New Studio Grit Games Takes Over Development of Next Official WRC Title

French publisher Nacon has announced that the next official World Rally Championship game is in development at a newly formed studio called Grit Games. While many assumed KT Racing would continue the series after Codemasters stepped away, that's not the case. KT Racing developed 2022's WRC Generations and six prior titles in the franchise.

Nacon's debut video for WRC 2027 reveals little beyond confirming it's a fresh project built from scratch using Unreal Engine 5. A portion of the Grit Games team attended the 2026 Monte Carlo Rally in January for research. Interestingly, Assetto Corsa Rally—currently in Steam Early Access and shaping up impressively—also runs on Unreal Engine 5, while 2023's EA Sports WRC from Codemasters used Unreal Engine 4.

Nacon highlighted several Grit Games staff who previously worked at KT Racing, including Hardouin Pouzet (lead game programmer on WRC 7 to WRC 9), Alexandre Assier (producer on WRC 7 to 9), and Laura Gayet (artist on Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown).

After Codemasters halted further WRC games following EA Sports WRC's 2023 release—announcing it would "pause development plans on future rally titles"—Nacon re-secured the official license for 2027 to 2032. Nacon previously held the WRC license from 2015 to 2022, publishing seven games developed by Kylotonn (aka KT Racing). For clarity, WRC 5 through WRC 8 (2019) were published by Bigben Interactive before its parent company (which also operated Nacon) merged both groups under the Nacon name. Additionally, WRC 4 was published in Europe by Bigben Interactive but developed by previous license holder Milestone.