Le Mans Ultimate is released!
Le Mans Ultimate is released!
Last week, the biggest news in the world of sim racing was that Studio 397 and Motorsport Games’ Le Mans Ultimate finally saw the light of day, albeit in Steam Early Access.
Despite a few hiccups, Le Mans Ultimate (LMU) has enjoyed a largely positive reception from critics and seems to be a solid foundation to build on for the future, boasting impressive visuals and sounds from the off.
But what’s missing?
It was decided that LMU would be an Early Access title shortly before its proposed full version release date. However, it’s entirely understandable why this decision was taken given the scarcity of content available in-game.
As an example, Motorsport Games (MSG) released version 1.0 of KartKraft two years ago but it was missing several key features at launch, including online PVP multiplayer, despite being choc-full of potential.
KartKraft received few updates in its life cycle and now sits in developmental limbo since the disbanding of MSG’s Australian studio. There’s no sign (at this stage) that LMU will befall the same fate, so hopefully harsh lessons have been learned.
What’s still to come?
With the entire 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship grid and all its tracks already available in LMU, players also have the 2024 cars and circuits to look forward to as well, including the almost ubiquitous GT3 class.
Asynchronous multiplayer is also a big miss from the current build (which allows players to race alongside each other driver-swapping teammates in endurance races). How and when these updates will arrive shapes the long-term perception of LMU - here’s hoping Studio 397 and MSG follow through with their plans.
Le Mans Ultimate: more encouraging signs
As if to alleviate some of the community’s fears, LMU has received several quickfire hotfixes since release, improving various issues including random game crashes and FFB issues, alongside general stability enhancements.
It’s a positive sign concerning the sim’s ongoing development but there are still a significant number of bugs to address before LMU becomes a seamlessly fluid racing experience.
