Rennsport really didn’t get off to the greatest start for a racing game, but its developers are determined to put things right with a newly revealed roadmap for 2026, an AI overhaul and modding tools in the works, and a new mantra of “Double the content – Half the price” to get the ball rolling.
Stepping into the simulation racing genre is a tall task, as you need to try and cater to the varying preferences and demands of a keen and deeply invested audience, but for its launch in November 2025, Rennsport simply came up short. Not enough cars, not enough tracks, a slim set of single player championships, and AI that would launch itself through fast corners, seemingly without braking, and end up cartwheeling through the sky.
The first level that they’re pulling is to reset the expectations and value within the game. The Deluxe Edition price is being slashed by 45% and will now feature the first three paid DLC packs released through 2026 – the Endurance Classics Part 1, Touring Classics Part 1 and now also a September DLC. Current Deluxe Edition owners will have further in-game items given to them as compensation for the price they previously paid.
But all owners will benefit from the free updates from March through May, adding the Hyundai N Vision 74 and Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, iconic tracks like Laguna Seca, Sebring International and a community-derived Kuala Lumpur Street Circuit, and updated and new single player championships, and further improvements through the game’s multiplayer features. The capper to all of this will be the reworked AI arriving in May, a ground-up rebuild of this element in the game.
We got to go hands on with some of this new content at an event in Munich, spending the most time in the game with the Porsche 911 GT1 ’98 and Circuit Des 24 Heures Du Mans, both of which are featured in the Endurance Classics DLC. I’m someone that loves Le Mans and endurance racing as a sport, and this combination (admittedly with the current layout instead of that of the late 90s) was a joy to experience. Isn’t it always?
The rest of the DLC pack will feature the Porsche’s counterpart in the Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM, as well as the older Porsche 956 and current Peugeot 9X8 Evo. May will follow this up with a classic touring car bundle, the iconic Mercedes-Benz 190E and other cars able to take to the Hockenheimring Classic layout.
They’re good additions… free and paid, and the impact should hopefully be pretty swift for the multiplayer side of the game. The various added single player championships, though, will be beholden to the reworked AI coming in May.
The new AI wasn’t available for us to race against just yet, but the approach they are taking was outlined by Lead Gameplay Programmer Rikard Häggström. Instead of leaning into a machine learning approach to programmatically find the fastest racing line and learn to race, the AI is given the optimal racing line to try and follow, but then given situational awareness of other cars – visualised in the demo with laser beams zapping everything of note – to let them try to react more organically. They will also be driving with the same throttle, brake and steering inputs players have, and while there’s a slightly simplified physics model that they use compared to players, there won’t be any “cheating” mechanisms. While it’s expected in May, this could change depending on how development progresses.
The Kuala Lumpur circuit is a community-created track coming to Rennsport soon
The cherry on top, though, could be the modding support that will be added through 2026 and the years to follow. Modding and the ability for fans to add in additional cars, tracks and more to games, has been a major part of various PC racing games, but never really on console. Rennsport is looking to change that with an in-game asset store and manager to go alongside a growing suite of modding tools.
For this year, the focus is all about track modding tools. Built around Unreal Engine 5, the available tools are already robust, but will be combined with Rennsport’s in-house tools for better manipulating the tracks. The very first access to this will be in June for select creators, before expanding with a closed beta in August and a wider release potentially by the end of the year. From there, the modding focus will shift to gameplay and cars, over the next few years.
It’s ambitious for a number of reasons, not least that the most popular mods are now often supported via Patreon and other monetisation methods. To draw those talents to Rennsport, there’s the possibility that Competition Company’s in-game mod browser will also have to act like a shop and not just a platform for discovery. Needless to say there’s a lot of details still to be figured out with how to implement all of this, but it’s a fascinating direction to take, especially with console gamers in mind.
Rennsport is far from the only game to have had a rocky launch and need to pull off a recovery drive to get back to relevance. There’s earnest ambition behind this racing game, though, and a determination to improve the fundamentals while also broadening the horizons for the future.
