Since its early-access launch in February 2024, Le Mans Ultimate, the official game of the FIA WEC, has undergone a significant overhaul. With it now in full release form and the real-life FIA WEC in its off-season, this feels like the ideal time to look at what Motorsport Games and Studio 397’s creation has to offer.
On the content front, the base game features the cars and tracks from the 2023 FIA WEC season, as well as the Aston Martin Valkyrie, BMW M Hybrid V8, three LMGT3s and the ELMS-spec ORECA 07.
The remaining cars and tracks from the 2024 and 2025 FIA WEC seasons are available separately as paid DLC, whilst the three-part rollout of the cars and tracks from the 2025 European Le Mans Series is currently underway.
This means a total of 31 cars and 12 tracks, with at least two more of each still to be released. The circuits are not locked to the specific season or championship they were featured in, with players free to take the ELMS grid to Sāo Paulo, but mixing up car classes, such as having Hypercars and LMP3s share a track, is restricted to online only.
A nice touch, given the relatively low track count, is the inclusion of alternate layouts at most venues, such as the Bahrain Outer Circuit or a version of Spa-Francorchamps which utilises both pit lanes to enable a 62-car field.
The physics sit comfortably in the simulation end of racing games, and although I’m in no position to offer a direct comparison, the cars all behave how you’d expect them to do from real life, have their own distinct quirks, and are extremely rewarding to master.
LMGT3s offer the simplest pick-up and play experience, whilst the Hypercars require additional care and practice, especially over a full race distance. The most surprising for me personally was the Ligier JS P325, the only LMP3 car released so far, which can be a real challenge under braking at times.
LMU has done a great job with implementing the Hypercars’ hybrid systems correctly, a feature many titles have struggled with in the past, whilst virtual energy also functions as it should, and the lap times of top players align closely with real life.
Some FIA WEC-specific sporting aspects, notably a limited tyre supply which enforces double-stinting in longer races, have been incorporated. For an official game, however, the absence of the Hyperpole format or any kind of caution intervention is notable.
For those who play offline, the game is currently limited to Race Weekend mode, although a career mode is scheduled to be added in early 2026. The missing piece is any form of championship mode, meaning players are currently required to calculate the points themselves if they want to experience the full ups and downs of an eight-race campaign.
The quality of AI is often a make-or-break for the single-player experience, and this is one aspect at which Le Mans Ultimate truly excels.
They are aggressive enough to offer you a hard battle, but trustworthy enough that you can just about run side-by-side through Blanchimont or the right-hander approaching Indianapolis. LMU also doesn’t fall into the trap of taming down the AI when they are not near the player. Even when they are at the opposite end of the circuit, positions will still be exchanged, and mistakes will occur.
Over longer races, they are relatively efficient at negotiating traffic, and with enough tactical sense that you can’t rely on the pit stops to steal a march. One small tweak I’d like to see in the future is the addition of driver changes for the AI, with the starting driver currently powering through no matter the race duration.
Given that not everyone has unlimited free time, the inclusion of in-race saves is another great feature. The game automatically saves every time you pull into your pit box, with three save slots available, meaning even those who can only spare an hour at a time can experience the roller-coaster of a 6, 12 or 24-hour race.
And it’s in these longer races that LMU is at its very best. Driving out of the pits for the first stint after sunset, slotting into a dispersed field and settling into a rhythm offers an immersive experience that cannot be matched. And for those who enjoy taking their immersion to the next level, the game is VR-compatible.
One of the more innovative features in LMU is Co-Op mode, where you and a friend effectively pass an offline race between yourselves, utilising the pit stop saves. For the more competitive players out there, a global leaderboard tracks how you compare to other teams, but it works just as well if you are simply racing for fun.
The multiplayer system revolves around entering scheduled races, which start every few minutes. These are split between Daily Races, Weekly Races and Special Events, with Online Championships also available to RaceControl Pro subscribers and private servers available to rent.
A safety rank system keeps you out of multi-class fields and the Hypercars until you’ve proven yourself online in slower machinery, whilst a skill rank ensures you’re racing players of a similar ability. Race lengths vary from 20 minutes for the Beginner rank, up to around 100 minutes for Weekly Races, although the exact durations vary weekly based on the cars and tracks being utilised.
The Special Events are more and more frequently Team Events, where you share a car with friends online. LMU is currently gearing up towards its first 24-hour Special Event, naturally taking place at Le Mans, at the end of November. The online servers are capable of matching the offline track capacities across the board, meaning a grid of up to 38 cars at most venues, 44 at Silverstone and 62 at Spa and Le Mans.
Le Mans Ultimate currently costs £32.99/$39.99, placing it firmly in the ballpark of its competitors. A RaceControl Pro subscription, required to access select features such as custom liveries and online incident protests, then costs an additional £36.50/$48 per year. The five DLC packs, plus the ELMS Season Pass, add on additional £72/$93.50, but can also be accessed through the £64/$84 per year RaceControl Pro+ subscription.
The game is currently only available on PC, with the intention to launch on consoles in the future, but no firm timeline is yet in place. For those who don’t possess a racing rig, LMU is fully compatible with a variety of gaming controllers, and although slightly more challenging it is still possible to be very competitive without a wheel.
Overall, Le Mans Ultimate has come on leaps and bounds since it first entered the public domain 21 months ago. The strong physics base and FIA WEC license bring the best out of one another to create an immersive endurance racing experience which cannot be matched by any of its rivals on the market.
It is not quite the finished product yet, but if you are a fan looking for a fun and, in racing game terms at least, cost-effective way to experience the thrill of the current ‘Golden Era’, Le Mans Ultimate might well be the game for you.
Images courtesy of Le Mans Ultimate
