Rally games in 2026: the best on PC, PS5 and Xbox, and which handbrake you need

Anyone looking for a rally game in 2026 finds an odd situation. The game with the official WRC licence won’t get any more updates, the newest sim is still in early access and one of the most played is more than twenty years old. We’ve lined them up by platform and by type of driver, with one extra question that rankings usually skip: what kind of handbrake each one really asks for.

The short answer

• On PC: Assetto Corsa Rally for the most modern driving, Richard Burns Rally with RallySimFans for depth (and it’s free).
• On PS5 and Xbox Series: EA SPORTS WRC, the only recent rally game with the championship’s official licence.
• On PS4 and Xbox One, and on the newer consoles too: DiRT Rally 2.0, which for many is still the most fun to drive with a wheel.

Assetto Corsa Rally (PC)

It’s the new name in the genre. It’s developed by Supernova Games Studios together with Kunos Simulazioni, the people behind Assetto Corsa, and Steam early access began on 13 November 2025. The roads are laser-scanned: at first there were gravel stages in Wales and tarmac in Alsace, then updates brought Monte Carlo, Greece and a first multiplayer mode.

The full version is promised within eighteen months of the start of early access. The developers have said console versions are in the works, but there’s no date. Today it’s a PC game.

Who it’s for: anyone with a PC who wants the most recent physics, with cars that react to the surface the way you’d expect from a sim. It’s still a work in progress: you buy it knowing it grows piece by piece.

Handbrake: if you can choose, progressive. In a game like this the lever needs modulating, and an on/off switch locks the wheels in one go.

EA SPORTS WRC (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S)

Released in November 2023 and developed by Codemasters, it’s the one to get if you want the real world championship: official cars, teams and rallies. It also has a mode where you design and build your own rally car, which is worth plenty of hours on its own.

There’s one thing to know before you buy it. In April 2025 EA announced there would be no new content and no sequel, and that development of rally games is on hold. EA SPORTS WRC is still on sale and playable, but it has reached the end of the road. The WRC licence has moved to NACON, which holds it from 2027 to 2032 and is preparing a new series.

Who it’s for: anyone on PS5 or Xbox Series who wants a modern rally game with the licence and serious physics. If you still need to pick a wheel, there’s our PS5 racing wheel guide.

Handbrake: both on/off and progressive work fine. On console it plugs into the wheel and you assign it in the controls menu.

DiRT Rally 2.0 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

It came out in February 2019, so it’s more than six years old, but anyone who has driven it with a wheel finds it hard to put down. On gravel the car slides, shifts its weight and needs holding, and there’s rallycross too. The PS4 version runs on PS5 through backwards compatibility, the Xbox One version on Series X|S.

The garage mixes modern and classic cars: the modern ones have a sequential gearbox, many classics an H-pattern. If you want the difference explained properly, it’s in our article on how a sequential gearbox works.

Who it’s for: anyone with a PS4 or an Xbox One, and anyone on any platform who wants the most enjoyable rally game to drive without fighting the settings.

Handbrake: on/off or progressive, both work well.

Richard Burns Rally with RallySimFans (PC)

It came out in 2004 and thousands of people still search for it every month. The reason is called RallySimFans (RSF): a Hungarian community that keeps it alive with a free install including the base game, a huge number of stages, modern cars, updated physics and online leaderboards.

The graphics are what they are. The driving isn’t: the feel of the surface and of the car’s weight is why, after more than twenty years, the community still races it every week.

Who it’s for: anyone with a PC who doesn’t want to spend money and has patience for a slightly longer install than usual. The steps, one by one, are in our guide to Richard Burns Rally with RallySimFans.

Handbrake: progressive. RBR reads how far you pull the lever and uses it finely; with an on/off switch you lose half of what the game can give. RSF even has an option that holds the start countdown until you pull the handbrake to at least 80%.

WRC Generations and what comes next

WRC Generations, released at the end of 2022 and developed by KT Racing for NACON, was the last game in that series before the licence moved to EA. It runs on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch, and it’s still an enjoyable rally game with a wheel. It has one more point of interest: the next official WRC game will come from NACON, with the licence from 2027.

Which handbrake you need, game by game

The difference between the two is simple. An on/off handbrake is a switch: pulled or not, and when it’s pulled the rear wheels lock completely. A progressive one has a sensor that reads how hard you’re pulling, so you can just brush the lock-up to tighten a corner without unsettling the car. In arcade rally games you barely notice; in sims you notice a lot.

On PC the handbrake connects over USB and you can assign it in any game. On our PC combo you choose between on/off and progressive; for RBR we recommend progressive without hesitation.

On console the handbrake goes through the wheel, and what you can do depends on the brand. With Logitech wheels you assign the controls in the rally games that allow it, such as EA SPORTS WRC and DiRT Rally 2.0. With Thrustmaster there’s a “Rally only” control unit and an “All games” one. With Fanatec the combo works in the same games as Fanatec’s own add-ons. The details, model by model, are on the product pages: Logitech, Thrustmaster, Fanatec.

Where we’d start

If you ask us where to begin, the answer only depends on what’s under your desk. With a PC, install RBR with RallySimFans tonight: it costs nothing and you’ll know straight away whether sim rally is for you. Then try Assetto Corsa Rally, which is where the genre is heading. With a PS5 or an Xbox Series, EA SPORTS WRC, knowing it won’t grow any further. And if there’s still a PS4 at home, DiRT Rally 2.0 has plenty left to give.

Either way, the first accessory that really changes the driving after wheel and pedals is a handbrake lever, ideally next to the shifter. Our handbrake and sequential shifter combo puts them in the same base.

Cover image: DiRT Rally 2.0, promotional screenshot by Codemasters.