By the time WRC 8 entered development, Kylotonn had been producing the official WRC game series since WRC 5 in 2015. The studio took a development year away from annual releases, and WRC 8 represented a return after that hiatus. The game carries an official World Rally Championship esports licence, reflecting the growing intersection between motorsport simulation and competitive online gaming during this period.
WRC 8 was announced as the official 2019 WRC game in February 2019 and positioned as the most ambitious entry in Kylotonn's tenure on the series. The game introduced dynamic weather systems that could affect stage conditions during a rally event, a feature that added a layer of strategic unpredictability not present in earlier entries. The career mode was extensively redesigned to more closely resemble the structure popularised by Codemasters' Formula One series, with greater depth in team management and development progression.
The stage count increased substantially, offering 102 special stages spread across the 14 countries represented in the 2019 WRC calendar. This gave WRC 8 the most comprehensive stage roster of any Kylotonn WRC title up to that point. The game also introduced classic cars from rally history, including the Lancia Stratos and Renault Alpine, aligning with a trend seen in Codemasters' Colin McRae Rally and DiRT series where historical machinery was used to supplement contemporary content.
WRC 8 received generally favourable reviews, with Metacritic aggregations reflecting a positive consensus among critics. Reviewers particularly praised the significant improvements made to both the game's physics model and its visual presentation compared to previous Kylotonn WRC titles.
Martin Robinson of Eurogamer offered one of the more contextually grounded assessments, noting that it was a significant moment for the series having returned from a development break revitalised. Robinson, who had kept only a watching brief on Kylotonn's WRC tenure since WRC 5, described WRC 8 as feeling like a different series entirely, underscoring the scale of the improvements made.
WRC 8 was nominated for Best Game at the Pégases Awards 2020, the French video game industry's annual awards ceremony, an acknowledgement of the game's standing within its home country given that Kylotonn is a Paris-based studio.
WRC 8 is widely regarded as the title in which Kylotonn's WRC series came into its own as a credible simulation experience, rather than a functional but limited licensed product. The combination of dynamic weather, a substantially expanded stage roster, classic car content, and a redesigned career mode addressed the most persistent criticisms levelled at the earlier games in the series. WRC 9 followed in 2020 and WRC 10 in 2021, continuing the upward trajectory that WRC 8 had established before Nacon and Kylotonn's licence ultimately concluded with EA Sports acquiring the WRC licence for EA Sports WRC.