** Excludes the rather rubbish half-finished console cash grab edition.

Option 2: The bestest ever simulation racing game with the mostest simulationy value ever. Releasing in Early Access exactly one day after the non-compete agreement expires. Surprisingly some of his old team might also join soon after too. No career mode, no console versions eva. Almost 'everyone' will rejoice that the racing game genre is saved from extinction (assuming in the meantime all other racing game studios also decide to quit.....). Almost 'everyone' else saw this one coming a mile away, shrugged and carried on.

Option 3. An umbrella eSports racing platform - far fetched I know, it'll never catch on.

Option 4: A surprise.

As the apple rarely falls far from the tree my crystal ball tells me it’ll be option 2. You heard it here first. It won’t be a popular decision everywhere and I can tell you the people over on Cat Game Department are already claiming it’ll be the end of the cat game genre, if he goes that way, despite the existence of the very positive reviewed I got a cat maid (no link, NSFW, careful if you search for it!) and other alternatives.

[For those of a sensitive nature this post is a satire about a high profile, often controversial and divisive figure in the racing game sphere - no, no, no not Ian Bell, please do try to keep up]