Codemasters has announced that it is now focusing exclusively on racing games.
Codemasters isn’t an industry heavyweight by any stretch of the imagination but it’s been around since 1986, it employs 700 people and it’s put out a lot of games over the years, some of which are actually pretty good. Its best-known titles tend to be racing games, like the Dirt and F1 franchises, but it’s also responsible for games like Bodycount and Operation Flashpoint. But no longer!
Codemasters announced today that it is moving to a racing-only formula, beginning with the launch of a new label, Codemasters Racing, which will serve as the home for the Dirt, GRID and F1 franchises. As for non-racing games, well, there are no more non-racing games.
“Racing is the absolute razor focus for all titles currently in development and those slated for future development across the studios in Warwickshire and Birmingham,” the company said. “The focus is an exclusive one, there are no other genre properties in development at this time; racing is everything.”
Codemasters is confident enough in the move to full-time racing that it’s actually expanding, adding another 100 employees over the course of the year. It’s also launching RaceNet, a new multi-title online community that allows people to create profiles that can be used across all RaceNet-enabled games. RaceNet will support achievements, score and time comparisons and other social functions, and is set to enter beta alongside the Dirt Showdown playable demo, which comes out on May 1.
Source: Gamasutra
