May 9, 2008
CODEMASTERS® SECURES OFFICIAL FORMULA ONE
VIDEO GAME LICENSE – PRODUCT LINE TO BE JEWEL IN RACING GAME CROWN
Codemasters Studios to drive new
generation of FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP games across multiple formats
Codemasters has secured the
exclusive video game rights to FORMULA 1. In a worldwide licensing agreement
with Formula One Administration Limited, Codemasters will develop a new
generation of the multi-million selling FORMULA 1 game franchise across multiple
platforms.
Codemasters Studios, creators of
genre-leading racing titles DiRT™ and GRID™, will lead the design and
development of official FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP games for home
console, handheld and PC gaming formats.
"FORMULA 1 is ambitious in expanding
its reach with more circuits planned beyond recent additions in the Middle East
and China," said Rod Cousens, chief executive officer, Codemasters. "It is also
ambitious in expanding its reach via technology. The digital communities that
computer and video gaming creates will play a key role in further growing the
FORMULA 1 audience and connecting them globally. As a world-leading creator of
driving games, this alliance with FORMULA 1 is the jewel in Codemasters’ racing
crown and creates an undisputed segment champion. FORMULA 1 has gone with the
best, the segment leader. It has gone to the home of the EGO Engine for quality;
it has gone to the company that can host FORMULA 1 Online, to the company that
is streaking away from the pack."
"Codemasters’ success and recent
innovations in the racing game space makes the company more than appropriately
tuned for the challenge," said Chris Deering, chairman, Codemasters. "The
combination of FORMULA 1’s new momentum of expansion and Codemasters’
contemporary technology and past experience is the breaking of a new dawn for
the sport, on the track and on the HD game screen."
The worldwide deal provides
Codemasters with rights to feature all Grand Prix circuits, FORMULA 1 teams,
cars, and driver likenesses.
The FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP games will be developed using the evolution of the award-winning
EGO™ Game Technology Engine, Codemasters’ highly versatile cross-platform
middleware technology. Its advanced graphics and physics technology brings an
unmatched cinematic quality and realism to interactive entertainment.
The EGO Engine is currently being
deployed in the creation of GRID™, the latest in Codemasters Studio’s
international circuit-based racing series, set to be a landmark release when it
launches on June 3.
Codemasters expects the first game
based on the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP to launch in 2009.
