Electronic Arts (EA) is set to officially launch its first World Rally Championship (WRC) game next week.
The EA Sports WRC game will be unveiled on September 5, and in anticipation, its social media channels released a brief teaser featuring contemporary Rally1-class cars spewing dust on a dirt stage.
In place of the Dirt name, a new one, EA Sports WRC, has been applied to mark a new beginning.
This comes after official video game rights for the FIA World Rally Championship were declared to have been transferred from Kylotonn to Codemasters back in 2020.
Codemasters was then acquired by Electronic Arts in 2021 and the five-year agreement was set to start in 2023.
The newly rebranded EA SPORTS WRC will debut on September 5, 2023, at 3.58 PM BST / 4.58 PM CEST, when a YouTube premiere is scheduled to take place.
The YouTube channel symbol now has an orange background that matches the real-world championship, as all the EA SPORTS Rally social media platforms have been renamed with the “WRC” title.
“It’s time. Join us on September 5 for the full reveal of #EASPORTSWRC,” reads the social media posts.
The short preview video clip that is attached to the social media post features a huge Codemasters logo over a gravel rally stage. Then, as the current top category’s rivals, the three primary Rally1 hybrid rally cars drive through the vicinity.
The Hyundai i20 N Rally1, the Ford Puma Rally1, and the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. There is currently no other information available, but a complete run-down will be provided on Tuesday’s launch.
EA Sports WRC allegedly had a July 2023 release date originally but was postponed to later in the year.
The game will be released as a Standard Edition and a Champions Edition, with the latter comprising the main game and five seasons’ worth of game content. It will be available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
According to reports, EA Play subscribers will also get the same three-day early access period as Champions Edition players, in addition to the standard 10-hour trial.
According to billbil-kun, the cost of the game is one element that can come as a surprise. The base version will cost $49.99/€49.99/£44.99, which is far cheaper than the $69.99/£69.99 that EA charged for its most recent Formula 1 game, F123.
