Old School Rally news & patch notes

Hey dear racers!

Guess what? As promised earlier, we wanted to make sure that steering wheels would eventually be supported in Old School Rally. And we’re now getting ready to test a new update focused on improved steering wheel support.

And thus, we’re looking for players to help us test its functionality and compatibility to ensure everything works as intended before the patch is released for everyone. Now, we have an invite-only test branch on Steam ready at this moment, and would like to welcome testers with different wheel setups to help us out!

Requirements:

• Already own Old School Rally on Steam

• Have access to a steering wheel setup

If you’d like to participate, please comment on this post with:

• Your steering wheel model

• A brief description of your setup (wheel + pedals, shifter, etc.)

To keep the test manageable, we may only recruit a limited number of participants for each specific model. Invites will be sent out in waves.

The end of the testing period will be announced and updated in this same post.

Thanks in advance for helping us improve the game, we truly appreciate the support!

Update 7/2/26:

The first batch of playtest invites has been sent!

Since this test focuses on our new steering wheel support, invites are going out in waves to players with a variety of wheel and setup configurations. Because of that, not everyone who signed up will receive an invite this time.

More invites will be sent over the coming week as we expand testing.

Thank you all for the amazing support and for helping us improve the game, we really appreciate it. Stay tuned!

Update 11/2/26:

Second batch of playtest invites has been sent!

Check your notifications everyone.

Frozen Lake Games & Astrolabe Games

Hey Racers!

A new patch is live, bringing several important fixes thanks to your valuable feedback.

Bug Fixes:

• Rally Selection Menu: Resolved an issue where the Super Cars and Rally S Cup events displayed incorrect cars and stages and fixed menu accessibility

• Settings: Fixed the screen resolution drop-down list scrolling behavior

• Updated Chinese and Japanese translations for the latest achievements

• Addressed various minor bugs and overall stability improvements

*UPDATE v1.0.989b

• Super Cars and Rally S Cup events are now working properly and reward car can be unlocked as expected

Console version patches will follow shortly, as additional time is required for certification and deployment.

As always, thank you for your continued patience, passion, and support. See you on the track!

Cheers,

Frozen Lake Games & Astrolabe Games

Dear Rally Racers,

We are pleased to announce that Old School Rally has officially exited Early Access and is now available as a full release on Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.

Launch Discount Information

To commemorate the full release, the Steam version is currently available at a limited two-week launch discount. After the promotion period concludes, the title will return to its regular full version price.

Full Version Content Overview

With the transition out of Early Access, the full version now offers a significantly expanded and more complete rally experience, including:

• 32 cars

• Special stages across 10 countries

• 24 racing tracks

• 50+ unlockable items

• 30+ original soundtrack tracks

Key features such as a weather system, day/night cycle, Ghost Car, online global leaderboards, and basic steering wheel support are also included to provide a deeper and more polished gameplay experience.

Console Release & Physical Editions

Alongside the digital release, physical editions for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 are available today in Europe through publishing partner Meridiem. A North American physical release is planned to follow at a later date.

Thank you to all drivers who supported the game throughout Early Access. Your feedback has been instrumental in shaping the final experience. We hope you continue to enjoy the ride in Old School Rally.

Frozen Lake Games & Astrolabe Games

Dear Rally Racers,

We’re officially 30 days away from the full launch of Old School Rally — the critically-acclaimed retro rally racer leaving Early Access and arriving as Version 1.0 December 4th on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 & 4, and PC via Steam.

Since the start of Early Access, our dev at Frozen Lake Games, together with Astrolabe Games, has been refining handling, stages, AI, UI, and overall polish with your feedback at the core. The upcoming 1.0 full release brings together our post-EA content expansion and key feature updates, delivering the most complete and authentic throwback rally experience yet — made for both hardcore rally fans and players who just love the bite of classic arcade-era racing.

At the same time, we have the physical editions of Old School Rally coming out in EU (releases on the same day) and NA (at a slightly later time)!

Excited? Then check out the all-new trailer now to help with the itch!

Frozen Lake Games & Astrolabe Games

Hello Fellow Rally Racers!

Happy to announce that our second Customer Car Livery Design Contest has officially ended!

The winner for the Most Popular Design category is:

Hershell for the animated movie-inspired, everyone's favourite Red McQueen!

The winner for the Best Original Design is

SecularSteve for introducing such an interesting, culture-rich story to us!

We'll reach out to the winners in the coming days!

Thanks a lot for participating, and we look forward to seeing many more amazing original designs in the Workshop!

Cheers,

Frozen Lake Games & Astrolabe Games

Hello Fellow Rally Racers!

As many of you know, earlier last month we faced issues with several in-game car models, which led to a complete re-work of 13 cars.

Unfortunately, this meant some of the community’s favorite custom liveries in the Workshop became incompatible. It was tough to say goodbye to so many well-made designs, but it had to be done due to the updated models.

To encourage everyone to refresh, re-submit, or create brand-new liveries, we’re happy to announce the 2nd Old School Rally Custom Car Livery Design Contest!

Rules

The contest runs from August 15 until September 5, 2025.

To avoid duplicate or secondary submissions, please upload your work to the “Screenshot” section and post them in the contest thread to claim originality.

This contest focuses only on the re-worked car models:

• Taurus RS

• Juptiar Ram

• Virgo XF

• Lionne S

• Gemini T2000

• Libra Omega

• Zeta GRT

• Libra Grande

• Mio Symphonic

• Tiny S

• Avalanche A1

• Libra Daria

• Gemini ZR

Once again there are two categories:

Most Popular Designs: Using the built-in Steam Workshop feature, the "Most Popular" designers will win a $10 Steam gift card by the time the contest ends;

Best Original Design: The dev and publishing teams will vote for the best original design (i.e., no direct use of copyrighted material). The winning design will be implemented in the game as a permanent livery option.

Finally, some ground rules

Use common sense when creating your designs—no hate messages, no inappropriate content (using general Internet standard), etc. Violations will result in an automatic ban.

Please refrain from posting direct political messages. We respect everyone’s opinions but ask for your cooperation to keep the contest friendly for all participants.

We can’t wait to see the return of some old favorites — and even more fresh, creative new liveries!

Frozen Lake Games & Astrolabe Games

Hello Fellow Rally Racers,

Today, we are happy to announce that all the planned model re-work is done!

The final two missing cars are back in the game:

• Avalanche A1

• Libra Daria

With these additions, all 13 affected cars have now been restored with freshly built, original models.

As part of this update, later we’ll also be manually removing any incompatible car liveries that were made for the old models. We know many of these designs hold great memories — they’re some of our personal favorites too — so it’s unfortunate that we have to say goodbye. But we’re confident our creative community will come back strong with amazing new liveries for the updated models!

To celebrate, we’re kicking off the 2nd Community Livery Contest this Thursday, exclusively for the reworked cars. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

If you’re new to Old School Rally’s Workshop feature, you can check out our quick-start guide here:

Of course, taking this opportunity, we've also made some bug fixes...

Bug Fixes:

• Disabled ghost car in Photo Mode

• Fixed Gemini ZR headlights

• Fixed Tiny S hood visuals

• Fixed Zeta GRT visuals

Thank you all for your continued patience and support!

We'll come back with the details for the Workshop Contest soon!

Cheers,

Frozen Lake Games & Astrolabe Games

Model Rework: Replaced the car models for the following vehicles:

• Gemini ZR

• Libra Grande

Together with previously reworked cars model, this brings the total to 11 out of 13 affected cars now restored in-game with freshly built models. Our team is continuing to work hard to bring back the remaining models as soon as possible.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed Gemini T2000 windscreen wipers visuals

Thank you all for your continued patience and support!

Model Rework: Replaced the car models for the following vehicles:

• Gemini T2000

Together with previously reworked cars model, this brings the total to 9 out of 13 affected cars now restored in-game with freshly built models. Our team is continuing to work hard to bring back the remaining models as soon as possible.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue associated with clean save data causing black screen after the disclaimer message;

• Virgo XF - Fixed the rear wheels replacement on the new model and light visuals;

• Tiny S - Added a new livery

• Gemini GRT - Renamed to Zeta GRT for consistency

Thank you all for your continued patience and support!

Model Rework: Replaced the car models for the following vehicles:

• Virgo XF

• Tiny S

Together with previously reworked cars model, this brings the total to 8 out of 13 affected cars now restored in-game with freshly built models. Our team is continuing to work hard to bring back the remaining models as soon as possible.

Thank you all for your continued patience and support!

Model Rework: Replaced the car models for the following vehicles:

• Gemini GRT

• Libra Omega

• Mio Symphonic

• Lionne S

Together with previously reworked Taurus RS and Jupiter Ram, this brings the total to 6 out of 13 affected cars now restored in-game with freshly built models. Our team is continuing to work hard to bring back the remaining models as soon as possible.

In parallel, we've also identified a few bugs related to the key rebinding feature. These will be promptly addressed once the model rework is complete.

Thank you all for your continued patience and support!

Hello Fellow Rally Racers,

As many of you noticed, Old School Rally was briefly unavailable on the Steam Store due to a DMCA takedown notice.

We’re happy to share that after a thorough review by Valve's DMCA team, Old School Rally is now back online!

For those interested, the full details of the situation can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/2824660/discussions/0/590651049589629945/

To prevent further disruptions, we've temporarily removed several car models from the game. You might notice some cars currently marked like this:

The development team has been hard at work behind the scenes, already replacing two of the affected models, with three more set to return within the next 24 hours. We aim to bring all the missing cars back into the game with entirely new, original models over the next 3–4 weeks, minimizing disruptions to the rally experience.

However, unfortunately, we must acknowledge that this change has impacted our creative community—workshop custom liveries created for the affected cars will no longer be compatible and will expire.

However, we deeply value the talent and passion of our community creators. Once the replacement work wraps up, we're planning a special Workshop contest specifically for the newly replaced models once they're all back in the game. We would greatly appreciate your support and creativity!

We sincerely apologize for this unexpected interruption. Throughout this challenging episode, your incredible support and enthusiasm have truly inspired and motivated our team. Rest assured, once we're fully past this bump, Old School Rally will continue improving, heading towards an exciting Full Release across all platforms and beyond.

Thank you once again for your patience, support, and understanding!

The Old School Rally Team

Dear Rally Racers,

Thank you for your passionate support and invaluable feedback. Your insights continue to steer our improvements, helping us refine the authentic rally experience you love.

This update focuses on enhancing core driving physics, expanding customization, and addressing key community reports. From surface-specific handling to steering wheel controls and achievement fixes, every tweak aims to deepen your racing immersion.

Grab your gear, test the new mechanics on your favorite stages, and share your thoughts with us!

Here are the patch notes:

Vehicle Physics - Improved vehicle handling for distinct feedback across different surface types - Refined wall/rail collisions: Maintain better control during slides - Expanded road surface variety with new materials added to select stages

Controls - Steering wheel support: Added custom control rebinding options (Beta - feedback welcome!)

Achievements & Progression - Fixed Classic Tour achievement unlock conditions

Interface Fixes - Collection: Corrected fonts on pop-up messages - Implemented general font optimizations for improved in-game readability

General Improvements - Addressed miscellaneous bugs and stability issues

Thank you for rallying with us. See you on the stages!

Frozen Lake Games & Astrolabe Games

• Reduced difficulty by reducing track length and required times for China SS1/SS2
• Fixed some walls and road collisions in China SS1/SS2
• Fixed an invisible wall that resets the car when hit in Germany SS1
• Reduced required time for Finland SS3

• Reduced the number of appearances of China stages in early Rally events and replaced them with other stages
• Reduced overall required times for World Tour events

• Reverted some menu fonts to the previous version for better readability
• Daily Challenge: Fixed incorrect stages display of Germany

Patch Notes v1.0.983

New Country: Germany with Two Brand-New Stages

New Car: Zeta Gampi 300R

New Rally Events: Rally Day & Rally Tops

Retro-Styled UI Overhaul

Bug Fixes and QoL Improvements:

• Fixed livery selection errors for cars with multiple skins
• Localization Improvement
• Minor tweaks and bug fixes

Easter Eggs, You Say?

• Rally: Fixed incorrect reward cars display in Rally select menu
• Leaderboards: Resolved submission issues for Arizona SS2 and UK SS2.
• Car Damage Visual Effects: Fixed deformation issues for Totem 400H, Balo 1 Turbo, and Gemini Dino 1.
• Braking Sensitivity: Once again, fine-tuned car braking sensitivity to optimize better control.

• Rally: Fixed progress issues in the World Tour B event.
• Collection: Resolved control issues caused by key rebinding.
• Libra Grande: Fixed livery texture issues.

Patch Notes v1.0.98

Four New Cars Inspired by the Classics!

New Content - Daily Challenges:

New Stages:

New Rally Events & New Achievements:

Rally Trophies Menu:

New Music Track:

New Car Liveries:

Bug Fixes and QoL Improvements:

• Enhanced menu visuals with new animations.
• Arcade Mode: Fixed VS CPU opponent issues in Japan SS1/SS2.
• Improved wiper effects.
• Rally Mode: Custom liveries now apply to car wheels as well.
• Adjusted the Collector achievement to require 16 cars to unlock.
• Replay Mode: Fixed car smoke and dust particle effects.
• Totem 400H: Fixed damage deformation visuals.

Ongoing Development:

New Content

New Car

Bug Fixes and QoL Improvements

• Menu Navigation has been reworked and improved.
• Improved Vehicle Selection Menu - Players can now rotate vehicles using the right joystick (or Q/E on keyboard) at Car Selection to observe and appreciate every detail for the livery/car design.
• The current control scheme will be displayed at the bottom of the screen for easy reference.
• Improved Handbrake Physics - Enhanced handbrake behavior for improved handling and driving feel.
• Tail lights will no longer light up when using the handbrake. (About time!)
• Fixed roof texture issues on the Jupiter Ram vehicle.
• Added additional Music Player localization.
• Minor bug fixes and further optimization.

Stage Fixes:

• United Kingdom SS1: Fixed split time display issues.
• Sweden SS3: Increased required completion time.

• Time Trial: Fixed the way you unlock new stages. If you already have set a best time from a previous stage the new one will unlock automatically.
• Photo Mode: Fixed the camera change button that also affected the in-game camera.
• Collection: Fixed Pada B82 incorrect position.
• Improved manual gear functionality, when you reset or crash your car it will also reset the gear.
• Minor bug fixes

• Added "Apply" and "Default" buttons in the Workshop menu for applying downloaded liveries and restoring default liveries.
• Custom livery feature now supports artwork on wheels.

• Vehicle livery files will automatically adjust their size to avoid excessive memory usage.
• Increased the maximum adjustable field of view in photo mode.
• Fixed some texture issues with the vehicle Jupiter Ram.
• Fixed an issue that could occur when selecting menu options in the main menu.

• We have identified that the spinning menu bug is caused by the connection of unsupported wheel devices. We will continue to investigate this issue for a prompt resolution.

• New Rally Events - Classic Ride and Classic Tour (Classic category cars only special events).
• New Cars - The "Arius Urbo R" and the "Gemini T1000".
• Rally Mode progressive difficulty - The required stage times will get harder the further you progress, for example Rally S category will have more challenging times.

• Fixed car liveries that were not shown in Rally Mode.
• Reorganized the Collection.
• Improved Italian and Russian localizations.
• Added windshield wiper animations at rainy stages.
• Loading rally stage times now displayed correctly.
• Sweden SS2: Fixed an invisible road collision near Checkpoint 2.
• Polished visuals for Greece and Kenya stages.