Studio397 and Microsoft Games have announced Le Mans Ultimate will leave Steam early access in July. The game will also receive the remaining cars to complete the 2025 season at the same time.
The V1.0 release of the game, first released in September last year in early access, will be available on 22nd July of this year.
In addition, the Aston Martin Valkyrie and Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 will be available for free for all existing players. Studio397 said this is a ‘thank-you to all those supporting us through the Early Access journey.’
ELMS coming to Le Mans Ultimate
In addition, European Le Mans Series content will be added to Le Mans Ultimate. This, plus the v1.0 release date, were both announced at the annual ACO press conference before this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
This will see three new tracks added to the game — Silverstone, Paul Ricard, and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The LMP3 class will also be added, as well as the official ELMS liveries for existing cars. Plus the ELMS-spec LMP2 cars, with higher power available compared to the LMP2 cars in the game already.
All tracks will be laser-scanned and content will be to the high standard we’ve come to expect from Studio397.
Currently a release date for the ELMS content is not known, with the studio telling fans to ‘watch this space’.
Continued LMU career mode development
As for the future of the game past V1.0, Studio397 is re-committing to the game’s development of career mode. This has been mentioned in the past as on the roadmap, but until now we haven’t heard an awful lot about it.
Studio397 says this will be an immersive new mode that will put players ‘into the shoes of an endurance driver’. You’ll be able to take on team roles, climb through the ranks, and see how choices you make impact race results.
Driver swaps, recently released for the game, will also play a key role.
The release date aim for career mode is Q1 2026, with more details to come. Le Mans Ultimate is currently available on Steam.
READ MORE: Latest Le Mans Ultimate DLC includes driver swaps, custom liveries and new content
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