With WRC Generations being the final official World Rally Championship game developed by Kylotonn, publisher Nacon has confirmed to Traxion.GG that it will not be used by an official esports competition.
The WRC has run its esports competition since 2016, a year ahead of the first Formula 1 and MotoGP competitions. It initially used WRC 5, and year-on-year has progressed with each subsequent KT Racing-created title.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both the 2020 and 2021 finals were held last year and Traxion.GG visited the latter during the Acropolis Rally of Gods in Greece.
There, Lohan Blanc, aka Nexl, won his third title and a Toyota GR Yaris road car, ahead of 2020 winner Abi Nakhle Sami-Joe.
The reasoning for a lack of future WRC Generations use is simple. As confirmed in our WRC Generations Switch release exposé, the licence between KT Racing and the WRC ends in December 2022.
The WRC Esports season traditionally starts in February, and the use of WRC Generations in 2023 for official competitions is not permitted, according to publisher Nacon.
Last season, the qualifying rounds used WRC 9 across PC, PlayStation and Xbox, before the live in-person round used WRC 10. It was new to all competitors due to its release date just one week before the event.
This will not be the format this time around. Once again, the final will be during the Greek real-world WRC round, but it will remain on the existing WRC 10 that the competitors have qualified with, meaning WRC Generations will miss out on a competitive debut.
Current confirmed drivers of the 2022 WRC Esports final include Panagiotis Zeniou (Zeniou), Lillian Richard (Kriim), Abi Nakhle, Lohan Blanc (Nexl), Sami-Joe Abi Nakhle (Sami-Joe), John Bebnowicz-Harris (Izamusing), Kazuho Iwata (Kazunokota), Michał Król (Katana) and Marco Bottinelli.
The future of the WRC Esports competition remains under wraps, as the contract for the game shifts to Codemasters and Electronic Arts as of next year.
