EA Finalises Buyout of Codemasters

EA has finalised its buyout of racing game publisher Codemasters. The $1.2 billion deal sees the creator of games such as F1 and Dirt come under the same umbrella as Need for Speed and Burnout. This follows the attempt of Take-Two to buy the company late last year.

Russell Fawcett 2021-02-19

EA has announced that it has finalised its buyout of Codemasters, the British racing game developer and publisher. This follows EA’s counter-bid of $1.2 billion made last December after the Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two originally attempted to buy the publisher for $1 billion in November last year.

Codemasters is a long running specialist in the racing genre, being the developer of many franchises such as F1, Dirt, and Grid. They also own and publish games from other studios such as Slightly Mad Studios’ Project CARS series. With this acquisition, this now means that all of these IPs will be under the larger ownership of EA, who already own the Need for Speed and Burnout franchises.

In an interview with IGN, EA’s executive vice president of strategic growth Matt Bilbey explained that the company wished to allow Codemasters to act as an “independent group” going forward, and that the acquisition was motivated by a desire to grow within the racing genre, and release games in that sector more frequently. He also expressed an interest in the F1 license in particular, calling it “one of the few true global sports”. EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson has also previously stated that they see the F1 series as a candidate for a live-service business model.

What do you think of this acquisition? Are you excited to see what new games could be made now thanks to this partnership? What do you think it means for the future of the genre as a whole? Let us know in the comments.