Codemasters ditches action under new Racing label

UK developer Codemasters has decided to ditch the action genre to focus solely on racing titles under a new brand, it has revealed.

Under the new label Codemasters Racing, the developer will no longer be creating titles such as Bodycount and Operation Flashpoint, which both suffered from disappointing releases.

It will instead focus on titles such as F1, Grid and Dirt, with the first game under the label to be Dirt Showdown, which will be released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 25th.

“We have kept our reputation for delivering best-in-class racing games,” communications chief Rich Eddy told MCV.

“And best-in-class racing games is now our razor focus going forward. In racing, we are No.2 in Europe and that’s not good enough. We want to take racing games across multiple platforms and genres. So that players can play anytime, anywhere and on any device.

“Racing is our DNA, it is our heritage, it is our specialisation and it is our absolute focus going forward.”

As well as a rebranding of the famous and longstanding UK developer, Codemasters will also launch a new online hub for its racing games, RaceNet on May 1st alongside the Dirt Showdown demo.

Initially releasing as a beta, the “interactive community platform” will allow customers of all Codemasters Racing games to track their races, rewards and how other users are performing.