EA Sports WRC Patch 1.8.0 and VR Beta Support Available Today

EA Sports WRC patch 1.8.0 is available today for all platforms along with the free VR beta for PC users with compatible headsets. The VR integration extends support to all game modes, whether players are engaging in single-player or multiplayer sessions. The update includes quite a few bug fixes and improvements, check out the patch notes below and the VR beta FAQ here.

Key Updates

• – Added the ability to “Retire to the next Service Area” in Clubs. Players will receive a nominal time for every stage they do not complete.
• – Fixed an issue in Clubs in which players would receive no penalty for exceeding repair time limit in Service Areas.
• – Addressed an issue on PC and PS5 in which framerates could decrease when using Fanatec hardware. 
• – Added 12 new UDP telemetry channels.

Crash Fixes

• – Fixed an issue in which the game would crash on PC if the player pressed Alt+F4 while selecting a car livery. 

Audio

• – Adjusted crowd audio to increase spectator excitement on stage start.

Career

• – Fixed an issue in which the player would be demoted to last place after using all of their available restarts.

Cars

• – Citroën Xsara WRC – Updated interior behaviour so that the driver now uses paddle shift when changing gears.

Clubs

• – Added the ability to “Retire to the next Service Area”. Players will receive a nominal time for every stage they do not complete.
• – Fixed an issue in which players would receive no penalty for exceeding repair time limit in Service Areas.
• – Players who do not finish a stage (either via retirement or disqualification) will now appear on Club leaderboards in-game.
• – Players who do not finish a stage (either via retirement or disqualification) will now appear on Club leaderboards on Racenet.

Graphics & Performance

• – Fixed an issue in which foliage would appear inside the car when the player drove through it.
• – Made improvements to snow effects.
• – Chile – Made a number of performance optimisations to foliage in order to help improve framerates.
• – Estonia – Performed an additional pass to gather more PSO shaders, to help reduce stuttering on PC. 
• – Finland – Performed an additional pass to gather more PSO shaders, to help reduce stuttering on PC.
• – Monte Carlo – Performed an additional pass to gather more PSO shaders, to help reduce stuttering on PC.
• – Sweden – Performed an additional pass to gather more PSO shaders, to help reduce stuttering on PC.
• – Kenya – Addressed some issues on a number of stages where excessive screen tearing was experienced.
• – Mediterraneo – Made a number of changes in order to help improve framerates.

Input Devices

• – Addressed an issue on PC and PS5 in which framerates could decrease when using Fanatec hardware.

Locations 

• – Central Europe – Resolved an issue in which some trees did not have collision physics.
• – Central Europe – Made some minor fixes to ground cover.
• – Kenya – Kingono – Fixed an issue in which a Shakedown would not end after crossing the finish line (also fixed on all other stages in the game where this occurred). 
• – Monte Carlo – Fixed an issue in which some corners were using gravel physics instead of asphalt physics.
• – Oceania – Waiwera – Fixed an issue in which the player could collide with an invisible object.
• – Oceania – Tahekeroa – Fixed an issue in which the player could collide with an invisible object.
• – Oceania – Noakes Hill – Fixed an issue in which the player could collide with an invisible object.
• – Oceania – Orewa – Fixed an issue in which the player could collide with an invisible object.
• – Sardinia – Rena Majore – Resolved a corner-cutting exploit at an acute hairpin.
• – Sardinia – Monte Olia – Resolved a corner-cutting exploit at an acute hairpin.
• – Sardinia – Littichedda – Resolved a corner-cutting exploit at an acute hairpin.
• – Sardinia – Li Pinnenti – Resolved a corner-cutting exploit at an acute hairpin.
• – Sardinia – Malti – Resolved a corner-cutting exploit at an acute hairpin.

Moments 

• – Fixed a UI issue in which lower XP amounts for Archived Moments were not highlighted.
• – Fixed a UI issue with multiple Moments in which [driver name] placeholder text was appearing in descriptions.
• – Underdog (Season 3) – Fixed an issue in which the environment would render incorrectly partway through the stage.

UDP & Telemetry

• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: game_mode
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: result_status
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: stage_previous_split_time
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: stage_progress
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: stage_result_time
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: stage_result_time_penalty
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: stage_result_status
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: vehicle_cluster_abs
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: vehicle_tyre_state_bl (flags whether a tyre is punctured or not)
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: vehicle_tyre_state_br 
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: vehicle_tyre_state_fl 
• – Added new UDP telemetry channel: vehicle_tyre_state_fr 
• – Updated stage_length UDP telemetry channel to more accurately reflect distance from start line to finish line.
• – Players can calculate their progress if they multiply stage_length by stage_progress

User Interface & HUD

• – Changed the behaviour of the “Reset to Track” option from the pause menu, to resolve an exploit.
• – Resetting via the pause menu is now limited to when the car is travelling at under 10mph.
• – Fixed an issue in Spanish language in which the descriptions for “User Generated Content” and “Co-Driver Call Type” were incorrect.