Last updated on January 17th, 2025 at 12:54 pm
If you prefer to drive rally cars in virtual reality, there’s good news coming soon, as EA Sports WRC gets VR Beta in Update v1.8.0. It’ll be a free upgrade, and integrates the functionality into the main game for the PC, whether you play via Steam, Epic Games or the EA App, as long as you have a compatible headseat connected when you boot up EA Sports WRC.
The VR Beta is for PC only, and there are currently no plans to add virtual reality to any console version of the game. Apparently this is the first time the implementation of VR has been handled in-house rather than working with external partners, which is why it’s being launched in Beta, and Photo Mode has been ruled out of the integration at launch.
EA Sports WRC Compatible VR Headsets:
The system uses OpenXR technology via Unreal Engine, so a wide range of VR headsets should be compatible, with the following list tested and confirmed by Codemasters and EA:
- Meta Quest 3
- Meta Quest 2
- Meta Quest Pro
- Valve Index
- Oculus Rift S
- Oculus CV1
- HTC Vive
The following are considered “partially supported” at this time:
- HTC Vive Cosmos
- HTC Vive Pro 2
Three headsets are explicitly not supported at the moment:
- PlayStation VR
- PlayStation VR 2
- Apple Vision Pro
And 3D tracked controllers are not officially supported, and it’s recommended you stick to driving with a wheel and pedals or controller.
It’s generally recommended you stick to the automatic settings when using VR, with the suggestion that you may want to enable Motion Smoothing via SteamVR, and Asynchornous Spacewarp using a Meta Quest headset if you’re experiencing inconsistent frame rates.
You’ll still be able to race against non-VR sim racers in mutliplayer, but Photo Mode won’t be available at launch in VR mode. And there are some known issues currently being worked on.
- Game may crash if the player frequently changes the Display Mode (Alt+Enter) during the “Enabling VR” dialogue screen.
- Game may crash if the player turns the PC monitor off and on again while VR is active.
- Game may close abruptly when the player removes and re-wears the headset, during Replays in Time Trial. (Meta Quest 2 + RTX 2070 Super)
- Performance on Meta Quest headsets will drop for a period of time after enabling or disabling passthrough. This could last for around 30 seconds, though may be longer in specific scenarios.
- The player’s view may clip through the environment when using the dynamic camera during Replays.
- Post-stage cutscenes may not focus on the vehicle after completing a Rally School lesson.
- Codemasters & EA splash screens may not play or get skipped, when viewed from a headset.
- HP Reverb does not launch the game in VR Mode by default. To fix, go to Steam VR settings > OpenXR > Change to Steam VR OpenXR
EA Sports WRC is available for the PC via Steam or the Epic Games Store, the PS 5 via the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Series X|S via the Microsoft Store, or you can buy physical copies from retailers including Amazon and Game.
Keep up with all the latest EA Sports WRC news, updates, DLC and more, here. Or check out the EA Sport WRC car list for everything available to drive.
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