Five things we’d love to see in Le Mans Ultimate

Motorsport Games has undergone a surprising paradigm shift in recent times. 

From being vilified for its inept management of several official motorsport licenses, including IndyCar, NASCAR and TOCA’s BTCC, the custodian of Studio 397 (developer of the acclaimed rFactor 2 simulator) has partially reclaimed its reputation thanks to the work done on Le Mans Ultimate, the official game of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

As a result, LMU is slowly becoming the platform of choice for GT3 racing fans, gradually eroding Assetto Corsa Competizione’s grand tourer stranglehold on sim racing. 

LMU is already a critical success, and with over 100,000 sales (not including DLC and subscription revenue) it could be a commercial triumph too. However, with MSG still somehow haemorrhaging cash, investment is desperately needed, with CEO Stephen Hood remaining guarded about the game’s future prospects.

Barring a fifth DLC pack in May, which is set to include two LMGT3 cars and the Lusail International Circuit, news of future content for LMU is sadly scarce. 

But with WEC and its support series steeped in history and ripe with potential cars and tracks, we decided to pick out some potential highlights that we’d love to see in LMU in 2025 and beyond.

2025 WEC content – flight of the Valkyrie

This seems like an obvious one, but a 2025 expansion to match LMU’s incumbent 2023 and 2024 content makes complete sense.

The only problem with this is that the 2024 calendar is exactly the same as 2025, meaning fresh tracks are technically off the agenda, so will players be happy paying for new liveries only? Perhaps not, but 2025 does have one huge plus point: the Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH.

The Gaydon-based manufacturer has flirted with the idea of racing its Valkyrie in WEC since 2019, with its initial effort binned until it was clear the series had entered a new golden era.

American team The Heart of Racing is spearheading the Valkyrie programme with two cars in WEC this year and a single entry in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, whose second round at Sebring represents the car’s North American debut.

The most striking thing about the Valkryrie, however (other than its dynamic looks), is that it’s powered by an incredible V12 powerplant – the only 12-cylinder engine competing at the pinnacle of world motorsport.

Although it’s stymied by the negative effects of the engine’s extra weight, the Valkyrie has offset this by running without a hybrid system across its front axle, unlike its LMH rivals Peugeot, Ferrari and Toyota.

Because Hypercars are kept competitive due to a Balance of Performance (BoP) calculation (decided by series organiser Automobile Club de l’Ouest and the FIA), it’s hoped the Valkyrie’s lack of battery boost will not affect its performance. 

However, copying the Vanwall Vandervell’s drivetrain choice doesn’t bode well…

Nevertheless, driving a wailing V12 in LMU would be extraordinary if the game’s current audio design is anything to go by. 

“I think there are some great opportunities there with what is an amazing car,” said Hood, when quizzed about the Valkyrie LMH, indicating it’s very much in the thoughts of LMU’s developers.

“The 2024 season will be complete before too long, and then we will work on 2025 modifications,” he concluded.

New cars

Although the Aston Martin Valkyrie is a tangible goal for LMU, WEC is also looking forward to new cars from both Ford and Genesis in the near future.

Ford has just recently inked a deal to race an LMDh from 2027, hoping to build upon the success of its overall wins in the ‘60s and its more recent 2016 GTE class victory. The prospect of going toe-to-toe with Ferrari again was clearly too big a lure for the Dearborn brand, which currently fields a pair of Mustangs in the LMGT3 class.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has also publicly expressed his interest in tackling the 24 Hours of Le Mans and could announce a Hypercar programme at the great race in June. The timing would be apt given McLaren will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of its sole Le Mans victory, when its road-derived F1 GTR car defeated a legion of prototypes to win in mixed conditions.

With rumours surrounding a further Mercedes-AMG entry to add to the firm’s 2025 LMGT3 debutant, the prospect of three or four new Hypercars appearing in WEC – and therefore LMU – is very likely (if LMU is still a going concern at the time, that is).

New LMGT3 cars on the horizon

We can’t forget prospective LMGT3 entries either, with Toyota surely set to replace the ageing RC-F LMGT3 entered by its sister brand, Lexus. A Supra GT3 has long been rumoured but came to nought, and if testing footage is to be believed a whole new GR GT3 model could be in the works.

A replacement for the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 will also appear in 2026. The Temerario GT3 will drop the Santa’Agata manufacturer’s sonorous V10 motor for a V8 engine, something fans will look upon as the end of an era for the much-loved powerplant. However, it is yet to be confirmed whether this will appear in WEC in 2026. We’re sure that BMW’s M4 GT3 Evo will make the cut, though.

And might we see a two-pronged attack on WEC from Acura/Honda in future? Acura successfully campaigns its ARX-06 LMDh Hypercar in IMSA, while its Acura/Honda NSX GT3 Evo 22 has raced across the globe for several years with middling success (though it’s surprisingly making its British GT debut this season).

The problem here is branding, with the Acura marque focused on the North American market under the control of Honda Japan. If the stars align then Honda could potentially enter both WEC categories, but the question is; which model could replace the elderly NSX? 

Personally, I’d love to see a Jazz LMGT3 tear up the track…

“FIA WEC having all of these manufacturers and cool things coming to the table just gives us a golden ticket for amazing content that gets pushed into the product,” stated Hood, encouragingly.

New tracks

LMU’s recent update, which added several new circuit layouts not featured in WEC, showed that it was possible to add track configurations outside of the WEC calendar to LMU, although technically within the existing roster.

However, there are tentative plans for WEC to boost the number of races from 2027 onwards, with new venues in the pipeline.

“No, I do not believe that in 2026 we have more races. Maybe in 2027,” stated WEC CEO Frederic Lequien to Motorsport Week, with Silverstone heavily mooted as a potential destination.

LMU developer Studio 397 has an interesting history with the British circuit, given the licence deal for its rFactor 2 sim was not renewed in 2022 due to rumoured financial pressures. However, as LMU has access to the WEC track roster via its all-encompassing licence, it’s thought this won’t present a challenge.

With the vast majority of the tracks locked into multi-year deals, it seems like the only way new circuits can join WEC, and therefore LMU, is through the series expanding upon its eight-round season. Whether this is possible or not will require a lot of logistical and financial planning, but with the championship in such rude health, it seems almost inevitable.

Historic content

With such rich heritage, it’s sensible to suggest that historic WEC and Le Mans content would do very well in LMU.

Le Mans has so many stories to tell; McLaren’s road car winning in 1995, 1988’s Group C head-to-head between Jaguar and Porsche and Ford and Ferrari’s passion-fuelled duel for glory in 1966 all spring to mind.

But historical content could also arrive within the scope of a specific ‘Scenarios’ mode. Imagine trying to drive the full 24 hours at Le Mans solo, as Pierre Levegh attempted in 1952, despite having a willing co-driver? Or attempting to finish that last fateful lap for Toyota in 2016? WEC and Le Mans are full of interesting subplots that could be thoroughly explored via LMU.

The cars would undoubtedly be the stars in this situation, with the Ford GT40, Porsche 917 and Mazda 787B representing a taster of the vast smorgasbord of machinery available to the developers.

Historic WEC tracks like the Nordschleife (in its World Sportscar days), Targa Florio and Mille Miglia would be eligible too, although historic versions of LMU’s incumbent tracks is perhaps a more likely option.

IMSA licence

Other series that run under the stewardship of the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest include the European and Asian Le Mans Series.

Although not as glamorous or as well-supported as WEC, the prospect of driving tracks like Yas Marina, Sepang, Paul Ricard, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the Dubai Autodrome is appealing (well, maybe not all of them are appealing…).

However, the real jewel in the crown of future LMU DLC could be an IMSA license.

Dreamy track list

The burgeoning series shares similar car regulations to WEC (the rules are decided by the ACO and IMSA jointly) but also has its intricacies, with the top class referred to as ‘GTP’. This still includes LMDh cars from Porsche, BMW, Acura, Cadillac and Lamborghini, which will all be balanced against Aston Martin’s LMH Valkyrie for this season. 

The best reason for adding an IMSA license, however, is its incredible tracks, with driver-centric venues like Long Beach, Daytona International Speedway, Laguna Seca, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Road America, Watkins Glen, VIRginia International Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Road Atlanta and the Detroit Street Circuit making up the 2025 season (Sebring is on the roster too, but it’s already in LMU).

Most of these are truly fantastic tracks to drive in high-downforce cars and would undoubtedly make LMU the defacto endurance racing simulator of choice for North American fans. The licence seems gettable too, with iRacing and Automobilista 2 both heavily featuring IMSA content.

But how likely is it?

In a recent interview with Traxion.gg, MSG CEO Stephen Hood discussed the potential of other series coming to LMU:

“People say ‘You could add IMSA. You can have the European Le Mans Series. Why don’t you do the MX-5s or the Porsche Cup?’ and I’m sitting here going ‘Yeah, I’d bloody love to’,” he stated

“But I’ve got to say no. I’ve got to put the lid on that sweet tin and push it to one side. We must deliver what we’re meant to,” indicating there are no immediate plans for other series to join the game,” he concluded.

The prospect of seeing IMSA content in LMU doesn’t seem promising in the short-term, then, but with MSG actively seeking a partner to help fund it and Studio 397’s future plans Hood was able to offer some hope:

“The licencing conversations are progressing, and I think we will expand Le Mans Ultimate to be much larger than it is today.” 

What would you like to see coming to Le Mans Ultimate in future? Let us know in the comments below.