Nacon secures development and publishing rights for the WRC franchise

French video game company Nacon has entered into a six-year agreement with the World Rally Championship (WRC) franchise.

The agreement, lasting from 2027 to 2032, tasks Nacon with creating new WRC titles for both PCs and consoles. The company has described this as a "complete reboot" of the series.

Nacon's CEO, Alain Falc, stated, "This new venture marks a major milestone: a fully reimagined project driven by a passionate and specialized team, with a clear ambition to elevate rally games to new heights. We are thrilled to renew our collaboration with WRC. This iconic license provides an exceptional playground to build a highly refined driving experience that lives up to the expectations of rally fans."

Arne Dirks, FIA WRC's chief marketing officer, expressed satisfaction with the partnership: "After a comprehensive evaluation, we are delighted to have reached an agreement with Nacon. Their vision of the franchise stands out, and their expertise in delivering great rally games is unquestioned. We look forward to breaking new ground together with this collaboration, to truly turn the WRC games into epic adventures and offer gaming experiences beyond rally as we know it today."

Prior to this new agreement, Nacon held the rights to the WRC series from 2013 until 2022, during which they released nine games. In 2020, British developer Codemasters took over the license, but the studio was later acquired by Electronic Arts (EA) in 2021 for $1.2 billion, which then launched the EA Sports WRC title in November 2023.

Recently, EA announced a "pause" in the development of the WRC series, coinciding with their reduction of over 300 jobs. The impact of this decision on the Codemasters WRC team remains unclear.