Stefano Casillo explained why he left Kunos (AC physics dev)!

[kf543]

Video source: Stefano Casillo (AC physics dev) explained why he left Kunos again:
https://www.reddit.com/r/assettocorsaevo/comments/1r5t2aw/stefano_casillo_explained_why_he_left_kunos_again/

Summary:

Originally posted by UnluckyGamer505:

For those who dont want to watch the whole video:

1. He moved continents - its hard to work/communicate over the distance and different time zones

2. He feels like his work currently isnt needed (designing systems/technologies)

3. He doesnt want to join a project which is already set in stone/the choices are already made and he doesnt agree with some desicions, but he underlines that its very normal in programming and doesnt mean anything deeper

4. Kunos is going through a new phase. The leadership was technically oriented but isnt anymore.

5. He isnt into racing games anymore - no more excitement

6. He knows what needs to be improved, but he cannot deliver it. He specifically mentioned that AI needs improvement.

My own commentary: Points 1-3 and 5-6 are pretty personal, only 4th is really about the studio. Sadly, it really shows that the management/leadership is not technically oriented anymore. The marketing, roadmap and setting expectations was pretty off. The launch was very rocky and 1 year into early access development, features are being cut and fundementals are still lacking. Very interesting video, thanks for sharing

A short summary of key points.

• Aris (ACC physics dev) left Kunos Simulazioni in Jan 2024.
  
  
• Early access starts on January 16th 2025. A total of 7 updates 0.1.x were released tunil February 19th 2025
  
  
• Casillo (AC1 physics dev) officially re-joins Kunos on March 7th 2025.
  
  
• Silent roadmap change, 1.0 date postponed from Autumn 2025 to "tbd", free roam from Summer 2025 to "tbd"
  
  
• Massarutto appologies: "We got it wrong" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9e6ohemjsI
  
  
• Update 0.2 got delayed to May 7th 2025.
  
  
• Massarutto appologies second time July 31th 2025: "Apologies for the delay and thank you for your continued support" https://x.com/AC_assettocorsa/status/1950941934349906238
  
  
• Update 0.3 got delayed from July to Sept 25th 2025 (summer holiday)
  
  
• Casillo (AC1 physics dev) left Kunos silently in November 2025.
  
  
• Update 0.4 released on December 16th 2025
  
  
• Silent roadmap change number two, February 4th 2025: single player career canceled, economy canceled, free roam removed as feature from official website. No honest communication, no Steam news.
  
  
• Community is upset about the rug-pull and dishonesty, Steam reviews dropped overall from 78% to 61% Mixed, 20% Mostly Negative (1,975) in the last 30 days, and 10% Mostly Negative in the last 11 days (1634) since Feb 4th.
  
  
• Update 0.5 rushed on February 12 2025, single player career removed, reports of new game crashes/freezes and new server problems. Game on lunar new year sales. 2 troll accounts surface that derail discussions and not even own the game.
  
  
• Casillo (AC1 physics dev) explained why he left Kunos again, Video from February 15th.

Stefano Casillo left Kunos:

source 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/simracing/comments/1r5qyk7/after_rejoining_kunos_as_cto_in_march_2025/

source 3: https://www.reddit.com/r/assettocorsaevo/comments/1r5qz6g/after_rejoining_kunos_as_cto_in_march_2025/

[Gago9985]

Every single time you get a Management that is less techincally savy company fails, how is that the only one seeing the trend are all the other people?

4. Kunos is going through a new phase. The leadership was technically oriented but isnt anymore. -> this is extracted from his reaction.

Let me translate it non HR terms:
"Kunos was good and full of people with passion, but it is "changing" so is basically being overrun by idiotic managers that know nothing about technical development, most likely never played a videogame in their lives and they only talk about money and how to increase short term revenew. This means that Kunos is going to fail every move they will make in the future, because you can always get rid of good people, but the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ managers that only think about money are like pest, they will sink the entire universe before they let you move against them."

This is a direct translation of what is most likely happening translating his words. There is no universe where "having less tecnically oriented management" will improve ANYTHING and we have here the new "Kerbal Space Program 2".

Who is ready to bet that this game will never reach 1.0 or that the game development will be moved to the people that are developing AC rally and the original Kunos closed?

[Tatsumaki]

In short, it's exactly as we expected, and nothing deeper to see here. He departed because life moves on and so did he.

Kunos has grown beyond being a studio he can manage and into a corporate machine run by 505 games/shareholders. Again, nothing new.

Fans who haven't stayed in the know may be surprised, but this isn't really new or enlightening or even deeply related to ACE, specifically.

If you expected the same team of ~16 that made AC 2014 to be the same staff in 2026 Kunos..? I have an Early Access game in Antarctica to sell you.

[turtleCZ]

Any usable data? Evo's fine.

[IVOL]

Stefano Casillo left Kunos in 2020. After leaving, he worked on Hydrofoil Generation, a sailing simulator. He returned in 2024 or 2025, and left again in 2026.
I don't think his departures and returns have much significance for Kunos.

[turtleCZ]

Exactly, nobody cares. They were bunch of freaks and currently have some management. It will be awesome.

[IVOL]

Originally posted by John McClane:

It was all hope back then, and it's still just a hope now.

I'd also add that any game in Early Access is like a lottery ticket.
The first two tickets were winning ones, one way or another, and this trend gives us hope that the third ticket will be the same for a certain audience of players.

[IVOL]

Originally posted by John McClane:

Just a shame that they didn't have a proper vision for ACE in 2024 or things would be very different now.

Perhaps there was a plan, and it was even good, but only on paper.
But when it came to implementation, everything turned out differently.
After all, the game was in the very beginning of development, and it's important to consider that the engine had been changed again.
Also, perhaps the plan turned out to be too ambitious for such a team; if there had been, for example, 2-3 times more of them, they would have been able to stick to this plan.
There are many things that can be assumed, but how it actually happened is unknown.

[IVOL]

Originally posted by John McClane:

No, they have no plan at all, they're just seeing what sticks and burning the whole IP down in the process.

They haven't burned anything yet because there wasn't anything yet; the game didn't have any career at all.
From the launch of EA until now, they've been focused on content, because 100 cars, 20 tracks, and an even larger map are objectively a lot of content for the release version of the game.
For comparison, the basic version of LMU only has seven tracks. I don't know the exact number of cars, but I think there are around 20. There's no large map.
The scale in ACE is quite impressive, but this is also a problem if resources are not so plentiful.

[kf543]

Stefano Casillo was the main developer of Assetto Corsa 1, and the physics and game engine developer.

As Assetto Corsa EVO uses an improved game engine based on AC1 and its physics engine, he is a key personal. With Aris and now Stefano lost, this explains the big physics changes between ACE 0.3 and 0.4, and one of the two roadmap changes.

Read the reddit comments and watch the video of him, pretty insightful details.

While alleged staff here write more or less "nothing to see here, move along". It's just the CTO and key developer that moved on. Look at ACE update 0.5, and it's broken status at the moment. Community is upset about the rug-pull and dishonesty, Steam reviews dropped overall from 78% to 61% Mixed, 20% Mostly Negative (1,975) in the last 30 days, and 10% Mostly Negative in the last 11 days (1634) since Feb 4th and Feb 15th.

[DmAnd]

Point 4 is a bit upsetting. Hope is fading.

[IVOL]

Originally posted by kf543:

this explains the big physics changes between ACE 0.3 and 0.4

I honestly don't understand what you're talking about. The game still has excellent physics. Why are you making things up that don't exist?
This is a bad way to strengthen an argument.

[kf543]

Originally posted by IVOL:

Originally posted by kf543:

this explains the big physics changes between ACE 0.3 and 0.4

I honestly don't understand what you're talking about. The game still has excellent physics.

You read into it something I haven't written nor meant. I meant the physics changes between 0.2 to 0.3 to 0.4. Read the changelogs, or recall from driving those versions. Look for tires and physics changs. 0.3 had big changes, physics changes was the second changelog point.

[IVOL]

Originally posted by John McClane:

Sorry, I don't feel you've understood my point. What I mean is that their refusal to allow 3rd party leagues and to engage with community modders is what burned their faith with the broader community.

I may not be up to date with the latest news. From the latest statements I remember this.

By simplifying the overall structure, we gain more freedom to focus on what matters most behind the wheel: driving quality, racing, and simulation depth. It also allows the team to move faster and spend more time polishing systems that many of you care deeply about, including:

• deeper racing and simulation systems
• strong modding foundations
• future community-driven multiplayer options
• richer and more flexible single-player content
• competitive features and special events based on leaderboards and time-based challenges
• free-roam development and ongoing UI improvements

As for paid servers, unfortunately, this is a general trend; this is how developers monetize the game.

[IVOL]

Originally posted by kf543:

You read into it something I haven't written nor meant. I meant the physics changes between 0.2 to 0.3 to 0.4. Read the changelogs, or recall from driving those versions. Look for tires and physics changs. 0.3 had big changes, physics changes was the second changelog point.

Yes, there were certainly changes, but they were for the better, but you presented it in such a way that the physics got worse due to the departure of Stefano Casillo.

Originally posted by kf543:

With Aris and now Stefano lost, this explains the big physics changes between ACE 0.3 and 0.4, and one of the two roadmap changes.

Or did you mean that there have been big changes for the better in physics since Stefano Casillo left?

[IVOL]

Originally posted by John McClane:

😂 okay, but so is being hostile to modders and 3rd party developers. Just because it's the status quo now, doesn't mean it's a good idea, especially when this is the bread and butter of your IP. Drop that and AC is... nothing. Literally.

They mentioned some kind of "strong modding foundations" whatever that means )
The ability to modify the game hasn't been removed yet. We'll see how it's implemented, since what's written on paper can be one thing and what's actually happening is another.