Codemasters, the veteran UK racing studio known for its rally games, has announced that no further expansions will be released for 2023's EA Sports WRC. The team has "reached the end of the road" with the game and is also "pausing development plans on future rally titles." This news was published on EA.com, marking a significant shift for the studio that has been at the forefront of rallying video games for nearly three decades.
The studio's statement reflects on their journey with off-road racing, which began with titles like Colin McRae Rally and evolved through the Dirt series. "Our WRC partnership was a culmination of sorts for our Codemasters journey with off-road racing, spanning decades through titles like Colin McRae Rally, and Dirt," the statement reads. "We’ve provided a home for every rally enthusiast, striving tirelessly to push the boundaries and deliver the exhilarating thrill of driving on the ragged edge. We’ve brought together incredibly talented racing developers, worked with some of the sport’s icons, and had the opportunity to share our love of rallying."
The World Rally Championship itself has acknowledged the news on social media, hinting that the "WRC gaming franchise is going in an ambitious new direction with more news coming in the near future." This comes after EA's acquisition of Codemasters in 2020, a move that motorsports fans hoped would lead to more rally games from the storied British studio. The decision to halt development will be a tough one for fans to accept.
This news follows reports of over 300 layoffs at EA, including roughly 100 at Respawn Entertainment. Codemasters' history in rallying video games dates back to 1998's iconic Colin McRae Rally. The series evolved significantly over the years, transitioning from Colin McRae Rally to Dirt after McRae's passing in 2007. 2009's Dirt 2 (known as Colin McRae: Dirt 2 in Europe and other PAL regions) was a pivotal moment, and the series was later reimagined as a hardcore simulation with 2015's Dirt Rally.
2023's EA Sports WRC was the first Codemasters rally game to hold an official WRC license since 2002's Colin McRae Rally 3. According to IGN's review, EA Sports WRC captured the class-leading feel of 2019's Dirt Rally 2.0 and integrated it into an officially licensed World Rally Championship experience. However, the game struggled with technical issues such as screen tearing, which subsequent updates aimed to address. The review described it as a "great racing game trying to fight its way out of an unfinished one."
