The Dakar rally raid event will once more receive an officially licenced video game once more, when Dakar Desert Rally will launch in 2022.
Developed by Saber Porto, formerly Bigmoon Entertainment, the team was acquired by Saber Interactive – the company responsible for SnowRunner – in 2019 and has been working away on a new Dakar title.
Originally called ‘Dakar 21’ and with some screenshots revealed way back in January, it has finally resurfaced during a Saber Interactive Showcase as Dakar Desert Rally, dropping the yearly nomenclature.
The off-road event takes place each January and is now based in the sandy Saudi Arabian desert, whereas the previous game, Dakar 18, was replicating when the raid was located in South America. Based purely on the initial reveal trailer, visual fidelity looks to be a significant step forward.
Once again, you will be able to take to the wheel of the racing cars, trucks, motorcycles, quad bikes and SSVs, with over 150 vehicles included.
The game will amalgamate the 2020 and 2021 Dakar events across 30 stages, and the vehicles, drivers, co-drivers and teams will be officially licenced – although all images so far show only 2020 entrants.
Impressively, it will feature dynamic weather, including sandstorms, rain and mud, full day-night cycle. In the Dakar 18 game, you could tow fellow competitors out of sticky situations, and the feature returns here for this new release too.
Online multiplayer events will be available, but details on this mode are scant at present. It will support steering wheels from Thrustmaster, Logitech and Fanatec – the full list is below.
Creating a Dakar game is always a tall order – the event is over 7,900kms long and the physics engine must work across nimble cars, lumbering trucks and lithe motorcycles. But we’re excited to try this new attempt as it nears its release.
Dakar Desert Rally releases in 2022, no firm date yet, for PC (Steam and Epic), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Dakar Desert Rally game release date
2022 – exact release date is to be confirmed
Dakar Desert Rally game platforms
PC Steam, PC Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S
Dakar Desert Rally game steering wheel peripheral support
- Thrustmaster T248
- Thrustmaster T_GT
- Thrustmaster T-GT II
- Thrustmaster TMX
- Thrustmaster TS-XW
- Thrustmaster T150
- Thrustmaster T300
- Thrustmaster T80
- Thrustmaster T500
- Thrustmaster TX-Racing
- Thrustmaster Ferrari 459
- Logitech G27
- Logitech G29
- Logitech G920
- Fanatec Clubsport Racing Wheel
- Fanatec Clubsport BMW
- Fanatec CSL Elite Racing Wheel (PC, PlayStation)
- Fanatec CSL Elite Racing Wheel (PC, Xbox)
