When Studio 397 rolled out Update 5 last week—which added driver swaps, proper teams, and custom liveries—it finally felt like the sim was closing in on a full release. Less than a week later, those feelings were confirmed: the developers dropped a roadmap that runs straight through early 2026, 1.0 launch included.
July 22: LMU 1.0 Is Finally Released
The biggest news is that on July 22 Le Mans Ultimate leaves Early Access with version 1.0. This isn’t just a spit-and-polish build; it also rolls out two free headline cars—the howling Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro hypercar and the returning Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 Evo—plus the complete 2025 WEC livery pack.
Beyond WEC: European Le Mans Series Confirmed
The two new cars and all the Update 5 goodies would have been plenty, but there was one more thing buried in the community post: the European Le Mans Series license is coming to LMU. That means an all-new LMP3 class, beefier ELMS-spec LMP2s, and three fresh circuits—Silverstone, Paul Ricard, and Barcelona-Catalunya. Studio 397 hasn’t shared timing or pricing yet, but the paperwork is signed; LMU definitely isn’t staying a WEC-only club.
Career Mode
Single-player fans finally have something to look forward to. A proper Career Mode is in production with a penciled-in Q1 2026 release. Early mock-ups show contract offers, team-principal feedback, and driver-swap strategy baked right into the single-player loop. Studio 397 insists version 1.0 is the start of a new stint, not the end.
Update 5 and Its Rapid-Fire Fixes
If you’re just catching up, Update 5 delivered the holy trinity of endurance features: multi-stint driver swaps, six-person team management, and fully shareable custom liveries. Two days later, Hotfix 3 stomped out a launch crash and a RaceControl registration bug.
Why This Feels Different
A year ago Le Mans Ultimate was a scrappy Early-Access title; many of us, myself included, were ready to write it off as a simple reskin of rFactor 2. But with an ever-improving feature set and a clear roadmap, it finally feels like a complete project. With a concrete 1.0 date, two crowd-pleasing cars, an entire European championship on the books, and a single-player career already in the works, Studio 397 may have paid back your patience with compound interest.
If you’d like to learn more, you can check out the official announcement here.