Not long after the news that Porsche's exclusivity deal with EA had expired, iRacing has announced that the German manufacturer will be joining the subscription-based online PC racing simulation this month.
The new 911 GT3 Cup will be the first Porsche to be added to iRacing later this month, which competes in series such as the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, the GT3 Cup in the USA and the international Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, making it the most used GT race car in the world. The 911 GT3 Cup car can be seen in an announcement trailer, along with the 2017 911 RSR, and the Le Mans-winning 2016 919 LMP1 which will also presumably be released some time in 2017.
"This is great news for iRacing and for the 65,000 iRacers around the world,” says Kevin Bobbitt, Director of Marketing and Communications for iRacing.com. “Porsche’s success in sports car racing is without parallel, from Le Mans and the Nürburging to Daytona and Sebring. Porsche is the ideal partner for iRacing as we continue developing our sports car and endurance sim racing capabilities.”
For many years, Need for Speed was the only racing game with Porsche cars due to an exclusivity agreement with EA for 16 years. Post-release Porsche content has been added to Forza Motorsport and Assetto Corsa in recent years, but now we're starting to see the manufacturer appear in other major racing franchises, making it increasingly likely that Porsche will feature in Forza Motorsport 7, Gran Turismo Sport and Project CARS 2 this year.