
EA has been reshuffling its racing division following its acquisition of developer Codemasters, and that appears to have resulted in some unfortunate casualties. The first of these has been confirmed this week by EA (via GamesIndustry.biz): Project CARS is officially cancelled.
The racing franchise has been in development at Slightly Mad Studios for around a decade, with the first game launching back in 2015. The studio and its franchise were then picked up by Codemasters, before EA snapped them all up last year.
Here's what EA had to say on the cancellation of Project CARS:
"Today we announced internally an update to our racing portfolio. Following an evaluation of the next Project CARS title and its longer-term growth potential, we have made the decision to stop further development and investment for the franchise."
"Decisions like these are very hard, but allow us to prioritise our focus in areas where we believe we have the strongest opportunity to create experiences that fans will love. We are focusing on our strengths in our racing portfolio, particularly licensed IP and open-world experiences, and expanding our franchises to be more socially-led with long-term live services that will engage global communities."
Speaking of licensed IP, EA's internal restructure may well have killed off another Codemasters franchise. This one hasn't been confirmed by the company just yet, but Insider Gaming is reporting that the reshuffle has also resulted in the cancellation of the DiRT series. That particular revelation is only a rumour for now, but it makes a lot of sense considering Codies will be developing WRC games from 2023.
What do you make of this move? To be expected with EA? Leave your thoughts down in the comments below.
[source gamesindustry.biz, via insider-gaming.com]
Comments 14
For the better. The third one was an embarrassment to the brand. Clearly the top guys at SMS know no better. It doesn't change much for the employees because they are going to get moved to Codemasters' various studios
Sadder at the possibility of losing the Dirt franchise. Really liked those games. Dirt 5 took a more arcade direction but still loved it.
EA always does this. If you want your product to survive, be it indie or not, don't sell to EA. They will destroy you.
I mean, didn't we all know this was coming the moment EA bought Codemasters? I personally poured one out for the studio the second I heard the news.
It's a damn good thing that Microsoft has the Forza franchise and that Sony has.... Gran Turismo..... because if not EA would essentially own a racing monopoly on consoles.
Need For Speed, Dirt, F1, GRID, Burnout, Project CARS.. all under one roof, and we know EA isn't about comeptition, they buy up competing franchises just to kill them off. We all know we'll never see another Burnout, and we just saw whatever the **** they turned NFS into.
I don't think they'll outright "kill" Grid, but I'm not holding my breath on seeing anything else from that series any time soon.
@Kaloudz I don’t think so but EA bought up codemasters which basically gave them slightly mad who made project cars. Because of this purchase they also have NFS, Burnout, Grid, Dirt and F1. They can’t keep all of them active (Burnout is effectively dead at this point too) and PC it seemed like the obvious choice to can.
@Kaloudz i don’t think so. I’m not a fan of simulation racers but there’s a market out there for them. If anything licensing is likely an issue when creating these games. I’ve never been fussed by real cars in games but it’s likely an appeal and expensive.
@Kaloudz Not remotely. Racing games are arguably doing better than ever, partly thanks to Forza Horizon 4 and 5 which were/are huge games.
It's more that Project Cars isn't necessary given their overall racing library of stuff that's pretty much hardcore sim like Dirt Rally, all the way too casual arcade style racers like Need For Speed. Project Cars occupied an awkward middle ground and the third one was not very well liked etc.
It's no surprise they stated they are more concentrating on open world experiences, again mainly because of Forza kind of setting the bar for open world racers and being quite so popular.
I just hope they keep the Dirt series, it's the best Rally series ever, by a country mile.
@Kaloudz I wouldn't think so. In fact, I know that during the pandemic, [sim] racing saw a big boom. I think Project CARS found itself in a stiff market, having to go up against similar titles that are equal to if not better than it is (Gran Turismo 7 on PS; Forza Motorsport on Xbox/PC; and also the Assetto Corsa series). "Dirt" may have been only had a smaller segment of the racing community (arcade rallying). Dirt Rally on the other hand is beloved by sim-racing/rallying enthusiasts --- and I for one am just happy that EA did not kill that off ...
@Kaloudz yea, I think so.
@EVIL-C This. What I have always known EA for is buying studios that made games that I loved, only to cancel everything and shut them down. They are simply the worst, and everything they make these days is awful.
@Kaloudz Absolutely yeah, it's pretty much exactly what you just said. In the case of Project Cars, it does make sense tbh. If I were in charge of EA I would probably do the same thing.
As for Dirt? That would be horrendous if they canned Dirt. OK even if they are taking over WRC it kind of makes sense, as they would essentially be competing against themselves and simultaneously spreading themselves thin.
However even if Codies develops WRC, I can't imagine it ever being as good as the Dirt series, as ultimately they won't have as much freedom to make it as they see fit.
Also to put it simply, Dirt Rally 2 is better than every WRC game put together.
Very interesting comments. So the best rally game would be Dirt Rally 2?
If true, I’m gutted for Dirt. The more arcadey thrills of 5 were superb.
We need a rally sim and a rally arcade IMHO. SEGA rally / dirt for arcade and WRC for sim.
I can see why though. Codies can’t spread themselves too thin and Forza has the driving scene sown up.
@Kaloudz yeah pretty much, not necessarily a good thing as it limits the number of games we get. But then Forza provides so much of my racing needs I find I don’t play them even when they’re on gamepass.
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