Is EA actually going to maintain 4 UK-based racing studios without delay? (pic: Codemasters)
The acquisition of UK writer and developer Codemasters has was an sudden bidding battle, with EA rising victorious.
Though it initially appeared like a done deal for Take-Two, EA has swooped in on the final minute to purchase veteran British writer and developer Codemasters.
The take care of Take-Two was value $994 million (£750 million) however EA has provided $1.2 billion (£900 million) and Codemasters has accepted.
‘Electronic Arts and Codemasters have a shared ambition to steer the online game racing class’, stated Codemasters chairman Gerhard Florin. ‘We really feel this union would offer an thrilling and affluent future for Codemasters, permitting our groups to create, launch and repair greater and higher video games to an especially passionate viewers’.
The acquisition is puzzling although as a result of whereas Take-Two don’t at present have any main racing franchises or builders of their very own EA do.
The long-running Want For Pace franchise has been underperforming for years although, with a recent spate of remasters eliciting little pleasure and former developer Ghost Video games having been downsized to a technical help studio.
Guilford-based Burnout developer Criterion was supposed to be in charge of the Need For Speed series, and should nicely nonetheless be, however the truth that EA will now personal a number of main British studios that concentrate on racing video games doesn’t bode nicely for all of them being stored open.
Codemasters’ foremost inside studio is in Birmingham, however in addition they have workplaces in Cheshire, Kuala Lumpur, India, and personal London-based Venture CARS developer Barely Mad Video games.
It now appears inevitable there can be a interval of consolidation, which is nearly sure to result in redundancies.
Codemasters’ senior government administration crew are all remaining in the identical position although, together with CEO Frank Sagnier and CFO Rashid Varachia (the Darling brothers offered off their stake within the firm years in the past).
‘Our {industry} is rising, the racing class is rising, and collectively we can be positioned to steer in a brand new period of racing leisure’, stated EA boss Andrew Wilson. ‘This mixture will permit us to develop our current franchises and ship extra industry-defining racing experiences to a world fan base.’
Electronic mail [email protected], depart a remark beneath, and follow us on Twitter.
Comply with Metro Gaming on Twitter and electronic mail us at [email protected]
For extra tales like this, check our Gaming page.
