One of the world’s largest video game publishers is about to buy the world’s largest racing game developer. And if you’re wondering why Electronic Arts would be interested in Codemasters, it’s about the annual potential.
Specifically, it is about Formula 1. EA held an investor call yesterday and issued a bridge in tandem with it. On pages 15 and 16, the publication giant addresses the acquisition of Codemasters in the most detailed way so far. Among the reasons listed for the takeover is that Codies will “allow EA to launch new racing experiences annually” and we know that big publishers love their annual franchises.
Formula 1 is the only annual Codies series at the moment, one that has been advancing annually since 2009, after Sony took over the licensing rights. After a few rocky years at first, the franchise flourished into a critical and commercial darling – something EA is well aware of, as the publisher cites a Metacritic score of 88 for the latest version, F1 2020, even in the slide show.
The growth of F1 as a gaming entity reflects the growth of F1 as a sport during 2010. In 2019, sport reached 1.9 billion viewers – the most global of 2012 – although the unique spectators decreased slightly. Of course, this was before the pandemic, which saw F1 race revenues decrease as a result of non-existent ticket sales and hospitality in 2020. The rise of F1 social channels has helped expand the sport and has a TikTok now, if you can believe it. Would you ever imagine it happening under Bernie Ecclestone?
However, all this makes F1 the perfect fit for EA Sports. The editor can count on F1 every year, just as he can count on it Madden and FIFA, plus F1 enjoys a much more critical praise than those franchises (Madden 21 sits at 63 on Metacritic, while FIFA stands at 74.) Circumstances are ripe for an F1 Ultimate Team mode loaded with microtransactions, which you just know EA is trying to organize. I’m looking forward to unpacking an 80-person Nick Heidfeld in a pack of cards I spent $ 5 on.
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There is still an annual potential of racing games waiting in the wings for EA as Codemasters tries to deliver its first licensed World Rally Championship title by 2023. The profit potential here will not be as great as in F1, which I have a little worried about. Dirt Rally the crew working on a fully licensed WRC experience would be a match made in the sky, the kind that racing and rally fans have beaten forever. Kylotonn, which continues to produce WRC games until it is taken over by Codies, has delivered solid titles on its own, although the studio can’t push the technical shell, as Codemasters and EA should be able to with their shared resources.
In addition to F1 and WRC, Dirt will continue in two arcade and sim modes, judging by the slide. There is also Grille and Project Cars – two series of circuit races that are in danger of being trampled on toes these days, especially as. Project Cars 3 he opted for an arcade inclination, unlike his predecessors.
It is not clear what the acquisition of EA could require for the titles that these studios owned by Codies are working on. I don’t have to point out that EA has a history of mixing in its in-house studios. Need for speed she was one of the worst victims of this. Ghost games have developed what was, in my opinion, a promising return to training with 2019 NFS Heat, only for EA to break the series and give it back to Criterion for the next version; The criterion had already been lost NFS when he was first thrown to Ghost. Burnout’s the inclusion in the presentation is particularly overwhelming, given that there was no new entry in that 13-year-old franchise.
So, yes, there are still many, many questions to answer here and we probably won’t see the true ramifications of this acquisition in the market for a few years. EA will soon be hosting a supergroup of legendary talent for racing game development – please use it effectively, but most importantly, with patience.