Electronic Arts has jumped into a buyout-in-progress, suddenly outbidding Rockstar Games in order to purchase the development studio Codemasters. Rockstar had offered $970 million to acquire Codemasters, a British company behind racing games such as the DiRT series, Project Cars, GRID, F1, and others. However, before anything could be finalized, EA swooped in with a larger bid of $1.2 billion, an amount that Codemasters agreed to, with the buyout set to occur in Q1 2021.

“We believe there is a deeply compelling opportunity in bringing together Codemasters and Electronic Arts to create amazing and innovative new racing games for fans. Our industry is growing, the racing category is growing, and together we will be positioned to lead in a new era of racing entertainment. We have admired Codemasters’ creative talent and high-quality games for many years. With the full leverage of EA’s technology, platform expertise, and global reach, this combination will allow us to grow our existing franchises and deliver more industry-defining racing experiences to a global fan base. We are pleased that both our Boards of Directors are recommending this transaction, and we look forward to welcoming such an exciting and talented team to the Electronic Arts family,”said Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts.

With EA currently also owning the Need for Speed franchise, this move gives them a large control over the racing game genre. The CEO of Codemasters hopes that the buyout will allow them to create "bigger and better games to an extremely passionate audience".

Source

 

[RedoLane]

And here I thought the lack of wheel support for DiRT 5 at launch was the worst news I could get from Codemasters.
I was absolutely wrong.

 

[Chary]

So, do we get to start a betting pool at how long it takes EA to absolutely destroy Codemasters?

 

[nWo]

How is EA still up and running? Damn, so many good games gone to hell under their wings.

 

[Flame]

So, do we get to start a betting pool at how long it takes EA to absolutely destroy Codemasters?

you cant start if its already finished and done deal.

 

[Bladexdsl]

PRESS F

 

[James_]

So, do we get to start a betting pool at how long it takes EA to absolutely destroy Codemasters?

slams down briefcase full of money

I've been waiting for this moment


Last edited by James_, A moment ago yeah i know shut up i only changed the word case to briefcase

 

[1NOOB]

oof , just went over codemaster's game , cant see why you would bet on it . basicly just gonna make a couple racing games , wouldnt be suprise to just see the brand get absorbed by another one .

 

[Xen0]

Well... Since Gamepass includes EA Play now I guess more games for "free"

 

[Deleted User]

Can you imagine that apple gonna buy sony and Own the PlayStation brand and sell apple ps5 for 4000$. This is nightmare. Or EA buying nintendo and putting lot boxes in zelda and mario games.

 

[SkittleDash]

Yeah, EA. Use the money you got from exploiting kids with FUT and MUT coins. Mostly FUT.

 

[Deleted User]

no dear god no. no. NO.

 

[Jayro]

Boooo..... More monopoly = bad.

 

[Bladexdsl]

no dear god no. no. NO.

don't you mean...

 

[Deleted User]

don't you mean...

no, i mean this

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

So, do we get to start a betting pool at how long it takes EA to absolutely destroy Codemasters?

I bet about a month

 

[tfocosta]

Am I the only one who is missing Colin McRae Rally? Although it is the sucessor to the franchise, DiRT is not the same... Or maybe I've just grown up and can't see it the same way I've used to back in the day.

 

[Crazynoob458]

LOOTBOXES INTENTIFIES
MICROTRANSACTIONS INTENSIFIES
ANYTHING EA INTENSIFIES

 

[Lostbhoy]

Does mean we're gonna get a new Micro (transaction) Machines game??

 

[Doran754]

This sucks, one of the few UK studios that actually made enjoyable games. If you don't count Rockstar as uk anymore that is.