Both teams, experts in driving video games, will join forces and human capital for the next generation of consoles.
Codemasters has made official the purchase of Slightly Mad Studios, authors of Project CARS, for an amount that amounts to 30 million dollars more variable. The English company, founded in 1985, does so with one of its great competitors in terms of driving video game development studies.
The economic transaction involves the incorporation of a team of about 150 people; There are no layoffs involved, but a union of forces to face the next generation of consoles with the highest possible aspirations in speed simulators, a genre highly represented in this cycle that now ends. Currently, Codemasters central studios had offices in London, Birmingham, Southam and Runcorn, with around 700 people in total.
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“We are delighted to be able to bring our family to such an amazing driving game developer; and this unequivocally establishes us as a great global power in the development of car games, ”says Frank Sagnier, CEO of Codemasters. “We share the same passion and vision, and our new partner will accelerate our growth. With new streaming services on the way and the new generation of consoles by 2020, it is the perfect time for Codemasters to take this step, ”he continues.
Ian Bell, founder and chief executive of Slightly Mad Studios, believes that they will now be "the envy of the industry" having emerged two of the largest specialized in the genre and are "excited to join Codemasters."
In the absence of knowing what happens to the intellectual property of Project CARS, which is working on Project CARS 3, Codemasters will continue to work with official licenses such as that of Formula 1, a news we met only a few weeks ago. On the other hand, other internationally recognized IPs remain on their road map, such as DiRT and GRID. It is precisely Formula 1 that they expect most commercially; a contract that will be extended – at least – until 2025.
From Christmas of 2020 the new platforms of Sony and Microsoft, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Scarlett will be put on sale, it will be there where we begin to see all these desires and new deliveries materialized. Also that enigmatic console, Mad Box, of which we have been half a year without knowing anything.
