
What players like:
Common complaints:
Gameplay feedback:
Performance notes:
Recommendations:
Other player notes:
Review evidence
Good free content: The game offers a significant amount of free content, including cars and tracks, making it a great value for players.
Realistic physics and simulation: Players appreciate the realistic physics and simulation, which contribute to a more authentic and engaging driving experience.
Beginner-friendly: The game is noted for being accessible and enjoyable for beginners, making it a good choice for those new to sim racing.
Excellent Force Feedback and driving feel: The game is praised for its incredible driving feel and Force Feedback, making the driving experience more realistic and immersive.
Fun and enjoyable gameplay: Many players find the game to be fun and enjoyable, contributing to a positive overall experience.
Excessive paywalls for content: Players are frustrated with the need to pay for most cars and tracks. The game requires real money for new content, with most items behind paywalls.
Lack of dynamic weather and day/night cycle: The game lacks dynamic weather conditions and a day/night cycle, which players find disappointing and immersion-breaking.
Frequent game crashes and instability: The game experiences frequent crashes, including failures to run, launcher crashes, and freezing issues. These problems occur at various points, such as on launch or after updates.
Poor VR and control support: The game has issues with VR support, including poor performance and control problems. The UI/UX design and controller support are also criticized.
Expensive pricing and DLCs: The pricing model is considered expensive, especially for beginners. Many DLCs and additional content are seen as overpriced.
Online multiplayer racing: The game features robust online multiplayer modes, including daily races, ranked races, and various multiplayer events.
Ranked and competition modes: The game features ranked multiplayer systems, competition modes with specific challenges, and incident point systems for a competitive experience.
Special events and community content: The game includes special events, community events, and a variety of racing disciplines, adding depth and variety to the gameplay.
Content purchase model: The game offers a mix of free and paid content, with options to test drive vehicles before purchase.
Offline and single-player modes: The game includes offline racing modes against AI, single races, and championship modes, catering to players who prefer solo gameplay.
Frequent game crashes and instability: The game experiences frequent crashes, including during loading, launching, and gameplay. Players report issues such as black screens, freezing, and the game not responding.
Good performance on low-end hardware: The game runs well on weaker laptops and low-end hardware, with efficient performance and good frame rates even on non-gaming laptops.
Outdated graphics needing updates: Many players mention that the graphics are outdated and in need of an update. There are also plans for a graphics engine update to DX12 and a new UI planned for September 2025.
Mixed VR performance: VR support and performance are mixed, with some players experiencing poor performance and issues such as AA flickering, while others report a smooth VR experience.
Server and connection issues: Players report server lags, disconnections, and issues with connecting to the game without using a VPN. Online servers are often unstable or non-functional.
Improvements in VR and gameplay: Some players find iRacing smoother in VR and suggest adding more prototypes, weather conditions, and configuration options.
More content needed: Players suggest adding more free content, longer races, championship modes, and additional cars like F1, F2, F3, and F4 cars.
Additional features and tutorials: Players recommend adding features like night races, rain, radio during tyre changes, and a tutorial or racing academy.
Mixed recommendations on purchasing: While some strongly recommend the game and its packs, others advise waiting until it runs satisfactorily or avoiding it altogether.
Recommended for driving enthusiasts: The game is recommended for those who want to enjoy or improve their driving due to its great physics, tire model, and content selection.
Community fair range: $20.00 - $30.00.
Game completion: 500.0h.
Session length: 2.0h.
Endgame: 100.0h.
The game becomes fun after players overcome initial multiplayer connection issues and experience the ranked multiplayer system, which has been significantly improved in recent updates.
Reported time to anchor: 1h.
Friction: Connection issues; Initial setup complexity; Learning curve.
Singleplayer Sim Enthusiast: Focused on single-player races and AI opponents, appreciates detailed graphics and physics. Motivation: Realistic and immersive single-player experience. Stance: buy.
Multiplayer Racer: Enjoys both ranked and casual online races, values a stable and fair multiplayer environment. Motivation: Competitive and social multiplayer experience. Stance: buy.
Sim Racing Beginner: Focused on learning the basics of sim racing, appreciates forgiving mechanics and accessible content. Motivation: Learning and improving sim racing skills. Stance: sale.
Steam Deck: The analysis of user feedback for the Steam Deck experience reveals several critical issues. Controller support is a significant pain point, with many users reporting non-intuitive controls and the need for manual binding. Stability issues, including frequent crashes, are also a major concern. Additionally, UI/UX issues such as unreadable text and ugly menus detract from the overall experience. While some users report good performance, others note that the game takes up a lot of space, which can be a concern for those with limited storage. These issues collectively impact the user experience and highlight areas for improvement.
Monetization: The game is heavily criticized for its aggressive monetization strategies, including overpriced DLC, currency obfuscation, pay-to-win mechanics, and excessive paywalls. Players feel that the game forces them to spend real money to access most of the content, which significantly detracts from the overall experience. The use of an in-game currency that obscures real-money costs and the high pricing of individual cars and tracks are particularly contentious points.
Discord community link: Players are requesting a link to the game's Discord community.