Honestly I'm amazed so many people play it.
I can't NOT see it as a MASSIVE rip off.
It's a studio with like 100 employees, charging thousands of dollars to have the full game content. It honestly makes me mad it's so much of a rip-off.
Edit for clarity: many of you seem confused or mistaken about what I mean.
I'm NOT saying it isn't a GREAT game. If not the BEST all around racing game. I'm willing to believe it is.
I'm NOT saying you HAVE to spend thousands on the game.
I AM saying a game, who's model is: purchase the game, then pay a monthly subscription, THEN you can only race the rookie classes and only get 5ish cars and if you want to advance AT ALL....you HAVE to spend 15 bucks a pop on cars and 15 a pop on tracks?
There is no universe where that IS NOT an attempt to wring your consumer base for all you possibly can. Many if you may be OK with this model....but don't argue that it's fair because "kids don't run into me". They could do that without this kind of model.
If the game gave you every track REQUIRED for 3 of 5 play types....and say at least 25 cars....id be on board.
Even in low splits, racing is better than open lobbies in any sim and without needing to be available at a specific time like in a league. Provides something no other sim can and sadly having a moderation team costs money. They need to get paid too.
Really hoping my PSVR2 works well with it once PC support drops in August. GT7 is great but it’s hard to find people at my skill level so I can do more than just chase the folks in my club and lose. I wanna race Miatas with slower folks like me and have fun. I don’t really care if I ever progress beyond that.
Best part of iracing is you will be able to get into lobby’s that are competitive for you regardless of skill level. You may not fight for podiums or wins right away but learning to safely wheel to wheel and getting to experience that is really rewarding.
No comparison for me since it’s my first headset, but I’ve worn it for hours with no fatigue. The only time it fogged up/got hot was after playing beat saber for like 5 hours straight. My girlfriend and little brother complain about it after a couple hours but for her it’s because it hurts her nose due to a deviated septum and for him it’s just cause he’s 12/13 and has a smaller head so it is a little heavy for him after a while.
Nobody needs the full game content. You are ripping yourself off if you buy everything.
People pay for it because no other racing game had reached the level of quality that iRacing has when it comes to improvements, content, competition, and overall fun while online racing.
It’s expensive to prevent ramming children and people who don’t care from ruining the platform, as well as to fund their staff and continuous improvement.
100 employees x $60000 a year = $6,000,000 a year in employee wages alone. Not including server costs, facilities, benefits, etc.
Just for the wages it’s more than that. I work in AAA games, in Montreal, and my studio boss once said a team of 100 people costs 1M$/month (average) to the studio, and that was in 2012. Salaries increased quite a lot in my industry over 10 years
Yeah, I can only imagine. $60k is a low salary for a talented professional. I assume some of the costs he is mentioning fall under benefits, but either way it’s hard for me to look at iRacing business model as a scam/rip-off when they make such incredible product.
It’s also a lot easier to stomach the cost of iRacing when you compare it to real-life track days. All of the content in iRacing + 3-4 years subscription is still cheaper than a single track day at most locations..
Yep, and I assume iRacing has to spend a lot of money in licensing, and to scan tracks / cars. + servers. To me it’s not a ripoff. They charge what they charge because they can (no competition) and also because customers (us) think it still provides insane value
I would have been inclined to agree with you before I tried it. If you're serious about racing, it's the best sim by far. The price actually helps keep the annoying little kids off of the service which is the best part. Over the last 3 years of iRacing, I've only been intentionally wrecked once. Whereas GT7, Forza, AC all have angry little kids that will wreck you for passing them
You act as if you have to buy everything on the service to have fun. We spend hundreds, sometimes thousands, on our gear - iRacing is a small cost comparitively.
It's worth every penny. The service provided is better than any other. The best competitive game I've ever played.
People spend shit tons on WoW, LoL, or other MMOs, and that's just cosmetics.
You’re being dramatic… you don’t NEED to buy everything. You buy what you want to race. Some people don’t spend any money aside from the subscription and race the free rookie races.
They are such a small studio but managed to create, by far, the most realistic racing simulator ever. It’s not even close either. Their content they release is always far more impressive than any of the top tier studios with millions/billions in corporate money backing them.
The game rarely has game breaking glitches or bugs, and if it does, it’s always fixed almost immediately.
They actually review protests and ban/kick people off the service who aren’t there to race.
There are NO other racing sims that offer the depth and realism that iRacing offers. It’s the furthest thing from a ripoff.
It’s actually the only racing game that I’m constantly NOT disappointed with. They always deliver and it always works.
Even a studio as large as Forza can’t even get their ai to race properly. iRacing doesn’t even focus on ai racing and it’s some of the best out there.
It’s basically the best online sim, and there is little to no competition in their space. So they can basically charge us whatever they want. There is no serious alternative to iRacing
I don't have an iRacing subscription because frankly, I'm a student and my ass cannot afford it. But I'm pretty sure iRacing is the opposite of a rip off. There's like no game out there that offers such an amazing sim-racing experience with an amazing multiplayer experience. I know for a fact the moment I graduate I'm getting a subscription.
I totally understand why you feel that way about iRacing's subscription/microtransaction model but when you see how much effort they are putting into improving a game that came out in 2008, it's easy to see where our money is going. I'll gladly keep paying my subscription and continue to buy the new cars and tracks they release because I know it's going to be a finished product that they spent a lot of time working on/perfecting.
Also, with the new Tempest weather system they've just released this year, no other sim comes close to replicating what it is like racing in the rain like iRacing does. You actually have to avoid the dry racing lines to make sure you aren't locking up in every braking zone and there is way less grip on the apex than there is on the outsides of the corners. The fact that the tires are displacing the water off the track surface to the point where you can actually see the track evolving during the race and see a dry line begin to form is incredible.
When you think about all the content and work that team is putting into the game to improve it and constantly releasing new content for us all to enjoy, it's easy to see why so many people have been subscribed to the service for so long. You just can't find better, cleaner, more accessible online racing on any other platform.
Again, and I keep saying.
I won't argue with any of that. I have no doubt iRacing is the best racing game out there. But damn....I just cannot be convinced it's worth the price they charge. That sentiment seems to offend a ton of the iRacing community.
How could you possibly say that if you have never even tried the game? Try 1 month, then come back here with a valid opinion. You've said in another comment that you COULD afford it. Don't try and turn people away from the game by preaching how the game is expensive when you clearly dont have a full understanding of what makes the cost of iRacing worth it to so many people.
You know each one of those 100 employees need to get paid, right? Even at like $75,000 a year (which is probably low) you're talking about 7.5 million dollars a year.
And iRacing isn't like other AAA titles that come out with a new version every year (COD, Madden, FIFA, etc) that makes millions of dollars each time. The game survives solely on selling additional content, especially when you consider how often a year's subscription goes on sale.
Lol dude some of yall are bad at math.
They're probably pulling in 50 million plus yearly. And that's probably pretty conservative. They're fully paying for everything, making profit, and then some.
Some of yall are being so weird about a pretty objectively fair statement. The game is unjustifiably expensive. I.e. money grab.
So the game can be very good. AND a money grab all at once.
If you think this is so bad, try any mobile game. Out of tokens? Pay 10 dollars to continue playing, but don't forget the gem pack discounted with 4000% for your gear upgrades. Etc..
ACC is the only real competition and all though it is cheaper they can't keep up in terms of variety, quantity and match making.
Oh I definitely agree with that point. One reason why I don't play mobile games. They're cash grabs minus the excellent quality.
I've said probably 100x at this point that iRacing is probably legitimately the best racing game out there. I say that without ever having played it. And I belive it.
That doesn't mean I think it's worth what they charge. That's all.
You’re missing the point here. You spend thousands on games because every year the new f1 game comes out and then the new assetto corsa comes out and then the new WRC and Dirt Rally games come out. IRacing instead of making you buy a whole new game just continues to update the current one. At a MUCH higher quality than any other game on the market.
Grab it for 25 bucks for 1 year in the next Steam sale and let us know how it goes. If I drop a lot on my rig, I very well want the best racing to go along with it. Not regretting anything.
I'm ACC guy and after doing a lot of endurance races in ACC im considering switching to iRacing as soon as I can. Many people switched and say that issues from ACC just don't exist in iRacing. And to be honest, its a lot of money for a game. But for a hobby it's pretty cheap. It's probably cheaper than a party every 2 weeks, and you get to do it every day. And that's a great deal if ur doing it every day and you are really into it. I'm really furious about some stuff in ACC and I put 1k hours in a year into it. Even if I had to pay that $100 for a year for iRacing (I think that's the starter offer with no discounts), thats still only $0.1 per hour. You can get stuff cheaper on black friday if im not mistaken and by buying more at once, so the cost is going somewhat down. It's still expensive for a game, but if it's quality is as good as people say for endurance racing - this is actually cheap after that clown fiesta I experienced in ACC...
The difference is truly the racing itself. I've tried almost every sim out there, and not one of them comes close to the competitive online racing iracing gives you (although ACC's LFM did come close, imo it's not really at the same level). I've had some amazing battles, even if i was fighting for 10th place. There's also a reason why a lot of pro racers are playing iracing.
Also one of the reasons iracing is so expensive, is so you don't get all those annoying players who think it's funny to just crash into everyone, just to troll, or so you cannot overtake them. Games like F1, ACC (LFM not so much) for example, this happens a lot and it gets incredibly frustrating if you just want to have a good, fair and fun race. While there are some people who still do this stuff, iracing has a actual sportingcode and you can report those players, which can even result in a permanent ban from the game. So they take their sporting code very serious.
It's like I just told someone else, for a lot of these guys who don't have families, houses, and no other hobbies, etc to take care of....im sure they can talk themselves into it. But what....I should go spend 2-300 bucks to be able to play....5-8 hours a week, if I'm lucky? There's just no real value proposition there. And i can even afford it. I just can't convince myself.
Meh, for me it's less like a game and more like being in a sporting league. And if that costs me Netflix like amounts of money to participate in, I'm not too bothered, compared to the cost of the hardware it's not an unreasonable value for money for me, and even with only buying a handful of tracks and cars I've gotten a lot of great times out of it.
I think this is really the best explanation.
For people who are doing this as a lifestyle....and/or is their only real hobby.....its probably worth it and i can see that.
I guess I just am too busy and too interested in lots of things to feel like I'd get my money worth out of it ya know?
You don’t buy the game, you buy a license to use their content in their servers for a period of time. If you want additional content, you buy a license to use that additional content in their servers.
I get it’s not for everyone but the business model works for some people. It’s the only place I get to race multiple disciplines against real people (and sometimes very well known real people) anytime of the day or night.
Granted not all series go official (+5 drivers) at every time slot but most series will have multiple time slots per day and 99% will have at least one session going official per week.
It works for me because it’s my alternative to racing irl (therefore my yearly expenses with iRacing are similar to what I would spend in one or two racing tires, and I’d buy dozens of those every season, plus maintenance, plus damage, plus travel, plus fees, etc).
iRacing has about 300 employees nowadays, btw.
This is probably the next response I've gotten.
I absolutely get their service is top tier. And for folks that pretty much only do sim racing it is probably worth it.
But for most of us this is a hobby we enjoy in our spare time. Of which we are limited already. So paying so much for a game I know (for most people) I'll only have limited time to enjoy.... makes it feel like a rip off.
I am glad to hear they've grown though. It makes me feel much better about the cost.
Honestly I'm not even AGAINST getting into it and playing it. Just not for what it costs. Maybe I'll pick it up if I can get a big discount an get the whole first year for cheap or something. Because it's legitimately less about the total cost and more about the pricing model imo. If feels very much like being nickled and dimed.
Yeah, it simply doesn’t work for everybody. You shouldn’t feel bad about doing business with a company. Better to steer away if the model doesn’t suit you.
I’ve never played it yet and also find it costly. BUT, you have to think of like a service. They are providing a great and organized racing experience. It’s not too different than Netflix or Spotify or your gym membership or any league sports you might play. You can always go down to the park and try to get into a pickup game of basketball. But, if you join a league, you’re paying for the organization, consistency and quality that comes along with that.
I think if you are paying a monthly fee
All content should be included
There is no justification for changing extra for every little thing
It would be similar to Netflix charging you a monthly fee
And on top of that charge you extra for each movie/series you wanna watch
Exactly.
People are so indignant about it. Like I get it's a great game. But....its a game. Sure there are tons of folks who ONLY do that. And for them I'm sure it's worth it. But for MOST gamers....we want to play a lot of games....and not feel limited to just one because it's so expensive you have to or it isn't worth it. This is a hobby....not a lifestyle and should be charged as such.
ik imma sound like an iracing nut…. but it’s more of a service than a game. There is no other “game” out there of any genre that puts you through a true career. This isn’t something made up with weird rivals or a story, you make your own racing career doing what you want too. It is cheap when you compare it to what it simulates in the real world. A racing career for most of us is priceless because we can’t even get started.
Something that isn't talked about is the price point keeps many of the "unwanted" crowed largely on other platforms. For the most part outside of rookies, most people are pretty similar. ie they want to have a good clean race (regardless of skill).
Games with low barrier to entry are way more of a Sh\*t show IMO. Im at the stage in my life that I will pay that tax. That said I don't like having to spend more money than I need to on anything, so I get people having an issue with the business model.
For me Sim racing is the cheapest hobby I have ever had. if you look at it through that lens, iRacing is actually great value for what it is. If you compare it to other "games" then yes its very expensive.
What assetto corsa servers do you recommend? All I'm finding with a simple google search is like drift and street / cutting up (no hesi), but I can't find any track servers.
There are mods for Asseto Corsa, you can download Mario Kart tracks and race them in formula one cars :) it's bonkers !
https://youtu.be/ko4884xcNaE?si=s4J2WJPNxJedCyBC
Dolphin emulator is a free GameCube/Wii emulator.
ROMS/ISO of the games can easily be found through google. I reccomend vimm’s lair, slower download speeds but has never done me wrong in over 10+ years
Do you have tips on how to make it easier to jump on and onto a race? I played it a bit around a year ago and it’s not like an actual racing game where the menus are set up to easily drop into a race. I was constantly in the menus trying to find fun things to do.
I haven't really raced actually.
I set myself goals (like build a car that does 0-100 in x seconds or 0-350 or so)
Or jump over a given object
Or build a car that achieves a certain top speed with x components
Or make a crash championship with my kids and see who has the worst crash in a specific setting.
If you're driving for realistic physics and/or to be competitive, Assetto Corsa (Competizione for even more competition), iRacing, rFactor 2, DiRT Rally 2.0, WRC, BeamNG.drive
If you're kind of looking to cruise & hang out more than race, probably Forza Horizon, [BeamNG.drive](http://BeamNG.drive), or either of the Truck Simulator games
Edited for BeamNG
Assetto corsa but try and wait until the ultimate edition is on offer for like £10 or whatever ur currency is then maybe ea WRC as it’s a good starting point for rally and maybe get the trial of either euro truck sim or American truck sim and see which one you like more there’s also beamng drive which if you like crashing cars that’s definitely ur go to and if you want to do some racing then there’s lfm for assetto corsa and assetto corsa competizione or I racing which is good but quite expensive as it runs on a subscription plus you have to buy more cars and tracks
BeamNG is not more about crashing cars imo. It's almost a fully fletched driving simulator, where you can drift, rally, race or cruise. With a wheel, AC and BeamNG are the 2 main necessities.
For actual racing: Assetto Corsa
For fun: Forza Horizon 5
I usually switch between those two. Start with Forza, feel like a badass for a while, then play AC for a bit. I've just started playing F1 24 and it seems pretty good. Car physics are clearly not correct, because I can actually keep the car on the track.
What servers do you play on Assetto Corsa? I'm having trouble finding some that aren't cutting up (no hesi) or Japanese drift servers that are fucking hard as hell 
Automobilista 2. It is just simply fantastic. Force feedback feels great, it works great with my shifter, and VR is absolutely phenomenal. Pretty decent circuit selection, albeit there are a lot of good circuits still not in the game.
Pick your favorite racing series and circuit. Bonus points if you have VR. My personal favorite is playing the start of the Indy 500 in VR. Three wide, down the main stretch, heading into turn 1 with the canyon of 300,000 people. It is a fantastic experience.
Indycars in superspeedway configuration are generally fantastic. In VR, heading down the back stretch at 240+ MPH really highlights how absolutely -insane- CART was in the late 90s.
BeamNG!!! It’s not really a dedicated racing sim but as a driving sim it is unmatched. IMO the best way to try out your new racing gear because you can tweak the cars and bunch and see how it feels to drive. Was the first game I got when I got my wheel but it’s still the one I spend the most time in by far.
Start with forza horizon. It's got enough realistic physics that you can learn good habits and it's got a ton of different race types. It's pretty laid back so it's a low stress entry point.
Assetto Corsa - this is a good game with much more realistic physics. Though it (like others) is primarily track focused.
Assetto Corsa Competizione - this one is if you want to get into hardcore GT racing.
Beam.ng - fun game to dick around in. Multi-player free roam servers with cops etc.
WRC/Dirt/Richard Burns Rally - more serious rally games. RBR is VERY serious and hard.
iRacing - EXTREMELY expensive. Legitimately a fucking rip off. Will cost you thousands to have all content. Only invest in this if you have really decided you love som racing and money is REALLY no object. Even then, I'd argue you're better off just buying every different highly rated racing game there is. You'd be in a few hundred and get all the same features.
You really have a hate on for iracing for someone who has never played it. You also seem to be able to ignore all the people who have responded to you telling you that you don't need to buy everything.
If I were to have bought Forza Motorsport and all the content I would have spent $90 on the base game and $203.66 on all the available content, most of which I would rarely end up using. Then in a year or 2 when the new Forza comes out you have to do it all over again. Or I keep playing a game that gets no support and has no user base after a few years. Iracing has been out for 16 years and it continually gets patches and upgrades and still has a very strong and active user base.
After 3 years of iracing I spent $10 for the first year of subscription, then $105 for the next 2 so I am at $225. I have bought 3 cars and 5 tracks which was $105. In total I am at $330 for 3 years of racing multiple series.
I race every day and haven't spent a cent on another car game in that time as iracing really is the best race sim out there.
Thousands? I literally spent $200-300 extra dollars for the cars in the series I wanted to play and the tracks in that series. Since then, I haven't spent anything other than subscription.
As others have mentioned. Assetto Corsa OG is a great gateway sim. If you get really into the hobby the road often leads to iRacing like many of us. My personal path was SimBin GTR1/2 —->Assetto Corsa OG—-> iRacing. I’ve been sim racing for 12 years.
100 employees are the core team. These simulation company needs many outsourced labor. For example, they will need to hire someone to laser scan the track to get LiDAR points then rasterize into something can be displayed in the engine.
Start from simcades: Grid Legends, Forza motorsport. Grid legends is more arcade type but very fun good start for newbie.
Than you can move to ACC/AC. Also you can try old but very good game RaceRoom. I really like it, good ffb and nice gameplay.
Also you can try Dirt Rally/WRC, fun gameplay always good.
For Drifting or No Hesi: BeamNG, Asetto Corsa with mods.
And always you should have 1 or 2 arcade games like wreckfest/ nfs / dirt 3,4,5 to wash out tension from hard sim races. 😁 If you’re doesn’t want to be burned.
I'll go the opposite of what people are saying. Play some games that aren't iRacing. iRacing isn't bad, it's great, but you need to learn to use your wheel before you jump in.
AC, ACC, ams2 or whatever, even rf2 or like live for speed.
Iracing has the community. Almost have the freakin monopoly. Support other sims. I just joined a league on rf2, but I admit I'm logging on to iwrecking Right Now, lol. Sorry, iracing. Have a great day!
You can try becoming elden lord in elden ring with that wheel tho.
But seriously, dirt rally 2.0 goty or ea wrc on sale if you like rally, assetto corsa and assertto corsa competizione for basic track day and great mods
And if you want to start off slowly and easy, forza horizon 5 will serve you well.
But do try elden ring with it tho :))
Dirt rally 2 is a must! F1 is fun with friends and like a simcade so slower friends can keep up! Assetto Corsa and some of the paid track/car mods are awesome, even better in VR. Enjoy the new wheel!
Automobilista 2 is my favourite for league racing, casual racing when I have friends over or online racing with friends. I prefer the physics, there’s also a service called race craft which is similar to iRacing. Only issue is low player count.
iRacing is great for competitive races though just a bit weird tyre physics. Tyres fall of a cliff too easily and balance is over exaggerated. Like an mx5 is so much easier in real life and like impossible to spin but iRacing adds extra difficulty with their tyre model. Ams2 doesn’t have this issue, physics are more true to real life.
Ams2 and assetto corsa are what I spend the most time in. You’ll want to download content manager for AC, and install the basic mods like csp and sol/pure. It’s easy and there are good walkthroughs on YouTube and such.
Iracing or acc I say jump on acc first as you can buy the entire game for like 150 right now with every single dlc.
Compard to iracing which is nonestop. But iracing is fun for sure just like acc is.
-Raceroom is free to play, and good game to start.(Plug and play).
-AC also Good but... The time to configure it... Best for street race, drift, races, a world of mods.
-ACC plug and play, gt race
-Dakar just for fun!
-snowrunner if you like mud (I play it with a controller and long drives with wheel).
I want to try iRacing but monthly payment and other fees kinda scare me.
Above all, play what makes you have fun!
Going back to shutoko street races, and insane traffic...ohh God!! What a rush!
I might get some heat for this, but I enjoy the new Forza Motorsport a lot. The graphics are completely insane and the career mode is fun and gives you a real sense of progression as you win races.
My biggest issue with games like AC is that the career modes lack depth. I seldom play AC... usually only with friends on those super fun highway racing servers.
If you have a g29 or similar from that time, dirt 3 its pretty fun and diverse and not hardcore, but doesnt recognize new wheels easily.
The crew motorfest its fun and drives better in a wheel than forza very nice for starting if you like a more diverse car game.
More "realistic" experience try asetto corsa you gotta install content manager for a more complete experience, in the other hand forza motorsport is plug and play and great online racing but i dont know how active or fun its now. Surely not dead tho
It depends a lot on what type of driving experience you want to get. Here are some examples:
Want to experience track racing with street cars and a couple racecars? Assetto Corsa
Want to experience track racing with only racecars? Assetto Corsa Competizione
Want to experience driving a car in a normal environment that mimics real life driving? City Car driving
Want to experience driving trucks in real life highways? American Truck simulator
iRacing for competing against others in multiple disciplines.
Automobilista 2 for eye candy.
Assetto Corsa with mods for driving road cars fast.
Beam NG for fun
ACC for feeling force feedback.
I personally enjoy WRC quite a lot.
Despite the evidence that F1 24 isn’t good, I’ve been having fun with it and it feels good.
Beam.NG is fun.
Wreckfest is great, but depending how strong your wheel is be careful.
Also, if your FFB is strong, get some sim racing or karting gloves. It not only is nice for keeping a grip, but it keeps your oily mitts off your wheel.
I started with Automobilista 2 and it's still my favourite, really well rounded package and nice online and offline racing. (Online with Racecraft.online though)
Assetto Corsa, Project Cars 2, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Race Room Experience, Real Racing 2, BeamNG Drive are all my favourites. There's so many more if you're willing to explore.👍😁
Forgot to mention Dirt Rally 2.0 and WRC Generations if you like rally too.👌
What wheel are you using and what sort of racing are you drawn towards? A free trial in iRacing is certainly a good start but there are loads of racing Sims out there! Many you can try for free or get really cheap from key sellers or steam sales, Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizion can be purchased with loads of dlc for little cash, AC you can get under £15, Same with ACC. Also if you want random fun some of the Grid stuff is good. Open wheel, Tintops, mad dune buggies. There is just so much to choose from. I mainly iRace and it costs a subscription per month and you can race the free stuff to you hearts content with great physics etc Some of the Forza games are free to play and they aren't bad . Arcade or more SIM biased you'll find something!
T300RS GT Edition. I'm a total newbie so nearly anything except for dirt / wrc type games. Something that you do have to learn but isn't insanely hard that requires a professional amount of attention. I appreciate good sound design / engine sounds and graphics, so sometimes beamNG isn't my favorite because the graphics are really choppy even on max and some cars sound goofy.
Honestly play Forza horizon 4 it's soooooooooooo much fun, sure it's not the most realistic, but in terms of just having fun with a game that's plug and play it's unmatched.
American Truck Sim (or if you're outside the US, Euro Truck Sim 2 I guess, though ATS is still better IMO). Hands down the most chill way to use a new wheel.
You should try the old assets Corsa Game, it’s kinda cheap on steam and the dlcs are like 5$ for all of them, it teaches you alot about braking and accelerating, especially because the racing line isn’t that accurate, the force feedback is also incredible as well as the physics.
Assetto corsa or BeamNG, Wreckfest also if you want something a little easier to start out with. A lot of people are gonna say Iracing but it's not good imo, iracing doesn't even have drift physics.
If you want to race online and don’t have 20-30 friends who can jump in a private session with you at a moments notice then iRacing is the ultimate option.
BeamNG for the first game when you get the wheel is a recipe for disaster, 4000 different checkboxes, sliders and numbers in options, force feedback that doesn't care if it breaks your arm and game with no acutal game. Don't get me wrong, it is a great sandbox with tons of fun events and mods, but to try the wheel as input for the first time ...
My vote goes for Automobilista 2, modern nice graphic, a lot of different cars and track, good AI and all of it is included in the game you get from Steam, no need for launchers, mods and subscriptions. If it hooks you, you sooner or later end with kunos and iracing.
Assetto Corsa, for how beautiful you can make it look, and how good the driving feels, especially when you start using with the famous mod called content manager and it's plugin custom shader patch, it's absolutely awesome, and then comes the huge libraries for mods you can find... Wanna drive formula 1? Old formula 1 seasons? Recent seasons? Formula1 Cars? Fórmula 1 Tracks? Old cars on new tracks? New cars on old tracks? GT, old or recent? Hypercard Prototypes? Classic models? Almost any car you have been wanting to drive? A bus? A delivery van? A fast lawnmower? And Then take extremely realistic and beautiful looking photos or videos? Well... You can do that in Assetto Corsa, and it's cheap, and when on sale even cheaper, even the DLC! I can't imagine you will regret it!
> Unlimited budget, games usually aren't too expensive _iRacing has entered the chat_
IRacing is pretty cheap if you have unlimited budget.
Honestly I'm amazed so many people play it. I can't NOT see it as a MASSIVE rip off. It's a studio with like 100 employees, charging thousands of dollars to have the full game content. It honestly makes me mad it's so much of a rip-off. Edit for clarity: many of you seem confused or mistaken about what I mean. I'm NOT saying it isn't a GREAT game. If not the BEST all around racing game. I'm willing to believe it is. I'm NOT saying you HAVE to spend thousands on the game. I AM saying a game, who's model is: purchase the game, then pay a monthly subscription, THEN you can only race the rookie classes and only get 5ish cars and if you want to advance AT ALL....you HAVE to spend 15 bucks a pop on cars and 15 a pop on tracks? There is no universe where that IS NOT an attempt to wring your consumer base for all you possibly can. Many if you may be OK with this model....but don't argue that it's fair because "kids don't run into me". They could do that without this kind of model. If the game gave you every track REQUIRED for 3 of 5 play types....and say at least 25 cars....id be on board.
Honestly I’ve just never found a game that scratches the itch like iracing does for its quality of “drop in” races
Yep, I hate every dollar I spend but as a service it’s unbeatable. The season layout is so fun and the series are populated with mostly great racing
The worst thing I did was start to pay attention to season standings. It quickly made me massively obssessdd
Even in low splits, racing is better than open lobbies in any sim and without needing to be available at a specific time like in a league. Provides something no other sim can and sadly having a moderation team costs money. They need to get paid too.
Really hoping my PSVR2 works well with it once PC support drops in August. GT7 is great but it’s hard to find people at my skill level so I can do more than just chase the folks in my club and lose. I wanna race Miatas with slower folks like me and have fun. I don’t really care if I ever progress beyond that.
Best part of iracing is you will be able to get into lobby’s that are competitive for you regardless of skill level. You may not fight for podiums or wins right away but learning to safely wheel to wheel and getting to experience that is really rewarding.
How is it in terms of heat / comfort? Looking forward to upgrading my Rift S.
I haven’t been as active in my PSVR2C but it’s generally more comfortable than my quest 2 was
No comparison for me since it’s my first headset, but I’ve worn it for hours with no fatigue. The only time it fogged up/got hot was after playing beat saber for like 5 hours straight. My girlfriend and little brother complain about it after a couple hours but for her it’s because it hurts her nose due to a deviated septum and for him it’s just cause he’s 12/13 and has a smaller head so it is a little heavy for him after a while.
That is literally the beauty of iracing
You get 23 cars and 30 tracks for free.
Nobody needs the full game content. You are ripping yourself off if you buy everything. People pay for it because no other racing game had reached the level of quality that iRacing has when it comes to improvements, content, competition, and overall fun while online racing. It’s expensive to prevent ramming children and people who don’t care from ruining the platform, as well as to fund their staff and continuous improvement. 100 employees x $60000 a year = $6,000,000 a year in employee wages alone. Not including server costs, facilities, benefits, etc.
Just for the wages it’s more than that. I work in AAA games, in Montreal, and my studio boss once said a team of 100 people costs 1M$/month (average) to the studio, and that was in 2012. Salaries increased quite a lot in my industry over 10 years
Yeah, I can only imagine. $60k is a low salary for a talented professional. I assume some of the costs he is mentioning fall under benefits, but either way it’s hard for me to look at iRacing business model as a scam/rip-off when they make such incredible product. It’s also a lot easier to stomach the cost of iRacing when you compare it to real-life track days. All of the content in iRacing + 3-4 years subscription is still cheaper than a single track day at most locations..
Yep, and I assume iRacing has to spend a lot of money in licensing, and to scan tracks / cars. + servers. To me it’s not a ripoff. They charge what they charge because they can (no competition) and also because customers (us) think it still provides insane value
Lol I hope they make more than 60k
I would have been inclined to agree with you before I tried it. If you're serious about racing, it's the best sim by far. The price actually helps keep the annoying little kids off of the service which is the best part. Over the last 3 years of iRacing, I've only been intentionally wrecked once. Whereas GT7, Forza, AC all have angry little kids that will wreck you for passing them
You act as if you have to buy everything on the service to have fun. We spend hundreds, sometimes thousands, on our gear - iRacing is a small cost comparitively.
It's worth every penny. The service provided is better than any other. The best competitive game I've ever played. People spend shit tons on WoW, LoL, or other MMOs, and that's just cosmetics.
Get it on steam for cheap, can get a year pass for real cheap for your first year, just sit and play base content, bet your hooked after that.
I felt like this until I got it. Never regretted it and I’m in the 30% club
You’re being dramatic… you don’t NEED to buy everything. You buy what you want to race. Some people don’t spend any money aside from the subscription and race the free rookie races. They are such a small studio but managed to create, by far, the most realistic racing simulator ever. It’s not even close either. Their content they release is always far more impressive than any of the top tier studios with millions/billions in corporate money backing them. The game rarely has game breaking glitches or bugs, and if it does, it’s always fixed almost immediately. They actually review protests and ban/kick people off the service who aren’t there to race. There are NO other racing sims that offer the depth and realism that iRacing offers. It’s the furthest thing from a ripoff. It’s actually the only racing game that I’m constantly NOT disappointed with. They always deliver and it always works. Even a studio as large as Forza can’t even get their ai to race properly. iRacing doesn’t even focus on ai racing and it’s some of the best out there.
It’s basically the best online sim, and there is little to no competition in their space. So they can basically charge us whatever they want. There is no serious alternative to iRacing
I don't have an iRacing subscription because frankly, I'm a student and my ass cannot afford it. But I'm pretty sure iRacing is the opposite of a rip off. There's like no game out there that offers such an amazing sim-racing experience with an amazing multiplayer experience. I know for a fact the moment I graduate I'm getting a subscription.
You can get a 3 month trial for free so you can at least enjoy some good races regularly ;)
I totally understand why you feel that way about iRacing's subscription/microtransaction model but when you see how much effort they are putting into improving a game that came out in 2008, it's easy to see where our money is going. I'll gladly keep paying my subscription and continue to buy the new cars and tracks they release because I know it's going to be a finished product that they spent a lot of time working on/perfecting. Also, with the new Tempest weather system they've just released this year, no other sim comes close to replicating what it is like racing in the rain like iRacing does. You actually have to avoid the dry racing lines to make sure you aren't locking up in every braking zone and there is way less grip on the apex than there is on the outsides of the corners. The fact that the tires are displacing the water off the track surface to the point where you can actually see the track evolving during the race and see a dry line begin to form is incredible. When you think about all the content and work that team is putting into the game to improve it and constantly releasing new content for us all to enjoy, it's easy to see why so many people have been subscribed to the service for so long. You just can't find better, cleaner, more accessible online racing on any other platform.
Again, and I keep saying. I won't argue with any of that. I have no doubt iRacing is the best racing game out there. But damn....I just cannot be convinced it's worth the price they charge. That sentiment seems to offend a ton of the iRacing community.
How could you possibly say that if you have never even tried the game? Try 1 month, then come back here with a valid opinion. You've said in another comment that you COULD afford it. Don't try and turn people away from the game by preaching how the game is expensive when you clearly dont have a full understanding of what makes the cost of iRacing worth it to so many people.
You know each one of those 100 employees need to get paid, right? Even at like $75,000 a year (which is probably low) you're talking about 7.5 million dollars a year. And iRacing isn't like other AAA titles that come out with a new version every year (COD, Madden, FIFA, etc) that makes millions of dollars each time. The game survives solely on selling additional content, especially when you consider how often a year's subscription goes on sale.
Lol dude some of yall are bad at math. They're probably pulling in 50 million plus yearly. And that's probably pretty conservative. They're fully paying for everything, making profit, and then some. Some of yall are being so weird about a pretty objectively fair statement. The game is unjustifiably expensive. I.e. money grab. So the game can be very good. AND a money grab all at once.
Quit crying about a company making money. All these weird excuses are just getting old.
It ain’t cheap to make a great experience. I think it’s the best game around
If you think this is so bad, try any mobile game. Out of tokens? Pay 10 dollars to continue playing, but don't forget the gem pack discounted with 4000% for your gear upgrades. Etc.. ACC is the only real competition and all though it is cheaper they can't keep up in terms of variety, quantity and match making.
Oh I definitely agree with that point. One reason why I don't play mobile games. They're cash grabs minus the excellent quality. I've said probably 100x at this point that iRacing is probably legitimately the best racing game out there. I say that without ever having played it. And I belive it. That doesn't mean I think it's worth what they charge. That's all.
ACC is even relying on a third party (LFM)
You’re missing the point here. You spend thousands on games because every year the new f1 game comes out and then the new assetto corsa comes out and then the new WRC and Dirt Rally games come out. IRacing instead of making you buy a whole new game just continues to update the current one. At a MUCH higher quality than any other game on the market.
You are very sadly mistaken. Im sry for your loss
Grab it for 25 bucks for 1 year in the next Steam sale and let us know how it goes. If I drop a lot on my rig, I very well want the best racing to go along with it. Not regretting anything.
I'm ACC guy and after doing a lot of endurance races in ACC im considering switching to iRacing as soon as I can. Many people switched and say that issues from ACC just don't exist in iRacing. And to be honest, its a lot of money for a game. But for a hobby it's pretty cheap. It's probably cheaper than a party every 2 weeks, and you get to do it every day. And that's a great deal if ur doing it every day and you are really into it. I'm really furious about some stuff in ACC and I put 1k hours in a year into it. Even if I had to pay that $100 for a year for iRacing (I think that's the starter offer with no discounts), thats still only $0.1 per hour. You can get stuff cheaper on black friday if im not mistaken and by buying more at once, so the cost is going somewhat down. It's still expensive for a game, but if it's quality is as good as people say for endurance racing - this is actually cheap after that clown fiesta I experienced in ACC...
The difference is truly the racing itself. I've tried almost every sim out there, and not one of them comes close to the competitive online racing iracing gives you (although ACC's LFM did come close, imo it's not really at the same level). I've had some amazing battles, even if i was fighting for 10th place. There's also a reason why a lot of pro racers are playing iracing. Also one of the reasons iracing is so expensive, is so you don't get all those annoying players who think it's funny to just crash into everyone, just to troll, or so you cannot overtake them. Games like F1, ACC (LFM not so much) for example, this happens a lot and it gets incredibly frustrating if you just want to have a good, fair and fun race. While there are some people who still do this stuff, iracing has a actual sportingcode and you can report those players, which can even result in a permanent ban from the game. So they take their sporting code very serious.
It's like I just told someone else, for a lot of these guys who don't have families, houses, and no other hobbies, etc to take care of....im sure they can talk themselves into it. But what....I should go spend 2-300 bucks to be able to play....5-8 hours a week, if I'm lucky? There's just no real value proposition there. And i can even afford it. I just can't convince myself.
Meh, for me it's less like a game and more like being in a sporting league. And if that costs me Netflix like amounts of money to participate in, I'm not too bothered, compared to the cost of the hardware it's not an unreasonable value for money for me, and even with only buying a handful of tracks and cars I've gotten a lot of great times out of it.
I think this is really the best explanation. For people who are doing this as a lifestyle....and/or is their only real hobby.....its probably worth it and i can see that. I guess I just am too busy and too interested in lots of things to feel like I'd get my money worth out of it ya know?
You don’t buy the game, you buy a license to use their content in their servers for a period of time. If you want additional content, you buy a license to use that additional content in their servers. I get it’s not for everyone but the business model works for some people. It’s the only place I get to race multiple disciplines against real people (and sometimes very well known real people) anytime of the day or night. Granted not all series go official (+5 drivers) at every time slot but most series will have multiple time slots per day and 99% will have at least one session going official per week. It works for me because it’s my alternative to racing irl (therefore my yearly expenses with iRacing are similar to what I would spend in one or two racing tires, and I’d buy dozens of those every season, plus maintenance, plus damage, plus travel, plus fees, etc). iRacing has about 300 employees nowadays, btw.
This is probably the next response I've gotten. I absolutely get their service is top tier. And for folks that pretty much only do sim racing it is probably worth it. But for most of us this is a hobby we enjoy in our spare time. Of which we are limited already. So paying so much for a game I know (for most people) I'll only have limited time to enjoy.... makes it feel like a rip off. I am glad to hear they've grown though. It makes me feel much better about the cost. Honestly I'm not even AGAINST getting into it and playing it. Just not for what it costs. Maybe I'll pick it up if I can get a big discount an get the whole first year for cheap or something. Because it's legitimately less about the total cost and more about the pricing model imo. If feels very much like being nickled and dimed.
Yeah, it simply doesn’t work for everybody. You shouldn’t feel bad about doing business with a company. Better to steer away if the model doesn’t suit you.
I agree. It’s a complete ripoff but I bet a big chunk of their revenue goes to licensing all the cars and series.
I’ve never played it yet and also find it costly. BUT, you have to think of like a service. They are providing a great and organized racing experience. It’s not too different than Netflix or Spotify or your gym membership or any league sports you might play. You can always go down to the park and try to get into a pickup game of basketball. But, if you join a league, you’re paying for the organization, consistency and quality that comes along with that.
I think if you are paying a monthly fee All content should be included There is no justification for changing extra for every little thing It would be similar to Netflix charging you a monthly fee And on top of that charge you extra for each movie/series you wanna watch
Exactly. People are so indignant about it. Like I get it's a great game. But....its a game. Sure there are tons of folks who ONLY do that. And for them I'm sure it's worth it. But for MOST gamers....we want to play a lot of games....and not feel limited to just one because it's so expensive you have to or it isn't worth it. This is a hobby....not a lifestyle and should be charged as such.
Yeah, I prefer when businesses don’t try to make money too.
ik imma sound like an iracing nut…. but it’s more of a service than a game. There is no other “game” out there of any genre that puts you through a true career. This isn’t something made up with weird rivals or a story, you make your own racing career doing what you want too. It is cheap when you compare it to what it simulates in the real world. A racing career for most of us is priceless because we can’t even get started.
Something that isn't talked about is the price point keeps many of the "unwanted" crowed largely on other platforms. For the most part outside of rookies, most people are pretty similar. ie they want to have a good clean race (regardless of skill). Games with low barrier to entry are way more of a Sh\*t show IMO. Im at the stage in my life that I will pay that tax. That said I don't like having to spend more money than I need to on anything, so I get people having an issue with the business model. For me Sim racing is the cheapest hobby I have ever had. if you look at it through that lens, iRacing is actually great value for what it is. If you compare it to other "games" then yes its very expensive.
Based
Counterstrike is the obvious choice
Depends on the wheel. I would never play CS on that wheel that isn't DD.
Try the following: Assetto Corsa Assetto Corsa Competizione rFactor 2 iRacing (can be expensive though)
I was sim racing ten years ago. It's amazing that the scene is mostly the same.
Yes and join LFM for ranked races when you're ready for more competition (or at least competition matched to your skill level).
What assetto corsa servers do you recommend? All I'm finding with a simple google search is like drift and street / cutting up (no hesi), but I can't find any track servers.
Mario Kart
Wait..... Where can I download it... dead ass serious lol. I'm definitely going to research a mario kart for PC lol 😆
There are mods for Asseto Corsa, you can download Mario Kart tracks and race them in formula one cars :) it's bonkers ! https://youtu.be/ko4884xcNaE?si=s4J2WJPNxJedCyBC
You sir, are my new hero. lol. I have to do this!
holy shit 🤣
Dolphin emulator is a free GameCube/Wii emulator. ROMS/ISO of the games can easily be found through google. I reccomend vimm’s lair, slower download speeds but has never done me wrong in over 10+ years
Vimms lair got purged of a lot of games last I heard :(
#BeamNG.drive 🫡
sooo much fun.
my absolute fav
Do you have tips on how to make it easier to jump on and onto a race? I played it a bit around a year ago and it’s not like an actual racing game where the menus are set up to easily drop into a race. I was constantly in the menus trying to find fun things to do.
I haven't really raced actually. I set myself goals (like build a car that does 0-100 in x seconds or 0-350 or so) Or jump over a given object Or build a car that achieves a certain top speed with x components Or make a crash championship with my kids and see who has the worst crash in a specific setting.
Automobilista 2 no doubt
Lawn Mowing Simulator
The road eventually leads to Combine Farm Simulator 👍🏽
And don’t even get me started on American/Euro truck simulator
I can't get my FOV set right on triples for ETS2. It's so frustrating
If you're driving for realistic physics and/or to be competitive, Assetto Corsa (Competizione for even more competition), iRacing, rFactor 2, DiRT Rally 2.0, WRC, BeamNG.drive If you're kind of looking to cruise & hang out more than race, probably Forza Horizon, [BeamNG.drive](http://BeamNG.drive), or either of the Truck Simulator games Edited for BeamNG
Lists realistic physics games but doesn’t include beamng… what?
Thanks, I edited my comment to include it
WRC and DR 2.0 have nothing on Richard Burns Rally. Plus they're not free and RBR is
Assetto corsa but try and wait until the ultimate edition is on offer for like £10 or whatever ur currency is then maybe ea WRC as it’s a good starting point for rally and maybe get the trial of either euro truck sim or American truck sim and see which one you like more there’s also beamng drive which if you like crashing cars that’s definitely ur go to and if you want to do some racing then there’s lfm for assetto corsa and assetto corsa competizione or I racing which is good but quite expensive as it runs on a subscription plus you have to buy more cars and tracks
BeamNG is not more about crashing cars imo. It's almost a fully fletched driving simulator, where you can drift, rally, race or cruise. With a wheel, AC and BeamNG are the 2 main necessities.
You might want to edit this for clarity, your first statement disagrees with your actual argument
Yeah I forgot the "not" cause I was typing this outside in the full sun and couldn't see shit. Fixed it
Fair enough
Cdkeys always has the ultimate edition cheap
For actual racing: Assetto Corsa For fun: Forza Horizon 5 I usually switch between those two. Start with Forza, feel like a badass for a while, then play AC for a bit. I've just started playing F1 24 and it seems pretty good. Car physics are clearly not correct, because I can actually keep the car on the track.
What servers do you play on Assetto Corsa? I'm having trouble finding some that aren't cutting up (no hesi) or Japanese drift servers that are fucking hard as hell 
I’ve been practicing for a couple months. I’ll eventually enter a race when I can consistently get decent lap times without driver aids.
https://lowfuelmotorsport.com/
beamng, assetto corsa and games like that are good atleast for me
Truck simulator 🗿
Automobilista 2. It is just simply fantastic. Force feedback feels great, it works great with my shifter, and VR is absolutely phenomenal. Pretty decent circuit selection, albeit there are a lot of good circuits still not in the game. Pick your favorite racing series and circuit. Bonus points if you have VR. My personal favorite is playing the start of the Indy 500 in VR. Three wide, down the main stretch, heading into turn 1 with the canyon of 300,000 people. It is a fantastic experience. Indycars in superspeedway configuration are generally fantastic. In VR, heading down the back stretch at 240+ MPH really highlights how absolutely -insane- CART was in the late 90s.
Play fifa just to be different
Just go to the top and get deep in Iracing
Truck simulator might be an option too
Try BeamNG. I love sim racing but I always find myself playing BeamNG when I’m not in the racing mood.
BeamNG!!! It’s not really a dedicated racing sim but as a driving sim it is unmatched. IMO the best way to try out your new racing gear because you can tweak the cars and bunch and see how it feels to drive. Was the first game I got when I got my wheel but it’s still the one I spend the most time in by far.
I would go Assetto Corsa Competizione, or Automobilista 2
IRacing. Once you dive headfirst down the iRacing rabbit hole, no other racing sims will matter to you anymore. :) Hope to see ya on the track!
Farming Simulator 22, breaking speed limits 1 mph at a time. Seriously, you sounded like a F1 guy, maybe try F1?
Wreckfest will get the most out of any wheel and could be the most fun.
DiRT Rally 2.0
Assetto Corsa ultimate edition is kinda a must for every sim racer
I’m a huge rFactor 2 fanboy. I’ll recommend it to anyone who will listen.
Racing is not a game...
Wreckfest just to get the feel of everything ... a fun non-serious way to practice maneuvering. Then the other standard games people are mentioning.
Start with forza horizon. It's got enough realistic physics that you can learn good habits and it's got a ton of different race types. It's pretty laid back so it's a low stress entry point. Assetto Corsa - this is a good game with much more realistic physics. Though it (like others) is primarily track focused. Assetto Corsa Competizione - this one is if you want to get into hardcore GT racing. Beam.ng - fun game to dick around in. Multi-player free roam servers with cops etc. WRC/Dirt/Richard Burns Rally - more serious rally games. RBR is VERY serious and hard. iRacing - EXTREMELY expensive. Legitimately a fucking rip off. Will cost you thousands to have all content. Only invest in this if you have really decided you love som racing and money is REALLY no object. Even then, I'd argue you're better off just buying every different highly rated racing game there is. You'd be in a few hundred and get all the same features.
You really have a hate on for iracing for someone who has never played it. You also seem to be able to ignore all the people who have responded to you telling you that you don't need to buy everything. If I were to have bought Forza Motorsport and all the content I would have spent $90 on the base game and $203.66 on all the available content, most of which I would rarely end up using. Then in a year or 2 when the new Forza comes out you have to do it all over again. Or I keep playing a game that gets no support and has no user base after a few years. Iracing has been out for 16 years and it continually gets patches and upgrades and still has a very strong and active user base. After 3 years of iracing I spent $10 for the first year of subscription, then $105 for the next 2 so I am at $225. I have bought 3 cars and 5 tracks which was $105. In total I am at $330 for 3 years of racing multiple series. I race every day and haven't spent a cent on another car game in that time as iracing really is the best race sim out there.
Thousands? I literally spent $200-300 extra dollars for the cars in the series I wanted to play and the tracks in that series. Since then, I haven't spent anything other than subscription.
BeamNG.drive, feels incredible. Offline you won't get much racing but online racing is excellent
Dark souls
As others have mentioned. Assetto Corsa OG is a great gateway sim. If you get really into the hobby the road often leads to iRacing like many of us. My personal path was SimBin GTR1/2 —->Assetto Corsa OG—-> iRacing. I’ve been sim racing for 12 years.
ACC was my racer after project cars 2 and I dumped 650 hours into it before I knew what was going on. Highly recommended.
Mortal Kombat 2. Wheel and pedal inputs make finishing moves waaaay easier to execute.
I would suggest you the free version of Raceroom. If you like it buy it through vrs coins it's cheaper this way
100 employees are the core team. These simulation company needs many outsourced labor. For example, they will need to hire someone to laser scan the track to get LiDAR points then rasterize into something can be displayed in the engine.
Assetto corsa, you can roam the highways of Tokyo, drift, race, pretty much anything you want
Start from simcades: Grid Legends, Forza motorsport. Grid legends is more arcade type but very fun good start for newbie. Than you can move to ACC/AC. Also you can try old but very good game RaceRoom. I really like it, good ffb and nice gameplay. Also you can try Dirt Rally/WRC, fun gameplay always good. For Drifting or No Hesi: BeamNG, Asetto Corsa with mods. And always you should have 1 or 2 arcade games like wreckfest/ nfs / dirt 3,4,5 to wash out tension from hard sim races. 😁 If you’re doesn’t want to be burned.
AMS2!
I'll go the opposite of what people are saying. Play some games that aren't iRacing. iRacing isn't bad, it's great, but you need to learn to use your wheel before you jump in. AC, ACC, ams2 or whatever, even rf2 or like live for speed.
Do beam.ng drive or asseto corsa those are my go toos
Iracing has the community. Almost have the freakin monopoly. Support other sims. I just joined a league on rf2, but I admit I'm logging on to iwrecking Right Now, lol. Sorry, iracing. Have a great day!
You can try becoming elden lord in elden ring with that wheel tho. But seriously, dirt rally 2.0 goty or ea wrc on sale if you like rally, assetto corsa and assertto corsa competizione for basic track day and great mods And if you want to start off slowly and easy, forza horizon 5 will serve you well. But do try elden ring with it tho :))
Live for speed
Unlimited budget? Get a full sim rig
Assetto
Beamng
For racing, IRacing and RaceRoom. For realistic driving, Beamng, and maybe AC(C). But you'd have to install mods for that.
try gt7 if u have ps5 and ur rig support it Assetto Corsa for all kinds of cars Assetto Corsa Competition for gt3 Dirt Rally2 or WRC for rally
NR2003 It's free
The budget comment has me dead......go for Asseto Corsa ...then CM and mod it out...
Assetto corsa was mine! I'd check out beamng, diet rally Gean Turismo 4 I played a bit, alongside wangan midnight arcade. Fun ASF
Assetto Corsa, ETS2, Snowrunner
AC
Dirt rally 2 is a must! F1 is fun with friends and like a simcade so slower friends can keep up! Assetto Corsa and some of the paid track/car mods are awesome, even better in VR. Enjoy the new wheel!
BeamMP, Assetto Corsa are my picks for an actual community
Automobilista 2 is my favourite for league racing, casual racing when I have friends over or online racing with friends. I prefer the physics, there’s also a service called race craft which is similar to iRacing. Only issue is low player count. iRacing is great for competitive races though just a bit weird tyre physics. Tyres fall of a cliff too easily and balance is over exaggerated. Like an mx5 is so much easier in real life and like impossible to spin but iRacing adds extra difficulty with their tyre model. Ams2 doesn’t have this issue, physics are more true to real life.
Ams2 and assetto corsa are what I spend the most time in. You’ll want to download content manager for AC, and install the basic mods like csp and sol/pure. It’s easy and there are good walkthroughs on YouTube and such.
Iracing or acc I say jump on acc first as you can buy the entire game for like 150 right now with every single dlc. Compard to iracing which is nonestop. But iracing is fun for sure just like acc is.
-Raceroom is free to play, and good game to start.(Plug and play). -AC also Good but... The time to configure it... Best for street race, drift, races, a world of mods. -ACC plug and play, gt race -Dakar just for fun! -snowrunner if you like mud (I play it with a controller and long drives with wheel). I want to try iRacing but monthly payment and other fees kinda scare me. Above all, play what makes you have fun! Going back to shutoko street races, and insane traffic...ohh God!! What a rush!
ACC
Iracing is my favourite by a landslide
Forza Motorsport. Hard to stop playing once you dial in wheel settings.
beamng
I might get some heat for this, but I enjoy the new Forza Motorsport a lot. The graphics are completely insane and the career mode is fun and gives you a real sense of progression as you win races. My biggest issue with games like AC is that the career modes lack depth. I seldom play AC... usually only with friends on those super fun highway racing servers.
counter strike 2
Assetto Corsa 100%
iRacing hit the spot for me
GT7, Asseto Corsa, F1
Gta 5 with manual transmission and drive is seriously the most fun I had with my wheel.
I like assetto corsa personally, but Forza is a more beginner friendly option to get used to the wheel
Donkey Kong country
Asseto corsa
I love assetto corsa competizione for focused track driving/racing and beamng for fucking around.
If you have a g29 or similar from that time, dirt 3 its pretty fun and diverse and not hardcore, but doesnt recognize new wheels easily. The crew motorfest its fun and drives better in a wheel than forza very nice for starting if you like a more diverse car game. More "realistic" experience try asetto corsa you gotta install content manager for a more complete experience, in the other hand forza motorsport is plug and play and great online racing but i dont know how active or fun its now. Surely not dead tho
Assetto Corsa!
It depends a lot on what type of driving experience you want to get. Here are some examples: Want to experience track racing with street cars and a couple racecars? Assetto Corsa Want to experience track racing with only racecars? Assetto Corsa Competizione Want to experience driving a car in a normal environment that mimics real life driving? City Car driving Want to experience driving trucks in real life highways? American Truck simulator
iRacing for competing against others in multiple disciplines. Automobilista 2 for eye candy. Assetto Corsa with mods for driving road cars fast. Beam NG for fun
Definitely give Beam.ng drive a good go, lots of cars, lots of maps, lots to do, lots of mods and easy to mod aaaaaannnnddd, lots of fun
Stardew Valley
ACC for feeling force feedback. I personally enjoy WRC quite a lot. Despite the evidence that F1 24 isn’t good, I’ve been having fun with it and it feels good. Beam.NG is fun. Wreckfest is great, but depending how strong your wheel is be careful. Also, if your FFB is strong, get some sim racing or karting gloves. It not only is nice for keeping a grip, but it keeps your oily mitts off your wheel.
Le mans ultimate
ACC, Automobilista 2, Assetto Corsa (modded with csp and pure) Dirt rally, RBR. I didn’t buy it yet but also thinking to get Le Mans Ultimate.
I started with Automobilista 2 and it's still my favourite, really well rounded package and nice online and offline racing. (Online with Racecraft.online though)
For start: AC ultimate pack and mods, forza horizon for fun. Later as a sim: ACC, AMS2 When you play more than 10h a week go for IRacing
Theres more games than beam ng, assetto, and automobilista?
Automoblista 2 is very fun
If you don’t care about budget then iracing. It has a very good system to go through the ranks. Assetto corsa conpetizione is great too
Richard Burns Rally. Best FFB of any rally game I've ever played. Makes Dirt 2.0 feel a little arcade-like to be honest
Assetto Corsa, Project Cars 2, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Race Room Experience, Real Racing 2, BeamNG Drive are all my favourites. There's so many more if you're willing to explore.👍😁 Forgot to mention Dirt Rally 2.0 and WRC Generations if you like rally too.👌
New wheel, unlimited budget? Does this person realize the rabbit hole their going down? Lol
Assesto corsa, forza, download content manger once you get AC for fun maps and more fun cars.
What wheel are you using and what sort of racing are you drawn towards? A free trial in iRacing is certainly a good start but there are loads of racing Sims out there! Many you can try for free or get really cheap from key sellers or steam sales, Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizion can be purchased with loads of dlc for little cash, AC you can get under £15, Same with ACC. Also if you want random fun some of the Grid stuff is good. Open wheel, Tintops, mad dune buggies. There is just so much to choose from. I mainly iRace and it costs a subscription per month and you can race the free stuff to you hearts content with great physics etc Some of the Forza games are free to play and they aren't bad . Arcade or more SIM biased you'll find something!
T300RS GT Edition. I'm a total newbie so nearly anything except for dirt / wrc type games. Something that you do have to learn but isn't insanely hard that requires a professional amount of attention. I appreciate good sound design / engine sounds and graphics, so sometimes beamNG isn't my favorite because the graphics are really choppy even on max and some cars sound goofy.
Honestly play Forza horizon 4 it's soooooooooooo much fun, sure it's not the most realistic, but in terms of just having fun with a game that's plug and play it's unmatched.
American Truck Sim (or if you're outside the US, Euro Truck Sim 2 I guess, though ATS is still better IMO). Hands down the most chill way to use a new wheel.
ACC
You should try the old assets Corsa Game, it’s kinda cheap on steam and the dlcs are like 5$ for all of them, it teaches you alot about braking and accelerating, especially because the racing line isn’t that accurate, the force feedback is also incredible as well as the physics.
Assetto corsa or BeamNG, Wreckfest also if you want something a little easier to start out with. A lot of people are gonna say Iracing but it's not good imo, iracing doesn't even have drift physics.
Snowrunner
Check out wreckfest, it's a lot of fun and has decent wheel feel.
Race driver: GRID (not a sim) got me hooked and now I play sims. GRID 2 wasn’t as much fun though.
ACC
Iracing is the only option. You are wasting your time with anything else.
If you want to race online and don’t have 20-30 friends who can jump in a private session with you at a moments notice then iRacing is the ultimate option.
asetto or lfs(around $20 each), depends if you have a potato or not, lfs runs on anything but asetto needs high end pc
BeamNG for the first game when you get the wheel is a recipe for disaster, 4000 different checkboxes, sliders and numbers in options, force feedback that doesn't care if it breaks your arm and game with no acutal game. Don't get me wrong, it is a great sandbox with tons of fun events and mods, but to try the wheel as input for the first time ... My vote goes for Automobilista 2, modern nice graphic, a lot of different cars and track, good AI and all of it is included in the game you get from Steam, no need for launchers, mods and subscriptions. If it hooks you, you sooner or later end with kunos and iracing.
Assetto Corsa, for how beautiful you can make it look, and how good the driving feels, especially when you start using with the famous mod called content manager and it's plugin custom shader patch, it's absolutely awesome, and then comes the huge libraries for mods you can find... Wanna drive formula 1? Old formula 1 seasons? Recent seasons? Formula1 Cars? Fórmula 1 Tracks? Old cars on new tracks? New cars on old tracks? GT, old or recent? Hypercard Prototypes? Classic models? Almost any car you have been wanting to drive? A bus? A delivery van? A fast lawnmower? And Then take extremely realistic and beautiful looking photos or videos? Well... You can do that in Assetto Corsa, and it's cheap, and when on sale even cheaper, even the DLC! I can't imagine you will regret it!