New Videos

EA Sports WRC: PC/PS5/Xbox Series X/S – DF Tech Review – An Engine Change for Better or Worse?



With its move to Unreal Engine 4, developer Codemasters once again diversifies its use of engines across its racing titles. EA Sports WRC is an excellent rally experience backed by the team’s own handling model and physics – and yet something is amiss. The move away from its own EGO engine – as still used in the F1 series – has meant a sacrifice to both image quality and frame-rates on PS5 and Series X. And even PC appears to be facing issues on Unreal Engine, with shader compilation stutters.

Subscribe for more Digital Foundry: http://bit.ly/DFSubscribe

Join the DF Patreon to support the team more directly and to get access to everything we do via pristine quality downloads: https://bit.ly/3jEGjvx

Want some DF-branded tee-shirts, mugs, hoodies and more? Check out our store: https://store.digitalfoundry.net

For commercial enquiries, please contact business@digitalfoundry.net

00:00 Introduction
03:56 Dirt Rally 2.0 Recap and Engine Comparison
06:47 PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S Comparison
09:01 PC vs Xbox Series X Comparison
10:23 Console Frame-Rate Tests
12:56 PC Performance Test
14:31 Verdict

Related Articles

49 Comments

  1. You said it ! This game is a test bed for what's to come. We are just paying £60 to be beta testers on console. I am so glad i an still rocking a PS4 and a slim at that ! Last gen has some great racing games where PS5 but one game that truely utalises the power of PS5 and that is GT 7.

  2. 8 months later, I would say this is now my preferred Rally game even above Dirt Rally 2.0. Its force feedback on a direct drive wheel is the most realistic I have experienced on a sim rig, iracing and AC/ACC included. No lag or stutters now on my RTX4090 after the patches especially with shaders compilation. I usually play it on a 5120×1440 240Hz monitor but the VR experience on the Quest 3 is also very good, perhaps just behind GT7 on PSVR2. Well done and thank you, Codemasters – and I certainly look forward to the next iteration.

  3. I recently bought this ea wrc and I was using controller lol struggled like mad until I got the race wheel pedals and gear shifter now I absolutely love it, this was upload 7 months ago all bugs are fixed now I've had no frame drops screen tare etc , great game at a bargain price 11 or 12 £ I think it was , any rally or driving game enthusiast buy it you will not regret it.

  4. wrc 10 dirt 5 and ea wrc are all on sale

    i have wrc 9 on ps5 and dirt 2.0 on pc

    really wanted to get ea wrc but it looks like i shouldn't?

    that's disappointing.

  5. This game is a mess. Even on a 4090. 60hz limit, ghosting in both TAA and DLSS, shader caching stutter, no DLAA, and in town sections frame rate drops to 40s.

  6. I think changing engines part way through production hurt them. Personally on my xbox series s, on a 22 inch 1080p screen, it looks fine, after the big update before xmas the frame drops are gone, theres still occasional screen tearing. It plays really well though. I loved dirt rally 2.0 but it had a stylised look from the ego engine that covered some sins. EA WRC has a more realistic look. Honestly though I went in with expectations that the series s version wouldnt look like the promo videos and im happy with how it handles and performs.

  7. Graphics in wrc 2023 could be better, but the wheel feedback is so good, as for me it’s much better comparing to forza motorsport, maybe the best for non-direct drive wheels(ACC king is there).

  8. Xbox series s Is it worth buying only for Forza Horizon 5 and 2024 forza horizon 6 ?!! Bcoz I already have ps5 digital editon
    So I don’t need xb sx
    Upcoming fh6 will run 1080p 60fp without lag in series s or not ?! Can i buy or wait for next xbox console

  9. This is a fiasco and a failure. Definitely a step down. We shouldn't be afraid to use the right words here. The game might be fun, they might fix it in the up coming months and I'll probably buy it for a fraction of its price, but the game CLEARLY disappoint and is step down on next generation.

  10. This is the classic case of EA not being willing to pay for the game to be properly finnished. I am not giving them money at least not 50€. What a funny amount of money for so little game.

  11. As a Codemasters rally game fan since the old McRae games, and many many hours in on Rally 2.0, the game looks significantly better. It's hard to see in these videos, and yeah it's not a huge jump, but it feels a lot more immersive and grand, the longer courses are fantastic. The game needs more tweaking, I'm annoyed my old 1080 RTX doesn't run it as well as I'd like, but I love it. I mainly play on PS5, since my PC is outdated.

  12. i just dont understand why developers dont take advantage of the xbox series x stronger hardware compared to the PS5. the xbox could run at a locked sold 60fps it it was utilised properly

  13. The people who defend this game, get so angry when you mention RBR xD. It's so funny. It's like they are sponsored by EA or something. The only thing that they could make fun of is the fact that I also bought the game, but doubt they see through their own delusion. A dissapointing game overall, what a shame.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button