With the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the books, Studio 397 should make an announcement on the next steps for Le Mans Ultimate soon. But what could that contain? Let's speculate a bit.
It was a rather competitive 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2026, which led to an interesting race to watch. And fittingly, a free 2026 update was released for Le Mans Ultimate about a week before the race, allowing sim racers to enjoy liveries and changes to some cars as seen in the 2026 WEC season so far.
And enjoy them they did: Player numbers only just fell short of the sim's all-time peak of 8,565 set in February, reachin 8,335 concurrent players two hours after the real 24-hour classic had concluded on June 14.
Unlike in 2025 when the v1.0 release and ELMS content for the sim were announced in Le Mans, 2026 was quite in that regard - the only LMU-related announcement was that of Thrustmaster's Ferrari 499P limited edition steering wheel that comes with a copy of the game.
More news around the upcoming v1.4 release that will also include the launch of a new Season Pass are yet to be announced in July 4, as Motorsport Games CEO Stephen Hood pointed out in the v1.3.3 release overview.
We can also regard the addition of the 2027 Hypercars by McLaren and Ford as safe bets. With the 2027 WEC calendar adding Silverstone as a new race, no new tracks are to be expected based on this, as the famous UK circuit has already been added as part of the ELMS content.
What could be coming to LMU, then? Let's speculate a bit.
Image: BMW PressClub Global
IMSA
This would be the big one, of course. Le Mans Ultimate is the most complete sim to drive top-flight sportscars as it simulates the Hypercar grid in the most detailed way, while also having almost every Hypercar of the era in it. The LMH and LMDh Hypercar rulesets are shared between WEC and IMSA with only minor differences, so IMSA would be a natural fit.
Three things add fuel to this speculative fire: One, the fact that IMSA does not have one official title, but has licensed the series to multiple games. Official IMSA content can be found in iRacing, Automobilista 2, and Project Motor Racing, for instance.
Two, the date of the next announcement. It seems a little suspicious that July 4 has been specifically mentioned, seeing how it is Independence Day in the United States, and the 250-year anniversary this year, too. IMSA being the premier endurance racing series in the US (which also includes a trip to Canada's Mosport for LMP2 and GTD cars) would be a natural fit.
Three, the Le Mans Ultimate Special Event schedule for 2026. Announced with the launch of update v1.3.3, it features five slots where the track is yet to be announced. Assuming this hints at new tracks, one of them sticks out: From October 9 to 11, a 10-hour event is set to take place within LMU. Road Atlanta hosts the iconic Petit Le Mans 10-hour race as part of the IMSA calendar on October 3, so just a week earlier. Coincidence? We'll see.
With all of this in mind, it would absolutely make sense for both sides to join forces - IMSA gets its series portrayed in a sim that already features all of its GTP and GTD cars save for the Acura ARX-06, LMU gets a lot more variety and a number of iconic venues like Daytona, Long Beach, and Road Atlanta.
Image: Leminhel via Wikimedia Commons, available for distribution under the CC BY-SA 3.0 deed
Asian Le Mans Series
This one is a bit of an open secret, but much in the same way the European Le Mans Series content was integrated, we'd expect the Asian Le Mans Series to arrive in LMU at some point as well. Also created by the ACO, the series has run LMP2, LMP3 and LMGT3 machinery in recent years, but is set to replace LMP3 with customer Hypercars - mostly older variants - for its 2026-27 season.
Thus far, a Ferrari 499P, two wingless Peugeot 9X8s, and an Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6-C have been confirmed to be on the grid. Other entries are still being evaluated, with the Porsche 963 likely to join the grid as well, and it looks like an Acura ARX-06 might also appear - which would loop back nicely to IMSA.
As for tracks, the 2025-26 season featured the Sepang International Circuit, Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit. The upcoming season has been in the headlines recently for potentially being moved to Europe entirely due to the situation in the Middle East, effectively turning it into an ELMS winter series if this would indeed materialize. Circuits that have been mentioned as replacements are Barcelona-Catalunya, Portimao, and Paul Ricard - which are all in LMU already.
Image: Studio 397
The Return Of Le Mans Virtual Series
The official game of the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans has yet to host a 24-hour race that is not a test race. One of these test races took place in November 2025, another one was set to happen in February, but was changed to a 12-hour event instead. Studio 397 had identified technical issues that needed to be fixed first.
The recently announced Special Event calendar for the rest of 2026 does have a 24-hour race at Le Mans on it, which is set to take place from October 23 to 25. Could this hint at the official Le Mans Virtual Series finally returning?
Last run in 2022 and into early 2023 in rFactor 2, the series has been mentioned to return a few times, but its revival has been postponed just as often. Initially, the plan was to have a 2024/25 season starting in late 2024, which then was pushed to 2025 before being moved back to 2026 again. Could it finally be time for it to happen?
The biggest initial hurdle were driver swaps, which seem to be working fine in most circumstances when running races up to 12 hours. Maybe the 24-hour Special Event at Le Mans serves as the final test before launching a new full Le Mans Virtual Series.
Unlike previous iterations, the plan is not to make the series an invite-only affair. Instead, MSG and Studio 397 want to make it available to anyone who is interested, as Hood stated in June 2024:
"We chased the 1%, the professional esports drivers and real drivers - and that is great for the buzz. But I would like to make that more attainable for more people so they could be part of this. It does not need to be exclusive. We got a slightly different format in mind that makes it more community-focused."
Imagine the V12 scream of the BMW V12 LMR that won Le Mans in 1999 - the only car of the Bavarian marque to do so. Image: BMW PressClub Global
Historical Content
Probably the least likely point, but also not one to rule out entirely: From the start, historical content was considered a possibility in LMU. Le Mans and the World Sportscar Championship - even the WEC although it has only been around since 2012 - have a rich heritage, with some of the most breathtaking endurance race cars in history having shaped their respective legacies.
Imagine a late 1990s or early 2000s grid at la Sarthe. How about Group C's heyday in the 1980s? How about the manufacturer battles of the early 1950s? There are plenty of exciting eras that would be great to be able to race in.
However, with Le Mans Ultimate currently focused on portraying modern top-flight endurance racing to a tee, pencil historical content in for the "very unlikely in 2026" category.
What would you like to see next in Le Mans Ultimate? Do you have any other suspicions about what might be announced on July 4? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our LMU forum!