For as long as I can remember, Electronic Arts held an exclusive contract with Porsche to license their cars in video games (Need for Speed, Real Racing, etc). Sure, you could drive a RUF in Gran Turismo or buy a sub-licensed Porsche pack in Forza, but those opportunities were few and far between. If you were a gamer and wanted a Porsche, EA was basically your only option. That all changed earlier this year when SpeedManiacs.com confirmed that after nearly 16-years, EA was finally losing their exclusive hold on all that is Porsche in the virtual racing world. Their successor, Assetto Corsa.
For those not familiar, Assetto Corsa started life as a PC based simulator. It quickly grew in popularity due to its incredible realism, long list of perfectly rendered tracks and highly detailed simulations of desirable cars. However, it was always missing Porsches.
That all changed at some point in the last two years
Besides offering PC based simulators (as well as console versions for X Box One and Playstation 4) Assetto Corsa won the contract to supply simulators to Porsche for their Experience Centers in Atlanta, LA and Shanghai. We’ve had a chance to play on these ourselves and can attest to how realistic they are as well as how much fun. Apparently, using that relationship as a spring board, Assetto Corsa was able to move to a full blown licensing agreement with Porsche and now offers three complete “Porsche Packs” for all three versions of their game. Here’s what you can get with each.
Assetto Corsa Porsche Pack Volume 1
- Porsche 911 Carrera S
- Porsche 918 Spyder
- Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0
- Porsche 718 Cayman S
- Porsche 917/30 Spyder
- Porsche 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’
- Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport
Assetto Corsa Porsche Pack Volume II
- Porsche 911 GT3 RS
- Porsche 718 Spyder RS
- Porsche Cayman GT4
- Porsche 718 Boxster S Manual Transmission
- Porsche 718 Boxster S PDK
- Porsche 919 Hybrid 2015
- Porsche 911 GT1
- Porsche 962c long tail
- Porsche 962c short tail
Assetto Corsa Porsche Pack Volume III
- Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 2017
- Porsche 911 GT3 R 2016
- Porsche 919 Hybrid 2016
- Porsche 908 LH
- Porsche 917 K
- Porsche 911 R
- Porsche 911 Turbo S
Porsche made unprecedented efforts to ensure that the historical motorsport vehicles offer realistic driving behavior, which is why Kunos Simulazioni, the Italian developers behind Assetto Corsa, worked closely with Porsche engineers. In addition, race logs and development documents were gathered from the historical archive at the Porsche Museum and analyzed in minute detail.
In total, there are three Porsche Packs available for Assetto Corsa with a total of 24 historical and current vehicles; the third and, for now, last Porsche Pack celebrated its release last week on the PC version. Owners of a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One will need to wait until January 2017 in order to get their packs. Packs appear to be reasonably priced ($6.99 per pack $15.09 for all three on STEAM).
