That was quick: after being dropped by EA, the WRC series is coming back

You might have seen the recent news that EA had placed a rather unceremonious full stop on Codemasters’ WRC franchise after releasing just one game. Disappointing, wasn’t it? Well hold onto your pace notes, because there’s another twist in the road ahead.

The license has been re-acquired by publisher Nacon and developer KT Racing, the same duo who held the license before Codemasters, and released seven games between 2013 and 2022. It’s all a bit Groundhog Day.

Nacon’s official announcement details that the deal spans an initial seven-year period and begins in 2027, so let’s hope the real WRC 2026 season is particularly forgettable and thus there’ll be no pangs of deprivation from not having a game that recreates it.

If you played EA’s WRC and the KT Racing releases, you might consider this… mixed news. The KT games were solid and the trajectory of their quality was certainly going upwards with each release, particularly 2022’s WRC Generations. But their handling model couldn’t look the 2023 Codemasters WRC game in the eye. 

Nor could they equal EA WRC graphically, since Codemasters made such great use of Unreal Engine to create vast environments beyond the limits of the driveable surface. 

What’s more, this news doesn’t undo the layoffs that took place at that talented Codemasters team since EA pulled the plug on the license. It’s a great shame that such a passionate team of true experts isn’t getting the chance to make more rally titles any time soon.

On the other hand, KT Racing now has a particularly high tide mark to compete with, and several years of on-ramp before that first 2027 release under the new deal. Previously the series was being churned out to an annual cadence, and we all know how that goes. That isn’t the case for this returning WRC release, which gives it the best possible chance of seriously upping the quality.