While Assetto Corsa is known for being Kunos Simulazioni’s flagship racing title, many may not know about it’s quite under-rated predecessor, netKar Pro. Kunos first title (or second, if you count netKar Namie as a separate title) was quite innovative, and somewhat ahead of its time. Initially released in 2006, it features an advanced tire model, with visible flat-spotting, dirt, and wear on the tires. Immersion was boosted by having a flight simulator style system, where you would click on switches and buttons in the cockpit.

netKar Pro never really took off, due to quite a few bugs at launch, and limited features. There is no offline AI, and online was not utilized much. Modding was all but non-existent, with the community going to the more accessible rFactor for third-party content.

Now, nearly ten years after its launch, Kunos Simulazioni has announced that support for netKar Pro is officially ending. No more updates will come for the title, and full focus will shift over to Assetto Corsa as a platform. This is not bad news for everyone though. As support for nKP ends, it will become a freeware title. The news comes from studio head Stefano Casillo’s twitter profile:

so if you have friends that want to try nkp you can just give them your paycode and it’ll work unlimited time. — Stefano Casillo (@KunosStefano) May 18, 2015

What that means is that, while online retailers will still sell the game for a price, keys for the game will be able to be shared with people. Activations will no longer be monitored, and a key will work unlimited times. Kunos has not specified on when this will occur, but Stefano stated “Later this Year”.

Did you guys race netKar Pro before Assetto Corsa was released? What were your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!