EA Sports WRC Update 1.8 Brings VR and Performance Improvements

The latest update to EA Sports WRC has arrived, bringing with it one of the most heavily requested features to the game. Now players can experience the true immersion of rallying thanks to Update 1.8 in EA Sports WRC.

EA Sports WRC Update 1.8 out now

Arriving on all platforms today at 04:00 ET / 11:00 BST, Update 1.8 mainly focuses on performance improvements and bug fixes. These range from preventing crashes in the car livery selector to reducing framerate issues in several stages.

There’s also been some work on the audio to "increase spectator excitement on stage start," with the crowd finally showing the levels of hype expected at the start of an epic rally stage.

Once again, fixes have been provided for the Monte Carlo and Kenya stages to further improve the players' experience. This is also the case with the Central Europe, Oceania, and Sardinia stages, where multiple fixes have been implemented to improve the overall experience.

This all sounds very promising, but the new feature added to the game will undoubtedly please players the most.

VR now in beta

Update 1.8 to EA Sports WRC has now made the game playable in VR. Only available on PC (sorry PSVR2 players), this puts players right into the heart of the action, with every near-miss and jump being just that little more adrenaline-inducing when wearing a VR headset.

It’s important to note that VR is still at the beta stage at this point, so bugs and other issues may be present. It’s also possible that certain hardware is not yet able to run the game in VR. Codemasters has released the current list of compatible VR headsets, which you can see below:

• Meta Quest 3
• Meta Quest 2
• Meta Quest Pro
• Valve Index
• Oculus Rift S
• Oculus CV1
• HTC Vive

Players should be aware that the minimum system requirements for playing the game in VR on PC are the same as the recommended requirements for non-VR play. This means you’ll need a pretty powerful rig to be able to experience the rally in true VR.

Codemasters has also confirmed that VR in EA Sports WRC will only be available on PC, with no plans to bring it to PSVR2 anytime soon. There are also no plans to add support for Apple Vision Pro.

Players with questions on how VR works in EA Sports WRC can check out the VR Beta FAQ page.

EA Sports WRC Update 1.8 patch notes

Players can check out the full patch notes for EA Sports WRC Update 1.8 below:

New Feature

• EA Sports WRC can now be played in VR on PC. Please visit the VR Beta FAQ for more information.

Key Updates

• Added the ability to “Retire to the next Service Area” in Clubs. Players will receive a nominal time for every stage they do not complete.
• Fixed an issue in Clubs in which players would receive no penalty for exceeding repair time limit in Service Areas.
• Addressed an issue on PC and PS5 in which framerates could decrease when using Fanatec hardware.
• Added 12 new UDP telemetry channels.

Crash Fixes

• Fixed an issue in which the game would crash on PC if the player pressed Alt+F4 while selecting a car livery.

Audio

• Adjusted crowd audio to increase spectator excitement on stage start.

Career

• Fixed an issue in which the player would be demoted to last place after using all of their available restarts.

Cars

• Citroën Xsara WRC - Updated interior behaviour so that the driver now uses paddle shift when changing gears.

Clubs

• Added the ability to “Retire to the next Service Area”. Players will receive a nominal time for every stage they do not complete.
• Fixed an issue in which players would receive no penalty for exceeding repair time limit in Service Areas.
• Players who do not finish a stage (either via retirement or disqualification) will now appear on Club leaderboards in-game.
• Players who do not finish a stage (either via retirement or disqualification) will now appear on Club leaderboards on Racenet.

Graphics & Performance

• Fixed an issue in which foliage would appear inside the car when the player drove through it.
• Made improvements to snow effects.
• Chile - Made a number of performance optimisations to foliage in order to help improve framerates.
• Estonia - Performed an additional pass to gather more PSO shaders, to help reduce stuttering on PC.
• Finland - Performed an additional pass to gather more PSO shaders, to help reduce stuttering on PC.
• Monte Carlo - Performed an additional pass to gather more PSO shaders, to help reduce stuttering on PC.
• Sweden - Performed an additional pass to gather more PSO shaders, to help reduce stuttering on PC.
• Kenya - Addressed some issues on a number of stages where excessive screen tearing was experienced.
• Mediterraneo - Made a number of changes in order to help improve framerates.

Input Devices

• Addressed an issue on PC and PS5 in which framerates could decrease when using Fanatec hardware.

Locations

• Central Europe - Resolved an issue in which some trees did not have collision physics.
• Central Europe - Made some minor fixes to ground cover.
• Kenya - Kingono - Fixed an issue in which a Shakedown would not end after crossing the finish line (also fixed on all other stages in the game where this occurred).
• Monte Carlo - Fixed an issue in which some corners were using gravel physics instead of asphalt physics.
• Oceania - Waiwera - Fixed an issue in which the player could collide with an invisible object.
• Oceania - Tahekeroa - Fixed an issue in which the player could collide with an invisible object.
• Oceania - Noakes Hill - Fixed an issue in which the player could collide with an invisible object.
• Oceania - Orewa - Fixed an issue in which the player could collide with an invisible object.
• Sardinia - Rena Majore - Resolved a corner-cutting exploit at an acute hairpin.
• Sardinia - Monte Olia - Resolved a corner-cutting exploit at an acute hairpin.
• Sardinia - Littichedda - Resolved a corner-cutting exploit at an acute hairpin.
• Sardinia - Li Pinnenti - Resolved a corner-cutting exploit at an acute hairpin.
• Sardinia - Malti - Resolved a corner-cutting exploit at an acute hairpin.

Moments

• Fixed a UI issue in which lower XP amounts for Archived Moments were not highlighted.
• Fixed a UI issue with multiple Moments in which [driver name] placeholder text was appearing in descriptions.
• Underdog (Season 3) - Fixed an issue in which the environment would render incorrectly partway through the stage.

UDP & Telemetry

• Added new UDP telemetry channel: game_mode
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: result_status
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: stage_previous_split_time
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: stage_progress
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: stage_result_time
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: stage_result_time_penalty
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: stage_result_status
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: vehicle_cluster_abs
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: vehicle_tyre_state_bl (flags whether a tyre is punctured or not)
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: vehicle_tyre_state_br
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: vehicle_tyre_state_fl
• Added new UDP telemetry channel: vehicle_tyre_state_fr
• Updated stage_length UDP telemetry channel to more accurately reflect distance from start line to finish line.Players can calculate their progress if they multiply stage_length by stage_progress

User Interface & HUD

• Changed the behaviour of the "Reset to Track" option from the pause menu, to resolve an exploit.Resetting via the pause menu is now limited to when the car is travelling at under 10mph.
• Fixed an issue in Spanish language in which the descriptions for "User Generated Content" and "Co-Driver Call Type" were incorrect.

VR Beta (PC)

• EA SPORTS™ WRC can now be played in VR on PC. Please visit the VR Beta FAQ for more information.

Miscellaneous

• Updated staff credits.

Are you hyped to see VR added to EA Sports WRC? Let us know in the comments below!

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