Assetto Corsa Released on Xbox One and PlayStation 4

[Paul Jeffrey]

Kunos Simulazioni and 505 Games have, finally, released Assetto Corsa in Europe for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Bringing the popular PC simulation to console gamers for the first time.

Following several delays, Assetto Corsa has been released in Europe for console players to enjoy, placing firmly in its target sights the mainstay console racing giants Forza Motorsport and Gran Tourismo. Highly regarded by PC gamers as a detailed simulation, with laserscanned circuits and true to life driving physics, the attention to detail that has been lavished on Assetto Corsa in recent years will bring a new definition of simulation to console players.

Assetto Corsa has been in development on PC since 2013, with several sizable updates to the core game physics and ample first class content added to expand the already impressive list of cars and tracks. Utilising the experience gained during the development of Assetto Corsa on PC, Kunos have been working hard in conjunction with their publisher 505 games to optimise the game for console players. New menu and UI screens have been added, bringing about a modern, fresh feeling to the navigational areas of the sim. Kunos have been at pains to maintain both the console and PC versions of Assetto Corsa remain identical under the hood, allowing Xbox and PlayStation gamers the same opportunity to experience the advanced driving experience that has made Assetto Corsa such a popular title with PC sim racers in recent years. Marco Massarutto of Assetto Corsa released a recent posting on his personal Facebook page, responding to rumblings within the community that AC on console will not offer the same experience as PC players. The post in full, and community comments, can be seen in the Assetto Corsa sub forum here.

UPDATE:
New Assetto Corsa launch trailer for European release below:

Check our recent article to view the list of compatible controllers for Assetto Corsa on PS4 and Xbox One, and check out the AC release trailer here if you haven’t already seen it.

Assetto Corsa will be available on console for players in North America on August 30th.

PC players will be receiving update 1.8 and the new Trpl3 DLC later today. Keep an eye out at RaceDepartment for more information once the update has been released.

Got the game, now join the discussion. Head over to the Assetto Corsa forums for news and community discussion regarding the game. PC players can take advantage of our substantial mods database and Modding Discussion forum, and sign up to some of our regular club racing events.

Have you got your copy yet? First impressions positive? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[JeffL]

I have an honest question. Unlike PC where there is plethora of equipment combinations, the Xbox, Ps4 are fixed systems. How can it be that there are fps and technical issues. When there are problems with the game, doesn't that mean they saw these things before the release because everyone is using the same piece of hardware?

 

[Alex Townsend]

Yep. It wasn't properly optimised and they were forced, possibly by the investors of 505, to release on the day as planned even though they knew it wasn't ready.
Back in the day of cartridges you couldn't do that. These days everything is always online so release crap and patch it later...

 

[burrito]

Yep. It wasn't properly optimised and they were forced, possibly by the investors of 505, to release on the day as planned even though they knew it wasn't ready.
Back in the day of cartridges you couldn't do that. These days everything is always online so release crap and patch it later...

They should ban patches to console games until 6 months after release to stop that kind of thing

/sarcasm

(I completely agree with your post though)

 

[MSKbeans]

Bit wrong Xbox and PS run 8 core. GPU usually around 4 years old. Most PC gamers change components every year or so, might be 1 or 2 but upgrades seem to slow down, then a super burst of speed. The other thing is cost GPU's costing 500 are pointless in consoles as other components then need replacing to cope . Consoles costing 1000 ??? most PC's would be redundant, Ease of use and family orientated you don't see many 6 year old playing PC but consoles, they not only play but beat you. Haha

 

[JeffL]

Actually I wasn't comparing console to pc, I was just asking why they might be having issues on the current releases of consoles.

 

[RC45]

Actually I wasn't comparing console to pc, I was just asking why they might be having issues on the current releases of consoles.

Poor QC and testing.
Based on the personalities of the KS folks as displayed via social media, I can see how testers who would like to get paid and keep their jobs would simply not report bugs - have you seen the tantrums the KS devs throw when you just ask them a question, imagine trying to tell them the product you are testing is broken.

As I observe this AC console release, I keep seeing this YouTube parody of the PC release play out LOL

 

[FA RACING 01]

^^ Wow. Besides many other things, that guy is in desperate need of a dentist.

 

[Radu Oros]

Poor QC and testing.
Based on the personalities of the KS folks as displayed via social media, I can see how testers who would like to get paid and keep their jobs would simply not report bugs - have you seen the tantrums the KS devs throw when you just ask them a question, imagine trying to tell them the product you are testing is broken.

How do you arrive from Stefano saying is non sense your insinuation that AC on consoles won't be a realistic simulation as on pc because they want money from arcade racing players, to professional testers being afraid of saying issues they find while testing the game on ps4 and xb1?

As you could check the console reviews, several of them found it hard to play AC. Which I guess is because they never played a sim before and their first experience in one was only with a gamepad instead of ffb wheel.
And anyone that played both PC and Console said that is the same simulation they were used on PC, although experienced with different wheels, but the same sim.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

What happened to all those super smart guys that were loudly claiming that Kunos would have to dumb down the physics for the console; haven't seen a single post from any of them admitting they were wrong.

 

[natedogg1867]

What happened to all those super smart guys that were loudly claiming that Kunos would have to dumb down the physics for the console; haven't seen a single post from any of them admitting they were wrong.

Heh, was wondering this too. Since 1.8, I figured these forums and the AC forums would be swamped with "simulation value experts" with demonstrable proof!!!!! that the game was dumbed down since consoles just released. Welp, guess that change didnt actually happen whatsoever then huh?

But, dont worry, our resident simulation value experts started their crusade months ago claiming that the game was already being dumbed down back then.

*Yawn*

 

[David Dominguez]

Poor QC and testing.
Based on the personalities of the KS folks as displayed via social media, I can see how testers who would like to get paid and keep their jobs would simply not report bugs - have you seen the tantrums the KS devs throw when you just ask them a question, imagine trying to tell them the product you are testing is broken.

It's really more about budget I think. They now there are many things that could be better, but they don't have time for everything. It's the issue with small studios. You can't expect them to release a product like Forza with 1/20 of their team size.

Also they are rather nice when you make a bug/issue report, especially if it's well explained and documented, being in public or private. I have experimented this myself many times, so I don't think what you say is the case.

 

[Stereo]

I have an honest question. Unlike PC where there is plethora of equipment combinations, the Xbox, Ps4 are fixed systems. How can it be that there are fps and technical issues. When there are problems with the game, doesn't that mean they saw these things before the release because everyone is using the same piece of hardware?

They work more like PCs now, which means the game isn't the only software running. There's the whole OS in the background providing video clip recording, voice recognition, etc.

It sounded to me like fps issues come up after multiple sessions in a row, which makes it less likely to have been specifically tested. There's what, 80 cars * 20 tracks worth of possible single sessions, then square that for two sessions, even if they had a million testers they wouldn't have seen every sequence of events. That's why public release always finds more bugs, there's just more people.

 

[JeffL]

They work more like PCs now, which means the game isn't the only software running. There's the whole OS in the background providing video clip recording, voice recognition, etc.

It sounded to me like fps issues come up after multiple sessions in a row, which makes it less likely to have been specifically tested. There's what, 80 cars * 20 tracks worth of possible single sessions, then square that for two sessions, even if they had a million testers they wouldn't have seen every sequence of events. That's why public release always finds more bugs, there's just more people.

Did the software change before the release or something else change? The 2 examples you gave would be something that gamers would use. and should be tested right? Look if people are ok with unfinished and buggy releases with promises to fix who am I to argue.

 

[Stereo]

I can't really say why they wouldn't notice it, since I don't know what causes it.

 

[kamackeris]

Emma,
what exactly is your point with this video example?

Yeh I was wondering the same!

 

[Ben Lee]

What happened to all those super smart guys that were loudly claiming that Kunos would have to dumb down the physics for the console; haven't seen a single post from any of them admitting they were wrong.

Quite legitimate concerns though, as has been proven over the years, in an effort to grab the console dollar, publishers are all too quick to sacrifice the core experience at the expense of making the game more "accessible" and "lowering the threshold". Was this ever likely in an "already published" title on the PC, probably not.

However looking at the overall response from the release, maybe they should have adjusted some aspects of the console experience. Lots of people saying the difficulty is too high. Perhaps Kunos overestimated the skill level of the average console gamer? I would say that it would be easy to just shove in an even lower difficulty level "really easy" for example, however as we have seen in the countless AI threads, just moving the slider down to 50% for AI will probably have other consequences and is not probably the "easy fix" people might think.

I think this was my main concern. The console release being pushed out the door too early and then getting a mixed or poor response. Historically, the console audience has been far less tolerant of titles which don't function as expected. I think you can shove out the door a part functioning title on PC and it will be accepted to a degree, however I don't think the console audience will give them the same grace. If the title isn't functioning normally within a couple of weeks, then I fear for the prospects of the title on console.

 

[Radu Oros]

Quite legitimate concerns though, as has been proven over the years, in an effort to grab the console dollar, publishers are all too quick to sacrifice the core experience at the expense of making the game more "accessible" and "lowering the threshold". Was this ever likely in an "already published" title on the PC, probably not.

However looking at the overall response from the release, maybe they should have adjusted some aspects of the console experience. Lots of people saying the difficulty is too high. Perhaps Kunos overestimated the skill level of the average console gamer? I would say that it would be easy to just shove in an even lower difficulty level "really easy" for example, however as we have seen in the countless AI threads, just moving the slider down to 50% for AI will probably have other consequences and is not probably the "easy fix" people might think.

I think this was my main concern. The console release being pushed out the door too early and then getting a mixed or poor response. Historically, the console audience has been far less tolerant of titles which don't function as expected. I think you can shove out the door a part functioning title on PC and it will be accepted to a degree, however I don't think the console audience will give them the same grace. If the title isn't functioning normally within a couple of weeks, then I fear for the prospects of the title on console.

If the game gets "lowered difficulty" for consoles then it can suffer in the medium or longer run for people who wanted a simulation. Certain "professional" reviewers shouldn't judge a sim (and they should inform themselves what genre of game they are reviewing although is publicly marketed as a sim) within their first laps of using one with a gamepad and writing things like too difficult instead of realistically difficult and 'can't even brake in time with the slower cars'. Only so they can quickly publish their piece.
From professional reviewers we should expect them to understand and tell people if what the game proposed to do is there (the simulation).
For example I don't review a role playing or strategy game if I don't know or don't understand this game concept, otherwise how can I advise customers about the quality of the gameplay.
The reviewers should adapt to the game not the other way around. Because then they project their feelings and sometimes ignorance too much. A review may need a soul but also information of quality about what the game is doing. Then the customers decide if they like and continue to play the game, is not the reviewer's job to manipulate tastes and motivations.

 

[David Wright]

I think this was my main concern. The console release being pushed out the door too early and then getting a mixed or poor response. Historically, the console audience has been far less tolerant of titles which don't function as expected. I think you can shove out the door a part functioning title on PC and it will be accepted to a degree, however I don't think the console audience will give them the same grace. If the title isn't functioning normally within a couple of weeks, then I fear for the prospects of the title on console.

pCars survived a difficult launch and went on to sell very well. It was very buggy on release (more so than AC it would seem) and had fps issues on XBox. It did feature private on-line racing and leaderboards but driving with a gamepad was/is more difficult than it is in AC.

At least we seem to have moved on from the "AC will be too hard for console drivers."

 

[Ben Lee]

I guess only time will tell. I think the complaints from the console crowd run a little deeper than simply patching bugs which was the case with pcars. A lot of console users are saying that the title is missing a number of "expected" features and game elements which I don't believe was really the case with pcars.

Doesn't bother me as such being a PC user, however I want to see the title do well on all platforms.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Doesn't bother me as such being a PC user, however I want to see the title do well on all platforms.

That is the thing though, none of us (and maybe not even Kunos) know what 'doing well' is; we have no idea of what that number should be.