How WRC Generations’ hybrid system will work

The latest gameplay footage for the upcoming official World Rally Championship game, WRC Generations, has revealed all three Rally1 cars in action for the first time and insight into how the car’s hybrid system will be handled.

New for the current WRC season, currently lead by Toyota’s rising star Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen, the Rally1 ruleset added a hybrid powertrain alongside a new spaceframe chassis.

When the latest virtual release was revealed back in May, only the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 was visible, but now during the yearly Nacon Connect presentation by the French publisher, the rival Hyundai i20 N Rally1 and Ford Puma Rally1 vehicles are shown in-game for the first time.

While Toyota is so far dominating the WRC in 2022, the M-Sport-developed Puma won the season-opening Rally Monte Carlo thanks to Sébastien Loeb and Isabelle Galmiche, while Hyundai took its first victory of the season at Rally Sardinia with Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja in the hot seats.

Hybrid adds a new gameplay strategy

A key gameplay element for WRC Generations will be how the new electrified hybrid system will be implemented.

In the real world, drivers can receive a 100kW (134bhp) boost from a 3.9kWh battery off the startline. Then, throughout a stage, the battery is recharged via harvested energy under braking. Electrical boost events then occur when the driver next applies the throttle. It is, however, not a push-to-pass or power boost button, like in some other formulae.

Players will have the choice of three electric power maps to choose from pre-stage, much like the homologated settings used by real-world teams. These are said to balance speed with longevity, with the challenge of conserving battery power based on a stage’s characteristics.

The additional electrical boost will kick in higher up the car’s rev range, and there will also be an on-screen battery-level indicator.

WRC Generations will launch 13th October for PlayStation and Xbox, 13 months after WRC 10, with PC and Nintendo Switch versions arriving later. It will be the last official WRC game by Parisien studio Kylotonn before the licence switches to Electronic Arts for 2023 and will feature every rally in the current WRC season.