We had high hopes for Le Mans Ultimate when we wrote about the game at the end of 2023. We anticipated a fully-fledged game that would represent the complete 2023 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The game was initially going to be released at the end of 2023 but was moved to 20 February 2024. We assumed that Le Mans Ultimate would be released on this date as the complete game we've been waiting for. However, that changed yesterday.
What does Early Access mean for you?
You will get the game on launch day at a discounted price but still have access to the majority of its content and features. This will include online ranked daily races where you get matched against other drivers of similar skill levels while driving the 2023 Hypercars on several of the tracks that formed part of the 2023 FIA WEC.
What will be missing will be some features and content that will be released later but the price of the game will slowly increase as it gets closer to being a full release.
The game will be released at the price of €29.99 / £24.99 / $32.99 but, as mentioned before, will increase over time to it's full release price.
Is this a bad thing?
Before we answer this, we just want to mention that Assetto Corsa Competizione, widely considered to be the best GT racing simulator ever made started life as early access.
We bought the game at a relatively low price and enjoyed the ride of being part of its development as it slowly progressed to full release. If Le Mans Ultimate follows this, then we don't see a problem. We actually prefer this over releasing a game that's full of bugs, EA-style, or worse, the release date keeps getting pushed back until it eventually gets cancelled.
Also, we think that if more people are involved with the early access part of the game, then there will be a better chance of it turning into a rock-solid racing sim thanks to feedback from the community.
Final thoughts
It is disappointing that Le Mans Ultimate will be Early Access on release but we appreciate the developers doing it now instead of pushing the date back just when we think it's about to release. The part we're happy with is we'll have a game that's playable, both in single and multiplayer modes with the cars and tracks that should make most buyers of the game very happy.
Needless to say, we will have a review up the moment the game is released.
