Le Mans Ultimate is looking more and more likely to come to consoles: Motorsport Games and Studio 397 are in talks about a console port for the official WEC game.
Sportscar racing enjoys quite some momentum in 2025: Multiple manufacturers are looking to join the Hypercar grid, excitement for the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours is already ramping up again, and fans are fascinated by the current crop of top-level endurance machinery.
Meanwhile, Le Mans Ultimate, the official WEC game, is in a good position as well. Player numbers are way above what they were in 2024, and even though the upcoming update that will complete the 2024 content and introduce online driver swaps has been delayed, there is a lot of positivity surrounding the sim in the community.
There is significant interest in LMU, and it's evident at the actual WEC events that Studio 397 attends with simulators for hands-on experiences as well. Plenty of fans want to give the sim a go, and one of the most frequen questions appears to be: "Will it come to consoles as well?"
It is indeed intended to. In 2024 already, S397's parent company Motorsport Games stated that the efforts for a console version would be accelerated, but there have not been many news on Le Mans Ultimate on PlayStation or Xbox since.
This means that it is not just a matter of MSG and S397 wanting to do it, but them trying to figure out how to actually do it by talking to potential partners that could do the port. As LMU is the official WEC game, this step would make a lot of sense from the points of view of the ACO and FIA, too - the more fans you reach, the better, you could say.
Traditionally, console sim racers have not been blessed with many "hardcore" sims to choose form. Assetto Corsa Competizione stands out, the Project CARS series tried as well, and the original Assetto Corsa is also available but lacking a lot even compared to the vanilla PC version. For rally enthusiasts, the DiRT Rally series and EA Sports WRC come to mind, though some consider those titles not to be simulators per se.
That said, there should be more options soon. Rennsport will release on consoles powered by a publishing deal with Nacon, Project Motor Racing aims to do the same this fall with GIANTS Software by their side. Assetto Corsa EVO is planned to be on PlayStation and Xbox eventually as well - so if Le Mans Ultimate would join the fray, players would have a handful of high-profile choice in addition to those that are already available.
What helps is that the gap between consoles and PCs is much smaller than it used to be in the early 2000s, for example, when the same title came in very different versions depending on your platform of choice. Hood himself stated in September 2024 that "we know our advanced simulation can run on current consoles" in light of the PlayStation 5 Pro announcement.
Hood also pointed out that the PC version is the priority still: "If we cannot get the PC version working and make more people happy there, I could not care less about doing a console version. We have launched what I think is a really solid simulation in LMU - let's get this right first, and everything else will come in time."
What are your thoughts on a possible Le Mans Ultimate console version? Let us know in the comments below and join the conversation in our LMU forum!
Sportscar racing enjoys quite some momentum in 2025: Multiple manufacturers are looking to join the Hypercar grid, excitement for the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours is already ramping up again, and fans are fascinated by the current crop of top-level endurance machinery.
Meanwhile, Le Mans Ultimate, the official WEC game, is in a good position as well. Player numbers are way above what they were in 2024, and even though the upcoming update that will complete the 2024 content and introduce online driver swaps has been delayed, there is a lot of positivity surrounding the sim in the community.
There is significant interest in LMU, and it's evident at the actual WEC events that Studio 397 attends with simulators for hands-on experiences as well. Plenty of fans want to give the sim a go, and one of the most frequen questions appears to be: "Will it come to consoles as well?"
It is indeed intended to. In 2024 already, S397's parent company Motorsport Games stated that the efforts for a console version would be accelerated, but there have not been many news on Le Mans Ultimate on PlayStation or Xbox since.
LMU Console Version Drawing Closer?
This might soon change. "We got feedback from people willing to do the console port", Motorsport Games CEO Stephen Hood revealed when talking to OverTake. "We are a step further in this regard."This means that it is not just a matter of MSG and S397 wanting to do it, but them trying to figure out how to actually do it by talking to potential partners that could do the port. As LMU is the official WEC game, this step would make a lot of sense from the points of view of the ACO and FIA, too - the more fans you reach, the better, you could say.
Traditionally, console sim racers have not been blessed with many "hardcore" sims to choose form. Assetto Corsa Competizione stands out, the Project CARS series tried as well, and the original Assetto Corsa is also available but lacking a lot even compared to the vanilla PC version. For rally enthusiasts, the DiRT Rally series and EA Sports WRC come to mind, though some consider those titles not to be simulators per se.
That said, there should be more options soon. Rennsport will release on consoles powered by a publishing deal with Nacon, Project Motor Racing aims to do the same this fall with GIANTS Software by their side. Assetto Corsa EVO is planned to be on PlayStation and Xbox eventually as well - so if Le Mans Ultimate would join the fray, players would have a handful of high-profile choice in addition to those that are already available.
LMU "Is Making Good Revenue"
Console version or not, development of Le Mans Ultimate is set to continue, with Motorsport Games in a better financial situation following the news that Pimax came aboard as an investor. "That gave us the breathing room we needed", remarked Hood. More interestingly, however, the MSG CEO also stated that "Le Mans Ultimate is making good revenue."What helps is that the gap between consoles and PCs is much smaller than it used to be in the early 2000s, for example, when the same title came in very different versions depending on your platform of choice. Hood himself stated in September 2024 that "we know our advanced simulation can run on current consoles" in light of the PlayStation 5 Pro announcement.
Hood also pointed out that the PC version is the priority still: "If we cannot get the PC version working and make more people happy there, I could not care less about doing a console version. We have launched what I think is a really solid simulation in LMU - let's get this right first, and everything else will come in time."
What are your thoughts on a possible Le Mans Ultimate console version? Let us know in the comments below and join the conversation in our LMU forum!
