If you’re a car enthusiast who’s owned any sort of mobile device at all in the last 12 years, there’s a good chance that at one point or another, you’ll have played Real Racing 3.
Launched in 2013, the free-to-play racer has long been a standout among mobile racing games, bringing impressive graphics and a diverse and long-expanding roster of real-world cars and tracks, and is arguably the closest thing mobile devices have had to a real Forza/Gran Turismo experience.
📣 Important Announcement:
Dear Racers,
The last twelve years have been a remarkable journey with all of you on Real Racing 3. Unfortunately, we’ve decided to retire from the race now.
We’ve made the difficult decision to sunset Real Racing 3. The game will be delisted… pic.twitter.com/b3dMmGmGF8
— Real Racing 3 (@realracing) December 18, 2025
That’s come to an end, though, as yesterday, it was delisted from app stores. Moreover, on 19 March 2026 – less than a month after the game will celebrate its 13th birthday – the servers will be shut down for good, rendering the game unplayable forever.
Between now and then, no new downloads will be possible, but those who’ve previously had the game downloaded can re-download it for one last hit of RR3 nostalgia. One final update will arrive too, gifting all players with an Audi S1 E-Tron Quattro and Rimac Nevera plus 1000 of the in-game Gold currency (those who already own one or both of those cars will instead get extra Gold).
Real Racing 3
The title was notable for both its graphics, which still look impressive by mobile standards today, and its car and track count which, by the end of its life, was comfortably rivalling those of top console racers, and included plenty of modern day racing machinery from the likes of Formula 1, NASCAR, the WEC and Formula E. That list was still being expanded on as recently as this October, when the S1 E-Tron Quattro and the Radical RXC were added to the game.
Developed by EA-owned studio Firemonkeys, stewardship of RR3 was handed over to EA Hyderabad in 2023 following job losses at the former studio. The reasons behind the delisting of the title haven’t been made clear, but it doesn’t seem as though a sequel is likely – per Eurogamer, Real Racing 4 had reportedly been in development at one point but was scrapped in 2019.
Mike joined Car Throttle as a Staff Writer at the start of 2024, a role that sees him driving the news desk, as well as reviewing cars and (often unsuccessfully) pitching features on obscure Italian hatchbacks.
