Once upon a time, setting up a server in Assetto Corsa felt like a rite of passage. You opened ports, installed mods, prayed to at least three digital gods (the Internet, Content Manager, and the Windows firewall), and if the universe aligned correctly, your friends joined without someone’s car being launched into the stratosphere.
It was messy. It was beautiful. It was ours.
Then, Assetto Corsa Evo entered the scene wearing futuristic sunglasses and casually said: “Hey folks, here’s an official portal… and by the way, pay for it.”
Welcome to the revolution. Or the limitation. Or both.
The Official Portal: Your New Digital Landlord
When you enter the portal, you don’t feel like you’re navigating a game menu.
It feels like Booking.com, but instead of renting an apartment by the beach, you’re renting a server to race at Spa.
Kunos outsourced the whole system to some Swiss gentlemen — people who inspire confidence because they excel at two things: making precise watches and charging high prices. They present this system as the only way to create a server in AC Evo. The one and only. No alternatives.
It’s like being invited to an exclusive restaurant where you’re not allowed to change the dish’s onion because the chef is a visionary.
You create an account, choose the server location (a short list for now), give your event a lovely name, and adjust several settings. It sounds simple because it is simple. But if you mess something up, like I did with the name, you must restart the server as if it were an old router. Incredible.
The Pricing: Blessed Capitalism
Here’s the moment your wallet sighs and prepares mentally:
- 5 € → 24 hours of server time
- 15 € → 30 days of server time
- Higher tiers if you feel fancy or run a big community
And no, you cannot rent a quick two-hour session.If you want a casual Tuesday-night trackday with your friends at 11:00 PM? Still 5 euros, my friend.
And in case you’re wondering: PayPal does not exist here. But you can pay with Klarna, which is basically financing a videogame server. Listen, if you need to finance 5 euros to race online, allow me to give you a totally free financial tip: don’t do it.
What You Can Configure… and What You Can’t
The menu is fairly complete, sure, but has that “missing the obvious” vibe.
What You Can Configure:
- Official circuits
- Track variants
- Official cars, mixed however you like
- Session lengths (practice, quali, race)
- Time of day
- Time multiplier
- Passwords for drivers and administrator
- Automatic session restart
Everything feels tidy, clean, almost… Swiss.
What You Cannot Configure (and it hurts):
- No random weather
- No fixed setups
- No car presets for trackdays
- No scheduling of consecutive races in one server
- No option to remove countdowns
- No quick session adjustments without returning to the portal
- No proper penalty system (you can cut the track like a maniac and the server looks away politely)
And of course: You cannot host a server from your own PC. It’s democracy, but only on paper.
AC1 vs AC Evo: Total Freedom vs Subscription Vibes
Assetto Corsa 1 let you host servers like you’d maintain a 1998 Twingo. It worked, sometimes it didn’t, and sometimes you had to smack it a little on the side — but it was yours.
You could install mods, tweak ini files, run trackdays with 40 chaotic participants, mix modded rain with unofficial cars, create custom flags… pure sandbox freedom.
AC Evo, in contrast, feels more like:
“Hey, let me handle everything for you… and pay me.”
“What if I want to use my stuff?”
“No.”
“And mods?”
“We’ll see…”
“Okay… can I dream?”
“No.”
To be fair:
- Connection quality is solid
- Servers are stable
- No port-forwarding nightmares
- Anyone can set up a server with zero technical knowledge
- The casual player experience is smooth and frictionless
For people who just want fast, stable races, this is a dream come true.
Risks and Concerns for the Community
- The AC1 community is built on freedom and mods
- If mods cannot be integrated smoothly, the soul of AC is at risk
- Small communities may struggle to afford regular servers
- Advanced leagues lose crucial tools
- Total dependence on the portal’s long-term reliability
And the biggest fear:
If Kunos does not allow user-hosted servers, the modding ecosystem may feel shut out and without community, AC is not AC.
So… Is This Revolution or Limitation?
Honestly? Both.
AC Evo offers stability, simplicity, and an online experience finally designed for the average player. But it sacrifices freedom, depth, and the wild creativity that made the original game iconic.
Can this system improve? Yes.
Can it coexist with mods? It should.
Could it become a heavy limitation if they ignore the community? Absolutely.
For now, it’s functional, promising, and convenient… but not the revolution many dreamed of. And definitely not the freedom many were used to.
You can buy it from 20 euros in our Instant Gaming link:
See you on the track!
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