Black Angel Team - Notizie

The Perfect Storm Between Innovation and Controversy

The sim racing community's distress over paid servers and the absence of standalone hosting options

A Community's Dashed Expectations

When Kunos Simulazioni announced Assetto Corsa EVO as the spiritual successor to their celebrated driving simulator, the global sim racing community welcomed the news with enthusiasm. However, the January 2025 early access launch triggered a storm of criticism that goes far beyond typical early access problems.

At the center of the controversy lies a decision that has divided the community: the introduction of an exclusively paid multiplayer server system, without any possibility for players to host dedicated standalone servers as was possible with the original Assetto Corsa.

The Server Revolution: From Free to Premium

The Old Model: Freedom and Community

The original Assetto Corsa won the community's heart partly due to the ability to create free dedicated servers. Any enthusiast could:

• Host their own server on personal hardware
• Create leagues and tournaments without additional costs
• Completely customize the racing experience
• Maintain total control over their own data

This model gave birth to a rich ecosystem of communities, amateur and professional leagues, themed servers, and competitions ranging from drift to endurance racing.

The New Paradigm: Servers as a Service

With Assetto Corsa EVO, Kunos Simulazioni completely revolutionized this approach, introducing a centralized system where:

Limited Free Servers:

• Public 24/7 servers managed directly by Kunos
• Limited to 16 players per session (with promises of expansion)
• Preset, non-customizable racing scenarios
• Partnerships with SimGrid and LowFuelMotorsport for additional content

Paid Custom Servers:

• €15 + VAT per month for a dedicated 24/7 server
• Up to 20 slots included in the base price
• Daily servers available for €5
• Progressive discounts for long-term subscriptions (10%, 25%, 50%)

Community Distress: Voices from the Forums

Disappointed Veterans

"After 10 years of Assetto Corsa, seeing that we can no longer host our own servers is devastating," writes a longtime user on the official forums. "Our league spent maybe €30 per year on hosting, now we'd have to pay €180 just for servers."

Small Communities in Trouble

The greatest impact is being felt by small communities and groups of friends who organized casual race nights. Servers that previously cost a few euros per month on external providers now require a fixed investment of €15 monthly, multiplying costs by at least 5-6 times.

The Cascade Effect

Many league organizers are reporting:

• Unsustainable increase in management costs
• Loss of control over their own data and configurations
• Total dependence on Kunos infrastructure
• Impossibility of backup or data migration

Kunos's Justifications: Quality vs Accessibility

Arguments in Favor

Marco Massarutto and the Kunos team have defended their choice by arguing:

Stability and Quality:

• Professional infrastructure developed with SIATI (Swiss Innovative Arts and Technology Institute)
• Geographically distributed servers for optimal latency
• Dedicated 24/7 technical support
• Guaranteed automatic updates and maintenance

Against Server Chaos: "In 2025, the only way to make an online server system economically sustainable is to centralize it and provide it as a service," declares a company spokesperson. "The alternative would have been to limit the number of users with a low-level service."

Necessary Evolution:

• Prevention of abandoned and unmaintained servers
• Uniformity of user experience
• Possibility to implement centralized anti-cheat systems
• Global rating system and shared statistics

Community Counter-arguments

Economic Barriers:

• Many amateur communities cannot sustain the new costs
• Small leagues are destined to disappear
• Concentration of multiplayer in the hands of few wealthy organizers

Loss of Control:

• Impossibility to deeply modify race rules
• Dependence on a single provider
• Risk of sudden service closure

Philosophical Principles:

• Betrayal of the original Assetto Corsa's open spirit
• Aggressive monetization of previously free features
• Limitation to community creativity and experimentation

Impact on Different Community Segments

Professional Leagues: Forced Adaptation

Large organizations like SimGrid have found direct partnerships with Kunos, but many semi-professional leagues find themselves in a difficult position:

• Limited budgets but need for stable servers
• Insufficient sponsorships to cover new costs
• Loss of autonomy in technical management

Amateur Communities: The Exodus

The most painful testimonies come from small communities:

"Our community of 25 people organized two races per week. €30 per month is prohibitive for us. We're migrating to other simulators," tells an Italian league administrator.

Content Creators and Streamers: Multiplied Costs

Streamers and YouTubers who organized special events face a choice:

• Invest significant amounts to maintain content quality
• Reduce event frequency
• Rely exclusively on public servers with creative limitations

Comparison with Competition

iRacing: The Controversial Precedent

iRacing's model, completely based on subscriptions, has always divided the community. However, iRacing:

• Built its system on this basis from the beginning
• Offers a complete premium service with ratings and official championships
• Never promised free alternatives

rFactor 2 and Automobilista 2: The Alternative

Simulators like rFactor 2 and Automobilista 2 continue to allow free dedicated servers, attracting organizers frustrated by Kunos's choice.

Le Mans Ultimate: The Same Model

Motorsport Games adopted a similar strategy with Le Mans Ultimate, confirming an industry trend toward monetizing multiplayer services.

Technical Problems Aggravating the Situation

A Troubled Early Access

Criticism about paid servers is amplified by the game's general state:

Performance Issues:

• Inconsistent and poorly communicative force feedback
• Insufficient optimization with sudden fps drops
• Graphic and physics bugs that make the experience frustrating

Limited Content:

• Only 5 circuits at launch (now expanded in v0.3)
• 20 initial vehicles, increased but still insufficient
• Complete absence of single-seaters and iconic GT3s

Broken Promises:

• Open-world mode postponed indefinitely
• Completely revised development timeline
• Poor communication and non-punctual updates

The Paradox of "Paying to Beta Test"

"We're paying €40 to be beta testers, and then another €15 per month for servers of a broken game," is the recurring complaint on social media.

International Community Reactions

Reddit and Forums: The Digital Revolt

Subreddits dedicated to Assetto Corsa EVO have become theaters of heated debates:

"Boycott" Team:

• Mass refund requests on Steam
• Organization of campaigns not to buy the game
• Mass migration to other simulators

"Understanding" Team:

• Defense of Kunos's technical choices
• Arguments about economic sustainability of free servers
• Trust in the long-term project

YouTube and Streamers: Influential Opinions

Personalities like Jimmy Broadbent have expressed public concerns:

"Assetto Corsa EVO seems to suffer under the weight of its own promises. Where are the promised features? Why do some cars seem worse than the original AC?"

These criticisms from respected influencers have amplified the general discontent.

Economic Consequences for the Ecosystem

Compared Annual Costs

Traditional Model (AC1):

• Dedicated server: €20-50/year
• Web hosting for registrations: €30/year
• Total: €50-80/year

New Model (AC EVO):

• Base server: €180/year (€15 × 12 months)
• Possible slot upgrades: additional costs
• Minimum total: €180/year

Increase: +125% minimum

The Selection Effect

This model inevitably favors:

• Commercial organizations with dedicated budgets
• Sponsored leagues by motorsport brands
• Wealthy communities willing to pay premium pricing

While penalizing:

• Groups of friends who play occasionally
• Student communities with limited budgets
• Experimenters who test innovative race formats

Kunos's Response to Criticism

The Official Defense

The development team has responded to criticism through official channels:

Quality Argument: "We prefer to have fewer high-quality servers than an infinite list of servers that interest nobody. The quality of races and championships will benefit."

Economic Argument: "Maintaining free servers in 2025 means compromises on service quality that we don't want to accept."

Technical Argument: "Our infrastructure guarantees optimal latency, 24/7 support, and seamless updates that amateur servers cannot offer."

Persistent Counter-arguments

The community continues to object that:

• Other simulators still manage to offer free dedicated servers
• Quality can coexist with freedom of choice
• A hybrid model (official servers + dedicated ones) would be possible

Future Scenarios: Possible Evolutions

Optimistic Scenario

Hybrid Model: Kunos could introduce:

• Limited dedicated servers for non-commercial use
• Cheaper subscriptions for small communities
• Free trial periods for new organizers

Service Improvements:

• Expansion to 30+ players per server
• Advanced league management tools
• Integration with streaming and broadcasting

Pessimistic Scenario

Model Consolidation:

• Maintenance of current system without alternatives
• Further price increases with beta exit
• Introduction of additional microtransactions

Community Fragmentation:

• Exodus to other simulators
• Death of small communities
• Concentration of multiplayer in few hands

Realistic Scenario

Gradual Adaptation:

• Price adjustment after initial feedback
• Service improvements that partially justify costs
• Coexistence of different community types with varying budgets

Lessons for the Sim Racing Industry

The Monetization Dilemma

The Assetto Corsa EVO controversy highlights a fundamental tension in the gaming industry:

On one side:

• Ever-increasing development and maintenance costs
• Ever-higher quality and service expectations
• Need for long-term economic sustainability

On the other:

• Established community traditions
• Resistance to models perceived as "money grabs"
• Value of freedom and control for users

Possible Alternative Models

Differentiated Freemium:

• Free but limited basic servers
• Premium features for a fee
• Self-hosting options with separate licenses

Community Crowdfunding:

• Collective server financing
• Community governance of resources
• Total transparency on costs and usage

Hybrid Model:

• Coexistence of premium official servers and free community ones
• Quality certifications for amateur servers
• Revenue sharing with successful organizers

Conclusions: An Uncertain Future

The paid server controversy of Assetto Corsa EVO represents much more than a simple price dispute. It's the symbol of a paradigmatic shift in the sim racing industry, where market logic is progressively replacing community traditions.

For Players

The community faces difficult choices:

• Accept the new model and associated costs
• Migrate to more permissive alternatives
• Wait for possible reconsiderations from Kunos

For the Industry

Reactions to Assetto Corsa EVO will serve as a case study for future decisions:

• How much is the community willing to pay for quality?
• Are free dedicated servers really economically unsustainable?
• Are there viable middle grounds?

What's at Stake

This isn't just about Assetto Corsa EVO, but about the future of sim racing as an accessible hobby. The widespread concern is that the industry is evolving toward a model where only those who can afford premium services will have access to quality multiplayer experiences.

Time will tell whether Kunos's promises to offer superior service will justify the additional costs, or whether this decision represents a strategic error that will permanently alienate a significant part of the community that made the Assetto Corsa brand great.

One thing is certain: the storm has just begun, and its consequences will be felt well beyond the boundaries of a single driving simulator.

https://assettocorsa.gg/assetto-corsa-evo/