A few weeks ago, we reported that Sony’s was closing down Evolution Studios, developer of the internationally popular racing series World Rally Championship. It was a rather grim day for fans of racing games across the globe, with many feeling like they had to run to Microsoft’s Forza — or worse, a racing game by EA. Years of lackluster sales and not-so-positive criticism of Evolution’s recent work led Sony to make this decision, leaving racing fans everywhere disappointed.
But it looks like the story has not ended for the Evolution Studios just yet.
Codemasters, a British developer most known for their myriad of racing games such as DiRT and the hit game Overlord, made a deal with Sony to transfer Evolution Studios to them. Most of the staff of Evolution Studios will stay hired on and will work in the same offices. The old IPs of Evolution Studios will still stay with Sony. However, Evolution Studios is looking forward to making new games and projects with Codemasters.
Codemasters CEO Frank Sagnier commented on the acquisition as follows:
“We want to benefit from everything that they’ve learned as a team together, we want them to create their own games. Of course there will be synergies, of course we will share stuff, but we would like to make sure they retain their identity and stay together as a team to do what they’re good at. What we don’t want to do is bring in a team of 50 people and start having some work on one game and some on another, on existing IP. The whole point is to keep their DNA and build a new game.”
While it’s not entirely clear what games Evolution Studios is going to be developing, there are a couple of things that we know for sure. Because of Codemasters’ affinity for racing games, we can be certain that Evolution Studios could possibly collaborate on making games together or have oversight from Codemasters on making their own original work. Also, due to the success of DiRT 3 and DiRT Rally, Codemasters could have some of members of Evolution studios team working on the project.
Whatever happens, is this a great day for fans of racing games and of Evolution Studios. Gamers can revel in this victory for gaming and be excited for what the future hold for Evolution Studios.
