Will Assetto Corsa EVO Have Free Roaming?

Will Assetto Corsa EVO have free roam.jpg
Image: Kunos Simulazioni / 505 Games
Speculation is rife that Assetto Corsa EVO will feature free roaming after a road outside the Nürburgring was seemingly spotted in the trailer.

It’s been a few days since Kunos Simulazioni provided a first glimpse of Assetto Corsa EVO before its early access release in January 2025. The announcement trailer showcased several new cars, weather effects, and other hidden details. But one particular shot has sparked speculation that Assetto Corsa EVO may feature free-roaming elements. This would be a surprising direction for the series, which primarily focuses on circuit racing.

Towards the end of the trailer, a Morgan Super-3 is shown cruising down a country road as a BMW M4 CSL drives past it on the opposite side. This has caused fans to speculate if this means Assetto Corsa EVO will have explorable environments with traffic cars cruising the streets.

Assetto Corsa EVO free roam Porsche.jpg

Image: Kunos Simulazioni / 505 Games

Open-world environments with traffic are popular in the Assetto Corsa modding scene, but this would be unprecedented in the standard version of Assetto Corsa EVO. If free roaming is in Assetto Corsa EVO, Kunos has seemingly been inspired by Assetto Corsa’s active modding community.


Visiting The Real Location​

Specifically, the stretch of road in the trailer appears to be a hairpin corner on the L92, a public road near the Nürburgring leading to the town of Adenau in Germany. Our own Michel Wolk visited the location to compare it with the Assetto Corsa EVO trailer, and the similarities are striking. Everything from the cobblestones, angled guardrail, roadside posts, and trees closely match the real location.

L92 road Nurburgring Michel Wolk.jpg

Image: Michel Wolk

With its hairpin turns, elevation changes, and fast-flowing layout, the L92 is like a rally course. It is a heavenly driving road and would be a fun addition to Assetto Corsa EVO outside of circuit racing.

Furthermore, an eagle-eyed fan on Reddit spotted a house appearing in the Morgan's wing mirror. This was then matched with a house in Hauptstraße outside the Nürburgring, further implying that players can visit the circuit's surrounding roads in Assetto Corsa EVO.

Assetto Corsa EVO free roam Morgan house mirror.jpg

Image: Kunos Simulazioni / 505 Games

Of course, this is not confirmation that Assetto Corsa EVO will have free roam. The shot could have been created specifically for the trailer, or it could simply be a Gran Turismo-style cinematic in the game showcasing the roads outside the Nürburgring. Considering it is an M4 CSL, the car driving on the opposite could also be returning from the Nürburgring rather than a traffic car.

However, this would be an exciting new direction for the series. Games like Forza Horizon 5, The Crew Motorfest, and Test Drive Unlimited let you enjoy the freedom of the open road in exotic cars, but these titles tend to be simcade or pure arcade games. With Assetto Corsa’s class-leading physics, EVO would provide the most realistic open-world driving experience yet.


Alas, we will have to wait and see if Assetto Corsa EVO has free roaming when Kunos shares more details. But having the freedom to explore the surrounding roads before hitting the track and doing some hot laps is a tantalising prospect. Free roaming would add a new dimension to Assetto Corsa EVO and potentially broaden the appeal of sim racing.

Are you hoping to see free roaming and explore an open world in Assetto Corsa EVO? Let us know in the comments below or join the discussion on our forum.
About author
Martin Bigg
Arcade racing addict. Can usually be found causing carnage in Wreckfest and still craving a new Driver and Burnout game. Car movie nerd.

Comments

Yes, free roaming would be great. When driving a raod car in a SIM, taking it to a track is fun, but a little out of context. Yes, we can do and I do track days IRL, but not often. Where I drive, road cars, IRL, is on real roads, with traffic.
In AC we are spoiled with many amazing real roads mod, not the pseudo roads that are more like tracks we have from Kunos, which, honestly are useless to me.
Real roads from modders that look amazing are heaven in a real car, particularly in VR.
So, yes, free roam in EVO would be amazing. Bring it on! Is it January yet? :D
 
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I remember back when Assetto Corsa released for console, I contacted not Marco but the other one from Kunos suggesting they make an equivalent to AC but for open road driving, dubbing it Giro d'Strada (yes, I know it's not grammatically correct my Italian friends).

He basically convinced me he was taking it seriously and then just rudely said "Good pitch but we aren't interested". Clearly he was the sort of person to dress up as Santa, sit a kid down and say "Santa isn't real so grow up".

Fast forward eight or so years, and they are essentially doing it in some form.
 
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I remember back when Assetto Corsa released for console, I contacted not Marco but the other one from Kunos suggesting they make an equivalent to AC but for open road driving, dubbing it Giro d'Strada (yes, I know it's not grammatically correct my Italian friends).

He basically convinced me he was taking it seriously and then just rudely said "Good pitch but we aren't interested". Clearly he was the sort of person to dress up as Santa, sit a kid down and say "Santa isn't real so grow up".

Fast forward eight or so years, and they are essentially doing it in some form.

Wow, quite a lot to unpack there, but Santa isn't real and you didn't invent open world driving games..... sorry.
 
Premium
I remember back when Assetto Corsa released for console, I contacted not Marco but the other one from Kunos suggesting they make an equivalent to AC but for open road driving, dubbing it Giro d'Strada (yes, I know it's not grammatically correct my Italian friends).

He basically convinced me he was taking it seriously and then just rudely said "Good pitch but we aren't interested". Clearly he was the sort of person to dress up as Santa, sit a kid down and say "Santa isn't real so grow up".

Fast forward eight or so years, and they are essentially doing it in some form.
Ask him for the copyright🤣
 
I remember back when Assetto Corsa released for console, I contacted not Marco but the other one from Kunos suggesting they make an equivalent to AC but for open road driving, dubbing it Giro d'Strada (yes, I know it's not grammatically correct my Italian friends).

He basically convinced me he was taking it seriously and then just rudely said "Good pitch but we aren't interested". Clearly he was the sort of person to dress up as Santa, sit a kid down and say "Santa isn't real so grow up".

Fast forward eight or so years, and they are essentially doing it in some form.

lol

I've cheked the emails. The recap of the answer you got was "good idea, now go find several millions, setup a studio and we'll discuss the options to let you license the AC engine for it".
When I was in Kunos I got some of these pretty much every month.. one guy even managed to call the office to submit his "revolutionary idea" of "laser scan the entire city of Rome".. :roflmao:

There's a very common saying in game dev that "ideas are worth nothing". Pretty much every single person in Kunos comes up with something like your "idea" about every time we get a shower (admittedly for some of us that could be not very often :p).. the problem is not the idea, it is the ability to make it happen.. at that time, it was simply impossible.. if Kunos Simulazioni was able to make it happen now it's because of the work they've put into it and the ability to fund the research & development to go from idea to fact and solve the huge amount of challenges that a tech like that requires.

So yeah... I agree with the poster above.. sorry but you did not invent open road driving games, not even close.
 
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Premium
lol

I've cheked the emails. The recap if the answer you got was "good idea, now go find several millions, setup a studio and we'll discuss the options to let you license the AC engine for it".
When I was in Kunos I got some of these pretty much every month.. one guy even managed to call the office to submit his "revolutionary idea" of "laser scan the entire city of Rome".. :roflmao:

There's a very common saying in game dev that "ideas are worth nothing". Pretty much every single person in Kunos though about your "idea" about every time we get a shower (admittedly for some of us that could be not very often :p).. the problem is not the idea is the ability to make it happen.. at that time, it was simply impossible.. if Kunos Simulazioni was able to make it happen now it's because of the work they've put into it and the ability to fund the research & development to go from idea to fact.

So yeah... I agree with the poster above.. sorry but you did not invent open road driving games, not even close.
Never said I did
 
lol

I've cheked the emails. The recap of the answer you got was "good idea, now go find several millions, setup a studio and we'll discuss the options to let you license the AC engine for it".
When I was in Kunos I got some of these pretty much every month.. one guy even managed to call the office to submit his "revolutionary idea" of "laser scan the entire city of Rome".. :roflmao:

There's a very common saying in game dev that "ideas are worth nothing". Pretty much every single person in Kunos comes up with something like your "idea" about every time we get a shower (admittedly for some of us that could be not very often :p).. the problem is not the idea, it is the ability to make it happen.. at that time, it was simply impossible.. if Kunos Simulazioni was able to make it happen now it's because of the work they've put into it and the ability to fund the research & development to go from idea to fact and solve the huge amount of challenges that a tech like that requires.

So yeah... I agree with the poster above.. sorry but you did not invent open road driving games, not even close.
Hi Stefano,
glad to hear from you, it feels like a while.
How are you doing? Are you still busy developing your sailing simulator?
 
I have all my fingers crossed that free roam road maps (not just a racetrack with road elements like the Scottish map in AC) are a major component of ACevo. I've bought extra fingers and crossed those in hopes that they may someday have an Irish road map.
 
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Premium
I have all my fingers crossed that free roam road maps (not just a racetrack with road elements like the Scottish map in AC) are a major component of ACevo. I've bought extra fingers and crossed those in hopes that they may someday have an Irish road map.
Here on OT there are two maps of Irish roads
 
Free roaming maps sure why not ! The highway in AC is a great thing, but the main content should focus on circuit racing and preferably not just the Monza and Spa with GT3 yet again all over.
 
Considering 3 of the top 4 most downloaded tracks for AC on this site are public roads (and let's not forget about Shutoko), it's hard to miss how popular this aspect of the game has become. I'm really hoping Kunos realized that and decided to make it part of the core game.
 
Premium
I like the idea of free roaming, but never enough to get it working in AC. But if Konus will do it for me in AC EVO I would be happy with it.
It looks to me that Kunos have taken a close look at the entirely modding scene and have put everything from it into AC EVO which they think is populair for a big audience. And with this, I think that will meet many expectations. No more hassle with installing all kinds of mods that have to be coordinated and set up correctly, everything just works from the moment go.
 
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