Kunos Confirms Delay to Upcoming Assetto Corsa Console Update

[Paul Jeffrey]

Kunos Simulazioni have confirmed the upcoming Assetto Corsa console update has been hit by delays, meaning private lobby support will have to wait just a little bit longer....

Posting by way of the official Kunos Facebook page, the studio have confirmed that a planned release for the end of the current month will no longer be possible as the proposed update has hit unforeseen delays. Although no new release date has been offered by Kunos at this time, and no reasoning behind the delay has been shared, Kunos have promised to continue to work hard and aim to update the community in the near future as to when we can expect this update to land.

Recently Kunos confirmed the build release was with Sony and Microsoft respectively for approval before launching into the public domain, so one can only assume the new build has failed the rigorous checks required by the console giants and Kunos will have to return to the drawing board before again attempting to launch the update.

You can read the full statement from Kunos below and check out the images from the upcoming new build attached to this article.

"Despite our best efforts, we are unable to launch our next major console update at the end of this month, as hoped. However, we’re pushing hard and fingers crossed, we should have a release date to share with you all very soon. We’re almost there!

Thank you all so much for your continued patience and support - It means so much to the team!

This update is full of incredible content and features, including Custom Online Lobbies, Custom Championships and much more. Stay tuned for more info..."


Assetto Corsa is a PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 racing simulation available to purchase now. Additional DLC content can be purchased via the respective game stores.

Assetto Corsa and RaceDepartment are a match made in heaven if you enjoy mods and quality online racing events. We have our very own dedicated sub forum for the game, where you can catch up on the latest news and join in with your fellow fans discussing the simulation. Head over and check it out today!

Are you looking forward to the upcoming console update? Are you excited about private lobbies coming to the title? Do you think Assetto Corsa on console can go on and overtake its main racing game rivals in time? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Graham Laing]

As @Kenny Paton said above, let's lower the volume in this thread.

Nobody here wants arguments carried over from other forums to be discussed or argued about here. Stay on topic and keep any other personal grudges out of the forum

Thanks

 

[Hor-hay]

ah man I just got my popcorn ready

 

[StefanoCasillo]

you should repeat that mantra to yourself, cause you are the one colapsing to a point that you wanted to quit AC right? and the one that said that you barely play any AC cause when you do you get so fustrated that you want to change things, please go and change things and make AC a simulator, until that i do not want to hear about you. bye

and still here you are

and no, I don't have to repeat any mantra, for me AC is my job, it's what I do for a living, it's how I pay my bills, it's a lifetime achievement.. it's NOT just a game.
For you it's a 40 eur videogame that you should use if it makes you happy, not something to obsess over, create 15 millions account, flame and complain about for years and years. If you don't like it.. if it makes you so unhappy and bitter, don't use it, as simple as that... me I don't have that option.

 

[MarkR]

it's a lifetime achievement.. it's NOT just a game.

That is exactly how the PC version of AC comes across, with the enthusiasm and passion of your team woven into the fabric of the game. The handling and uncanny feel of the cars remain exceptional. AC can be a real work of art too, I fire up VR and look at some of those early Porsche cockpits and I want to reach out and open those little hinged windows. Brilliant and the PC mods add another dimension. I've praised the game and DLC packs and, despite what I will say below, the reviews stay as it is that good.

But...I'm sorry to say the console game, which started out as awful (framerate!) and today rates as only below average, changed my opinion from advocate to ambivalent. There is no point repeating the problems again and I know the custom lobbies and even button mapping are coming but the long delay to get here has cost any remaining goodwill. Our little race group still attempt to play the console version from time to time but soon drift away due to the online lobby behaviour (the player behaviour is not your fault but nothing we can do to avoid it for the past 8 months). All that passion and enthusiasm from the PC version is missing in the console version. The pace of updates has been glacial and that video of the console devs explaining the process was excruciating and amateurish. You have an odd customer relations strategy but you explaining it's a life's work helps to explain, not justify, that a little. Here's the thing, console players wanted to love the game too. There is a set pattern to the excuses too they rotate from - we're a small company to console complications to it's just a game all laced with long telling silences in between. Bottom line I still think you mislead the console community and have yet to deliver anything close to what was advertised. A great shame and an opportunity lost to be different from other developers.

I'm also banned from your forum and that is fine, it's your club. At the same time, I still enjoy the PC game. Unlike your advice to leave the console version alone what we are really desperate to do is play the game as intended in the custom lobbies being able to use all the cars and tracks in some fair like minded racing. When the lobbies update arrives our little group will play AC on the console, I just hope they work as intended with decent performance. I've had plenty of entertainment value from the game and a few months extra from online will be a bonus. If not it looks like being another great year for racing games so this little saga will soon be forgotten. I'm just one consumer so I have no expectation you care about my opinion but maybe, just maybe people like me who take the time to give you feedback are worth listening to from time to time. Your train set, your choice.

 

[Radu Oros]

That is exactly how the PC version of AC comes across, with the enthusiasm and passion of your team woven into the fabric of the game. The handling and uncanny feel of the cars remain exceptional. AC can be a real work of art too, I fire up VR and look at some of those early Porsche cockpits and I want to reach out and open those little hinged windows. Brilliant and the PC mods add another dimension. I've praised the game and DLC packs and, despite what I will say below, the reviews stay as it is that good.

But...I'm sorry to say the console game, which started out as awful (framerate!) and today rates as only below average, changed my opinion from advocate to ambivalent. There is no point repeating the problems again and I know the custom lobbies and even button mapping are coming but the long delay to get here has cost any remaining goodwill. Our little race group still attempt to play the console version from time to time but soon drift away due to the online lobby behaviour (the player behaviour is not your fault but nothing we can do to avoid it for the past 8 months). All that passion and enthusiasm from the PC version is missing in the console version. The pace of updates has been glacial and that video of the console devs explaining the process was excruciating and amateurish. You have an odd customer relations strategy but you explaining it's a life's work helps to explain, not justify, that a little. Here's the thing, console players wanted to love the game too. There is a set pattern to the excuses too they rotate from - we're a small company to console complications to it's just a game all laced with long telling silences in between. Bottom line I still think you mislead the console community and have yet to deliver anything close to what was advertised. A great shame and an opportunity lost to be different from other developers.

I'm also banned from your forum and that is fine, it's your club. At the same time, I still enjoy the PC game. Unlike your advice to leave the console version alone what we are really desperate to do is play the game as intended in the custom lobbies being able to use all the cars and tracks in some fair like minded racing. When the lobbies update arrives our little group will play AC on the console, I just hope they work as intended with decent performance. I've had plenty of entertainment value from the game and a few months extra from online will be a bonus. If not it looks like being another great year for racing games so this little saga will soon be forgotten. I'm just one consumer so I have no expectation you care about my opinion but maybe, just maybe people like me who take the time to give you feedback are worth listening to from time to time. Your train set, your choice.

The difference between the PC and Console version of the game is that while on the PC it was Kunos that invested in it, therefore their life work, on the console version it was 505 Games investing and maybe also calling the shots on what they would include in the port. I see the console game as an alternative path where others took the reigns. The soul of Kunos in my opinion is in the PC game, that's why he talks as life achievement.

 

[StefanoCasillo]

But...I'm sorry to say the console game, which started out as awful (framerate!) and today rates as only below average, changed my opinion from advocate to ambivalent.

that is absolutely fine. For me (and for the entire team) it's a lifetime achievement and something to be proud anyway.. we set up to do something and we did it. The result might not get the same praises it is getting on the PC, but we're still talking about a super solid software that has close to zero crashes and it's compared to other products made by companies with hundreds of devs and several millions of budget. We gave our 300% on the project, if that is not enough for some users.. it's fine.. as I said above, it's a videogame, it's supposed to be fun.. it's not a space shuttle program, if somebody doesn't like it.. fine, nobody will die, it's all fine.

 

[Andy_J]

that is absolutely fine. For me (and for the entire team) it's a lifetime achievement and something to be proud anyway.. we set up to do something and we did it. The result might not get the same praises it is getting on the PC,
it's a videogame, it's supposed to be fun.. it's not a space shuttle program, if somebody doesn't like it.. fine, nobody will die, it's all fine.

I agree with you. It's a good achievement for a small team. But I think a warning on the package of the console version stating "this game is not as good as the PC version" should have been applied. Just a thought. It's only a game after all. I suppose some people just wanted PC type simulation on their console and feel a bit deflated that they didn't get it.

 

[Radu Oros]

I agree with you. It's a good achievement for a small team. But I think a warning on the package of the console version stating "this game is not as good as the PC version" should have been applied. Just a thought. It's only a game after all. I suppose some people just wanted PC type simulation on their console and feel a bit deflated that they didn't get it.

People who never played a PC sim how can they know they want an exact one on the console? Besides, you assume the PC version is a good game while reviews from others say the PC version is a bad game (talking in a timeline of first half of 2016, since the console version launched last summer). So, PC version is a mix between people who like it, hate it, good enough, yet you think the actual game on PC is an extraordinary selling point for the Console version.. but it isn't, the driving simulation and some of the content is.

But if you're going to draw comparisons, the game is the same between console and pc. Lets see: content, game modes (special events, career, quick race, race weekend, public servers), simulation, graphics, sounds. Now with the next update they will bring the latest things from PC to Console: custom lobbies (custom servers on pc), same content, custom championships.

The only differences are menus, user interface in game, custom mapping for devices (kunos talked they decided to do it for the next update after the one already in process).

 

[StefanoCasillo]

Besides, you assume the PC version is a good game while reviews from others say the PC version is a bad game (talking in a timeline of first half of 2016, since the console version launched last summer).

you mean racesim forum characters' reviews?
Because in the real world AC has a 87% positive reviews on Steam (which went down from over 90% after my latest debacle with that guy that posted PM messages) and 85 and 8.5 on Metacritic, plus has been the most played racing game on steam for more than 1 year now... so ya, show me where's this "bad game" again?

 

[Radu Oros]

you mean racesim forum characters' reviews?
Because in the real world AC has a 87% positive reviews on Steam (which went down from over 90% after my latest debacle with that guy that posted PM messages) and 85 and 8.5 on Metacritic, plus has been the most played racing game on steam for more than 1 year now... so ya, show me where's this "bad game" again?

That's exactly it, why is he saying the console version is bad (or "this game is not as good as the PC version") if is actually the same game and the pc game is rated high by reviews. The differences are maybe less customizations on console compared to pc, but that doesn't make the game. Rest of the differences will always be due to PC receiving updates first and console afterwards.

 

[Andy_J]

I'm not saying one is better than the other and I don't know where you get that from. Creative reading maybe? I don't own a console of any type. I'm just going on the comments of others here who complain about the console version. Even Mr Kunos states the console version doesn't get the same positive praises the PC version enjoys so their must be a difference.
I really like AC on PC. It's one of favourite race sims and I enjoy it. To me it's one of the best. The actual driving feeling is spot on, the graphics are wonderful and the FFB is also very good. I only really use it for hot lapping and testing because the AI is not up to much but for what I use it for I really do enjoy it.

 

[Radu Oros]

I'm not saying one is better than the other and I don't know where you get that from. Creative reading maybe? I don't own a console of any type. I'm just going on the comments of others here who complain about the console version. Even Mr Kunos states the console version doesn't get the same positive praises the PC version enjoys so their must be a difference.
I really like AC on PC. It's one of favourite race sims and I enjoy it. To me it's one of the best. The actual driving feeling is spot on, the graphics are wonderful and the FFB is also very good. I only really use it for hot lapping and testing because the AI is not up to much but for what I use it for I really do enjoy it.

But those negative or mixed reviews about the console version usually don't come from people comparing pc and console, they come straight from playing the console version. Also, if someone who doesn't like AC on pc and goes to review the game on console is likely the review will be in the same tone. That's why I said you assume the PC version is good when in reality it depends on the person who analyzes. And also that's why I find absurd you saying they should put on cover that "this game is not as good as the PC version". The game is the same, some customizations are different (tends to be better on pc), and performance is as good as the console hardware lets.

 

[Andy_J]

And also that's why I find absurd you saying they should put on cover that "this game is not as good as the PC version". The game is the same, some customizations are different (tends to be better on pc), and performance is as good as the console hardware lets.

So listening to you, there is no real difference between the versions. So I have to ask, why is there so much vitriol and complaints about the console versions?

 

[Andy_J]

OK, no problem Radu. Not looking to get into an argument with you. Have a nice day.

 

[StefanoCasillo]

So listening to you, there is no real difference between the versions. So I have to ask, why is there so much vitriol and complaints about the console versions?

Although the "core" (physics, AI, netcode) is the same, the fact that the UI is totally redesigned makes the fruition and perception of the game pretty different.

 

[Radu Oros]

So listening to you, there is no real difference between the versions. So I have to ask, why is there so much vitriol and complaints about the console versions?

Like there aren't complaints about the pc version? That's what I sometimes don't understand. Some people wanted an exact port of the pc version to console back in 2016, most notably the vocal minorities on the forums and on prc, but then they also complain loudly about the pc version. So there are some inconsistencies in their criticism of AC, because on one side they shout at Kunos for the console version not being 100% like the pc version and on the other side they shout at Kunos for the pc version not being good.

But hey ho, I'm glad that Kunos is working and making nice things on both fronts, for the pc and console players because a not perfect game but continuously updated is better than a perfect game but abandoned or stagnant.

 

[Brandon Wright]

That's exactly it, why is he saying the console version is bad (or "this game is not as good as the PC version") if is actually the same game and the pc game is rated high by reviews. The differences are maybe less customizations on console compared to pc, but that doesn't make the game. Rest of the differences will always be due to PC receiving updates first and console afterwards.

The complaints I see the most usually revolve around not being able to select the exact cars you want to race against and instead being limited to certain classes, some of which aren't very well balanced or have cars in them that shouldn't be there. Combined with online currently being limited to select pre-set events it makes it difficult to setup the exact race you want which would be frustrating. If it was like that on PC it would certainly limit the usability of the game and there would be much internet whinging. That being said, I also think the console players have some pie in the sky vision of what the PC version is like which isn't necessarily accurate because in reality there is not that much functional difference between the two versions.

 

[StefanoCasillo]

if you think about it, for 99,99% of PC users, multiplayer is about opening the server browser and look for a combo they like. The number of players that actually goes and sets up a server by themselves is a tiny, almost insignificant minority.
So yeah... it's the internet, people will look for every possible excuse to make some noise.. which does not mean AC is free of issues, but the amount of noise this very small number of users can make is way bigger than the actual truths behind their noises.

 

[MarkR]

that is absolutely fine. For me (and for the entire team) it's a lifetime achievement and something to be proud anyway.. we set up to do something and we did it. The result might not get the same praises it is getting on the PC, but we're still talking about a super solid software that has close to zero crashes and it's compared to other products made by companies with hundreds of devs and several millions of budget. We gave our 300% on the project, if that is not enough for some users.. it's fine.. as I said above, it's a videogame, it's supposed to be fun.. it's not a space shuttle program, if somebody doesn't like it.. fine, nobody will die, it's all fine.

Fair enough and thank you for taking the time to reply. It is a fun video game and the PC version a truly fine lifetime achievement.

 

[MarkR]

if you think about it, for 99,99% of PC users, multiplayer is about opening the server browser and look for a combo they like. The number of players that actually goes and sets up a server by themselves is a tiny, almost insignificant minority.

I agree with what you say about PC users, I've never set up a server but, if I may, console users are used to something quite different. I became a console player in the PC wilderness years when consoles dominated the social play space. You might say console users have even been spoilt because they don't have to set up servers etc but we have been able to race together with friends for over 11 years, Moto GP06 is the standout memory for me of racing games that added the ability to race together with friends, using the game content and tracks as we wished.

I'd like to offer some hopefully constructive suggestions that I hope you will consider:

Firstly you are absolutely right not everyone wants custom multiplayer and other games consider that by giving the career mode and hotlapping a little more meaning and therefore more reason to play.

- Some people like the career mode, AC career mode is OK (especially now it is much better balanced) but there isn't much to keep players interested long term. Knowing how friends are progressing, comparing career progress, lap times and finishing positions with friends would add a great deal to that.

- AC is a superb hotlapping game but without friends to compare to it becomes a little hollow. With a leaderboard and a rivals type modes, as pioneered by Need for Speed, it would all become so much more addictive. Those little pop-up messages that friends have beaten a lap time are so one more go alluring.

- AC's open pre-set multiplayer lobbies are also OK, they work and find the right room and a decent race is possible. The problem is they are static (we pretty much had to beg your team to add PP2 cars to the set online events). Take a peek over at Forza (I know a much bigger team) and they constantly curate, update and provide new impetus for us to stay involved in the public lobby multiplayer events. The cut and thrust of the Forza open lobbies can be good fun for a while. Forza Horizon 3 has taken that to a new level with the constantly updated Forzathon events. If your team curated the events, organised them in some meaningful way and provided the impetus for us to play more I'm sure people would. The 000's still playing Forza 6 tell me that, you'll know the numbers better than me but current peak time on Xbox is sub 100 players on Xbox and around double that on PS4.

- Custom Multiplayer is the lifeblood of racing games in my past 12 years experience and not the tiny minority you suggest. It is these groups that play the games the most, dedicate themselves to tuning and setting up meaningful leagues etc. They provide the space for like-minded friends and rivals to race - there comes a point when the senselessness of the open lobbies becomes too much. Unlike on PC where server setup skills are required, console players are used to setting up a lobby, choosing a track and car, inviting in friends and going racing with easy voice communication thrown in. They are also used to being able to change the track and or car in the same lobby without need another round of setup. Please don't underestimate the console players dedication though, they are just as capable of setting up complex rooms with set rules, qualifying procedures and a greater range of parameters than your forthcoming update is set to offer. Forza 6 has multiple set up pages for those inclined to take the time, and there are many who do. The people here become dedicated to a game for months and often years. I know you and the team are working hard to give us this and we will thank you for it when it arrives.

All this is offered in the friendliest manner with the hope that AC on console reaches the heights it has on PC. The basics are mostly there now what we really need is more reasons and ways to play. We live in the age of social gaming and customisation and just like button mapping, people like to be able to customise the experience to fit them. If all this was new or a first for a console I'd agree we are asking too much, the reality is we've had the ability to race together since 2006 and the ability to compare statistics since 2009/10. AC on console would be so much enhanced with those features.