Codemasters Secures Formula 1 Rights

By Shane | May 9, 2008

And you thought the racing genre madness for Codemasters stopped at TOCA, Dirt and Grid, guess again. We’ve just received word that they have secured the licensing rights to produce official Formula 1 games, which were previously developed by Bizarre and SCE Studios. Expect to see all Grand Prix circuits, Formula 1 teams, cars, and driver likenesses. The new Formula 1 games will use Codemaster’s EGO Game Technology Engine, currently utilized by Dirt and Grid.

To my knowledge there has only been 1 Formula game released on a next gen console, and that was on the PS3 which didn’t perform all too well. We’ll find out next year if Codemaster can shift this IP into a higher gear.

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – May 9, 2008 – Codemasters®, developer and publisher of award-winning racing video games, has secured the exclusive video game rights to FORMULA 1. In a worldwide licensing agreement with Formula One Administration Limited, Codemasters will develop a new generation of the multi-million selling FORMULA 1 game franchise across multiple platforms.

Codemasters Studios, creators of genre-leading racing titles DiRT™ and GRID™, will lead the design and development of official FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP games for home console, handheld and PC gaming formats.

“FORMULA 1 is ambitious in expanding its reach with more circuits planned beyond recent additions in the Middle East and China,” said Rod Cousens, chief executive officer, Codemasters. “It is also ambitious in expanding its reach via technology. The digital communities that computer and video gaming creates will play a key role in further growing the FORMULA 1 audience and connecting them globally. As a world-leading creator of driving games, this alliance with FORMULA 1 is the jewel in Codemasters’ racing crown and creates an undisputed segment champion. FORMULA 1 has gone with the best, the segment leader. It has gone to the home of the EGO Engine for quality; it has gone to the company that can host FORMULA 1 Online, to the company that is streaking away from the pack.”

“Codemasters’ success and recent innovations in the racing game space makes the company more than appropriately tuned for the challenge,” said Chris Deering, chairman, Codemasters. “The combination of FORMULA 1’s new momentum of expansion and Codemasters’ contemporary technology and past experience is the breaking of a new dawn for the sport, on the track and on the HD game screen.”

The worldwide deal provides Codemasters with rights to feature all Grand Prix circuits, FORMULA 1 teams, cars, and driver likenesses.

The FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP games will be developed using the evolution of the award-winning EGO™ Game Technology Engine, Codemasters’ highly versatile cross-platform middleware technology. Its advanced graphics and physics technology brings an unmatched cinematic quality and realism to interactive entertainment.

The EGO Engine is currently being deployed in the creation of GRID™, the latest in Codemasters Studio’s international circuit-based racing series, set to be a landmark release when it launches on June 3.

Codemasters expects the first game based on the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP to launch in 2009.