Licensing agreements are a constant impact on sim racers and developers alike, often meaning games and content disappears after a period of time. And that’s certainly true as the rFactor 2 license ends for Le Mans and the Ferrari 488 (both the GTE and GT3 EVO 2020 versions).
This means that the Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans), and the Ferrari cars will no longer be available to purchase from January 1st, 2025. If you already own the content, you’ll be able to continue to use it both online and offline.
It’s not the first time venues have disappeared from the rFactor 2 roster, with Silverstone and the Monaco E-Prix layout both being removed from sale in the past due the licensing issues. And in the case of Formula E, the real world official series switched to the full GP layout some time ago, so it wasn’t much of an issue.
rFactor 2 losing Le Mans is a bit more noticeable though, as the sim and track were used for three 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual events, most recently in 2023. And developers Studio 397 and owners Motorsport Games released Le Mans Ultimate in February 2024, which isn’t impacted by the end of the license for use in rFactor 2.
What are the implications for rFactor 2?
The announcement of the license ending was made in a fairly low key fashion by rFactor 2, simply stating that the content would no longer be available to purchase from January 1st 2025, but you’ll still be able to use it if online and offline.
But given the recent release and focus on Le Mans Ultimate, and the current attempts to sell Motorsport Games due to the financial issues which have plagued the company for years, including a number of redundancies in October 2024 at both Motorsport Games and Studio 397, could this be the start of the end for the venerable sim racing title originally released by ISI back in 2012?
Le Mans is one of those cornerstone circuits that you expect to find in pretty much any sim racing title, and the GT3 class remains the most popular choice for sim racers. If Motorsport Games has made the strategic decision not to renew those licenses, or is being limited in options by their financial situation, then it’s certainly going to limit the appeal of rFactor 2 going forwards as the car and track rosters continue to shrink in the future.
Looking at the third party SteamDB data, both titles have a similar number of active players at the moment:
With a smaller staff, less money and attempting to attract potential buyers for the company, it makes sense to focus on the newer, shinier release from 2024 still in Steam Early Access. But a year after the new online experience was rolled out, there’s been little news about new content or features for rFactor 2, suggesting it may simply just fade away.
And while there’s a fair amount of third party mod content available, it’s a long way from the overwhelming choice available for Assetto Corsa. So it’s hard to see how rFactor 2 could be revived at the moment without a new owner for Motorsport Games injecting a large amount of cash and resources.
I’m not a massive fan of rFactor 2 for various reasons, but I’d be sad to see it slowly disappear, both for the sim racers who remain committed to it, and because less choice and competition among developers and publishers is a bad thing for everyone.
In the meantime, you can buy rFactor 2 for the PC via Steam for £24.99, but it’s discounted to £4.99 during the Steam Autumn Sale until December 4th, 2024. The Le Mans 24H circuit, modelled on the 2018 version, is available for £4.78 until January 1st, 2025, the Ferrari 488 GTE and the Ferrari 488 GT3 EVO 2020 are both available until the same date for £3.26 each.
Keep up with all the latest rFactor 2 updates and news, here. Or check out the full rFactor 2 car list, and the rFactor 2 track list.
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