''WRC 10'', also known as ''WRC 10 FIA World Rally Championship'', is a

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

developed by French developer

Kylotonn Kylotonn SARL is a French video game development studio founded in 2006 in Paris. They are best known for their racing games, and are the official developer of the ''World Rally Championship'' video game series since 2015. History 4X Stud ...

and published by

Nacon Nacon (formerly Bigben Interactive) is a French video game company based in Lesquin. It designs and distributes gaming accessories, and publishes and distributes video games for various platforms. In 2020 Bigben Group was consolidated to form Na ...

. It is a sequel to ''

WRC 9 ''WRC 9'', also known as ''WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship'', is the official racing video game of the 2020 World Rally Championship. The game is developed by French developer Kylotonn and published by Nacon. It is available for Microsoft Win ...

'' and is the official game of the

2021 World Rally Championship The 2021 FIA World Rally Championship was the forty-ninth season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing competition recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. T ...

. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 202 ...

in September 2021, with the Nintendo Switch version released in March 2022.

Development and release

''WRC 10'' was revealed in April 2021 as the official video game of the

, featuring twelve rounds of the season, including

Croatia Rally The Croatia Rally is an international rally racing event based in Zagreb, Croatia and is planned to be the third round of 2021 World Rally Championship. The event is organised by Automobile Clubs D.T. Motorsport and Cro Dakar Team with the support ...

Rally Estonia Rally Estonia is a rallying event organised each year in Estonia. It is the largest and most high-profile motorsport event in the country and runs on smooth gravel roads in the south of the country, some of which are purpose-built for the rally. ...

Ypres Rally The Belgium Ypres Westhoek Rally (BYWR) founded by Frans Thévelin in 1965 is one of the most famous rallies in the European Rally Championship, the Belgian Rally Championship, the British Rally Championship, and the Intercontinental Rally Challen ...

and

Rally de Catalunya The Rally Catalunya (formerly: Rallye Catalunya) is a rally competition held in Catalonia region of Spain, on the World Rally Championship schedule. Now held on the wide, smooth and sweeping asphalt roads around the town of Salou, Costa Daurad ...

Rally New Zealand The Rally New Zealand is an annual rally race in New Zealand. It was first included as a round of the World Rally Championship in 1977. The race is famous for its fast flowing gravel roads which carry the competitors through forests and alongside ...

was not included in the main campaign, though some special stages are featured in other modes. Celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

, the game offers multiple historical rally cars ranging from the classical

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

era to the modern World Rally Cars, such as

Alpine A110 The Alpine A110 is a sports car produced by French automobile manufacturer Alpine from 1963 to 1977. The car was styled as a " berlinette", which in the post-WWII era refers to a small enclosed two-door berline, better-known as a coupé. The ...

Audi Quattro The Audi Quattro is a road and rally car, produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group. It was first shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show on 3 March. Production continued through 1991. Background The wo ...

Lancia Delta Group A The Lancia Delta Group A is a Group A rally car built for the Martini Lancia by Lancia to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Lancia Delta road car and replaced the Lancia Delta S4. The car was introduced for the 1987 ...

Citroën Xsara WRC The Citroën Xsara WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Citroën Xsara road car. The car was introduced for the 2001 World Rally Champ ...

. The game was released worldwide on September 2, 2021, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,

and

, followed by a Nintendo Switch port in March 2022.

Reception

''WRC 10'' received "generally favorable" reviews for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

; the Windows version received "mixed or average" reviews. ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...

'' recommended the game and gave praise to its detail-rich, dynamic stages, variety of available rally cars, and game feel while criticizing the wonky delivery of anniversary events and the sluggish pace of the career mode, writing, "This is familiar stuff from ''WRC 9'' - arguably the high point of the series so far - with familiar problems, and plenty of familiar delights." ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' similarly praised the selection of historically significant rally cars and lush color palette of the rallies while criticizing the lack of difficulty settings in anniversary events, inability to skip the WRC Junior series in career mode, and lack of player agency. The site said that ''WRC 10'' was "the spiciest and arguably the strongest official WRC game to date" but noted that it was only marginally better than ''WRC 9''. While liking the entry's cars, '' PC Magazine'' criticized the 50th anniversary mode saying that each stage was a "glorified time trial". ''

Push Square Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...

'' gave the PlayStation 5 version title 8 stars out of 10 and lauded the improved handling and physics, DualSense feedback, historic events and cars, in-depth career mode, and abundance of content, but took issue with the rough visuals, minor bugs, odd progression, and occasional screen tearing. ''Hardcore Gamer'' gave the game 3.5 out of 5 and wrote, "''WRC 10''‘s small but worthwhile alterations to the formula have at least staved off any fear of an eventual plateauing for the series." '' Shacknews'' thought positively of the solid driving physics, e-sports functionality, customization options, and amount of content, but disliked the lackluster visuals, lack of iteration upon the prior entry, and performance issues present on PC. Upon release, the Nintendo Switch port of the game received criticism for its poor visuals from several outlets. ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...

'' said that the game's graphical issues "are so severe that they provide a huge distraction while driving" and called the framerate "rougher than a cheese grater made of sandpaper", while also panning the long load times and default controls. However, the site also praised the handling, anniversary mode, and the number of tracks available. ''

TouchArcade ''TouchArcade'' is a mobile video game website that launched in 2008. Arnold Kim of ''MacRumors'' worked on the site and its editor-in-chief was Eli Hodapp from 2009 to 2019. ''TouchArcade'' has been recognized as one of the best mobile game ...

'' called the Switch port of ''WRC 10'' a "graphical mess" while praising the iterations made upon ''WRC 9'' and the addition of anniversary content, writing, "If you only have a Switch, truly love rally racing, and are exceptionally forgiving of technical issues, then you might want to give this a look."

References

External links