The futuristic off-road arcade racing game published by iRacing has officially arrived as ExoCross launches on PC and consoles. Although Xbox owners will have to wait a few days due to the submission process being held up by the global CrowdStrike IT outage last week. And the PC version has already been available for some time in Early Access under the former title of DRAG Outer Zones.
Original developers Orontes Games were founded in 2016 by Christian and Thorsten Folkers, and the German studio had released DRAG Outer Zones in Early Access prior to being acquired by iRacing in 2022, with the rebrading and additional console releases first revealed in April 2023. This was accompanied by an expanded Orontes team, new modes and additional content, with a release initially scheduled for Autumn of that year for the PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X\S.
“We’re thrilled to finally be able to unveil the completed version of ExoCross to the world,” said iRacing president Tony Gardner. “ExoCross represents a bold and unique racing vision for us: a world built around exhilarating off-road racing with cars unlike anything our fans have ever seen. Our team has poured tons of hard work into ExoCross, and we hope everybody enjoys it as much as we do!”
It’s a departure for iRacing as a publisher, as an arcade racing game best played with a controller, even on PC. You’re able to get behind the wheel of three different cars to do battle on 19 different track layouts, using the 4CPT physics which simulate the chassis, suspension and soft-body tyre model, along with slipstreams and boosts, to win against the AI or in online multiplayer. Or to try and complete 48 challenges across the four different biome locations included in the game.
It’s a big departure for iRacing as a publisher, who have also announced a future game under the title ‘iRacing Arcade’ with Original Fire Games, alongside the console World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing series, and a new NASCAR game planned for 2025 after acquiring the official license for the series.
And it’s interesting to see how they may develop the world-building and career aspects of something which isn’t aiming to replicate real-world motorsport for a change. A lot may depend on the content roadmap, considering ExoCross has launched with just three vehicles to progress through, and a fairly small selection of circuits, especially with a price around £30 (£33.50 on Steam, £28.99 on PlayStation)
ExoCross is available for the PC via Steam, and the PS4 or PS5 via the PlayStation Store. The Xbox One and Xbox Series X\S listing should appear in the next few days on the Microsoft Store. And you’ll be able to keep up with all the latest ExoCross news, updates, DLC and more, here.
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