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The Codemasters Software Company Limited (
trade name A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...
: Codemasters) is a British
video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
based in
Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's R ...
, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in October 1986, Codemasters is one of the oldest British game studios, and in 2005 was named the best independent video game developer by magazine ''
Develop Develop or DEVELOP may refer to: * ''Develop'' (magazine), a trade publication for the video game industry * ''Develop'' (Apple magazine), a technical magazine formerly published by Apple Computer *Develop (chess), moving a piece from its original ...
''. Codemasters Group Holdings plc was the holding company of Codemasters, which was publicly traded and owned Codemasters until being purchased by EA in 2021 for $1.2 billion.


History


Background

While attending school in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, Richard Darling and his elder brother, David Darling, had learned programming with
punch card A punched card (also punch card or punched-card) is a piece of stiff paper that holds digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Punched cards were once common in data processing applications or to di ...
s and had access to the school's computer room outside of hours through one of the school's janitors. Additionally, on weekends, they were allowed to use the
Commodore PET The Commodore PET is a line of personal computers produced starting in 1977 by Commodore International. A single all-in-one case combines a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, Commodore BASIC in read-only memory, keyboard, monochrome monitor, an ...
computer owned by their father, James, to create a text version of ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
''. Later on, the two brothers and school friend Michael Heibert, whose family possessed a
VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PE ...
computer, founded Darbert Computers and created
video game clones A video game clone is either a video game or a video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consol ...
of popular games, such as ''
Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who ...
'' and '' Defender''. The Darling brothers later returned to England, where they acquired their own VIC-20 and founded Galactic Software, again with the help of Heibert. An advertisement placed in the magazine ''
Popular Computing Weekly ''Popular Computing Weekly'' was a computer magazine in the UK published from 1982 to 1990. It was sometimes referred to as ''PCW'' (although that abbreviation is more commonly associated with ''Personal Computer World'' magazine). Overview T ...
'' caught the attention of
Mastertronic Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was one of the largest software publishers in the UK, achieved b ...
, a British software publisher, and the two brothers quit their education to pursue development of budget-priced games for the company. These games included ''Space Walk'', ''BMX Racers'', ''Jungle Story'', ''Orbitron'', ''Sub Hunt'' and ''Pigs in Space''. They also developed The Games Creator, a game-making tool that would later be sold commercially. The Darling brothers found success in making these games, gaining by the time they were 16 and 17 respectively. In 1985, the two owned a 50% stake in Mastertronic, which they proceeded to sell in March 1986 when they decided to become independent. By October 1986, the Darling brothers, with help from their father, had founded Codemasters. They initially worked out of the Beaumont Business Centre in
Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
, where their elder sister Abigail managed the front desk. Codemasters' first game was ''
BMX Simulator ''BMX Simulator'' is a racing video game designed by Richard Darling and released by Codemasters in 1986 for the Commodore 64. It is part of a series of games that includes ''ATV Simulator'', '' Grand Prix Simulator'', ''Professional Ski Simulat ...
'', a successor to ''BMX Racers''. According to David Darling, the company aimed at making budget-priced games with the quality of full-priced games, as they would gain a larger customer base that would subsequently create better exposure. To produce more games in less time, Codemasters started hiring developers on a
freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
basis. Products developed using this strategy include ''G-Man'' and ''Danger Zone'' by Mike Clark, ''Terra Cognita'' by Stephen Curtis, ''
Super Robin Hood ''Super Robin Hood'' is a Robin Hood-themed platform game published in October 1986 by Codemasters. The Oliver Twins developed the game for the Amstrad CPC when they were age 17; it was their first game published by Codemasters. Codemasters offe ...
'' and '' Ghost Hunters'' by the
Oliver Twins Andrew Nicholas Oliver and Philip Edward Oliver, together known as the Oliver Twins, are British twin brothers and video game designers. They began to professionally develop computer games while they were still at school, contributing their fir ...
, ''Super Stuntman'' by Peter Williamson, ''Lazer Force'' by Gavin Raeburn, and ''ATV Simulator'' by Timothy R. Miller. By April 1987, Codemasters started seeking
programmers A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...
that would create platform conversions of Codemasters' games in exchange for four-digit sums, via placements in ''Popular Computing Weekly''.


1990s

As the
8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit Integer (computer science), integers or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet (computing), octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) arc ...
computer market diminished, Codemasters turned to develop for the 8-bit and
16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mos ...
console markets, as well as moving away from their budget title legacy to more full-price games on the 16-bit computers — 1992 saw the last title in the ''Dizzy'' series, ''
Crystal Kingdom Dizzy ''Crystal Kingdom Dizzy'' is an adventure game, adventure video game featuring the character Dizzy (series), Dizzy released in December 1992 by Codemasters. The Oliver Twins – who were heavily involved in the design and programming of previous ...
'', released at full-price rather than budget price. They had major success with the ''
Micro Machines Micro Machines are a line of toys originally made by Galoob (now part of Hasbro) in the mid-1980s and throughout the 1990s. Micro Machines are tiny scale component style "playsets" and vehicles that are slightly larger than N scale. The toys Ma ...
'' series and ''
Pete Sampras Tennis ''Pete Sampras Tennis'' is a sports video game, developed by Zeppelin Games and published by Codemasters. It was followed by ''Sampras Tennis 96'' for Sega's 16-bit console and later by '' Pete Sampras Tennis '97'', released for the PlayStatio ...
'' on the
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan a ...
. Both franchises featured the J-Cart, allowing two extra controllers to be attached to the game cart without requiring
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
' ''4 way play'' or
SEGA is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
's four-player adaptor. Codemasters is notable for making the large majority of games published by Camerica, which bypassed
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
's
lock-out chip In a general sense, a lockout chip is a chip within an electronic device to prevent other manufacturers from using a company's device to perform certain functions. A notable example is the lockout chip found in Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment Sy ...
by
glitch A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system, such as a transient fault that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among ...
ing it and produced unlicensed
NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
games. These NES games were known for being shiny gold and silver cartridges. Many Codemasters titles were also featured on Camerica's
Aladdin Deck Enhancer The Aladdin Deck Enhancer is a system-enhancing adaptor to use Compact Cartridges on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was produced by Camerica and developed by Codemasters but not licensed by Nintendo. It is similar to the Datach system ...
. In 1990, Codemasters developed a device called the ''
Game Genie Game Genie is a line of video game cheat cartridges originally designed by Codemasters, sold by Camerica and Galoob. The first device in the series was released in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, with subsequent devices released for th ...
'', which came out of the lockout bypass work to play unlicensed games. It was a cheat cartridge for the NES, released in the US by
Galoob Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc., was a toy company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. They are perhaps best known for creating Micro Machines, which accounted for 50% of its sales in 1989, and distributing the Game Genie in the United State ...
and in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the UK by Camerica. In the case
Galoob v. Nintendo ''Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc.'' is a 1992 legal case where the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded that there was no copyright infringement made by the Game Genie, a video game accessory that ...
, Game Genie was determined not to violate Nintendo's
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
under fair use. In an effort to establish themselves in the United States, they announced that they would launch a new development studio in Oakhurst, using offices that were abandoned by
Sierra On-Line Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre, ...
and hiring much of Yosemite Entertainment's laid off staff in mid-September 1999.


1998–2009

Between 1998 and 2003, Codemasters teamed up with Jester Interactive Limited to publish their range of music creation software, for PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PC, ''MUSICtm'', ''Music 2000'', ''MTV Music Generator'' and ''MTV Music Generator 2''. In 2003 this partnership was dissolved, with Jester releasing their own ''Music 3000'' product. Codemasters released their final music based product, '' MTV Music Generator 3'' in 2004. Codemasters have since continued to release titles for later generation systems, such as the ''
Brian Lara Cricket ''Brian Lara Cricket'' is a cricket video game, the first in the '' Brian Lara Cricket'' series. It is endorsed by Brian Lara. ''Brian Lara Cricket'' was released on the PC in 1994 for DOS and Sega Mega Drive and Amiga in 1995 by Codemasters ...
'' series, ''
Colin McRae Rally and Dirt ''Dirt'' and ''Dirt Rally'' (stylized as ''DiRT'' and ''DiRT Rally'', formerly known as ''Colin McRae Rally''), also known as ''EA Sports Rally'', is a rally racing video game series developed by Codemasters and published by Electronic Arts und ...
'' series, '' Dizzy'' series, '' F1'' series, ''
Grid Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to: Common usage * Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road * Grid reference, used to define a location on a map Arts, entertainment, and media * News g ...
'' series, ''
LMA Manager ''LMA Manager'' is a football management video game series developed and published by Codemasters. Developed primarily for consoles, the franchise differs from the PC-based ''Football Manager'' and '' Championship Manager series'' by focusing on ...
'' series, ''
Micro Machines Micro Machines are a line of toys originally made by Galoob (now part of Hasbro) in the mid-1980s and throughout the 1990s. Micro Machines are tiny scale component style "playsets" and vehicles that are slightly larger than N scale. The toys Ma ...
'' series, ''
Operation Flashpoint ''Operation Flashpoint'' (also ''Arma: Cold War Assault'') is a series of military simulation games. The first game, '' Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis'' and its expansion '' Operation Flashpoint: Resistance'', was developed by Bohemia In ...
'' series, ''
Overlord An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or serje ...
'' series, ''
Project CARS ''Project CARS'' is a racing video game series developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The franchise was introduced in 2015 and received a sequel in 2017, followed by ''Project CARS 3'' in 2020. Games ' ...
'' series and ''
TOCA TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The company organises and administers the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the support series to the BTCC, sometimes known as the T ...
'' series. They owned the rights to use the title '' Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising'', but have parted with the original developer
Bohemia Interactive Studio Bohemia Interactive a.s. is a Czech video game developer and publisher based in Prague. The company focuses on creating military simulation games such as '' Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis'' and the '' ARMA'' series. It is also known for ...
. In spite of this, Codemasters released '' Operation Flashpoint: Elite'', developed by Bohemia, for
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...
in October 2005. The year 2005 also saw the appointment of Rod Cousens, formerly of Acclaim, as Managing Director. In December 2006,
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE; also known as Warner Bros. Games or WB Games) is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California, and part of the newly-formed Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment unit of ...
entered into a game distribution agreement with Codemasters to distribute the company's titles in North America. Also in April, Codemasters launched the
massively multiplayer online role-playing game A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
, '' The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar'' in Europe on behalf of
Turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...
. In June, Codemasters were purchased by equity group Balderton Capital and they changed their logo to an interlocked metallic C and M. Later that month they released the latest in the ''Colin McRae Rally'' series, '' Colin McRae: Dirt''. They also published ''
Overlord An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or serje ...
'' and ''
Clive Barker's Jericho ''Clive Barker's Jericho'' is a horror first-person shooter video game produced by Clive Barker. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007. Gameplay ''Jericho''s core gameplay consists of leading the game ...
''. Following the death of
Colin McRae Colin Steele McRae, (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007) was a Scottish rally driver. He was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion, and in 1995 became the first British driver and the youngest person to win the World Rally Championship ...
on 15 September 2007, Codemasters released a public statement expressing their sorrow and support for the family. In March 2008, Codemasters announced a new partnership with
Majesco Entertainment Majesco Entertainment Company (formerly Majesco Sales Inc.) is an American video game publisher and distributor based in Hazlet, New Jersey. The company was founded as Majesco Sales in Edison, New Jersey in 1986, and was a privately held company ...
which would focus on titles for DS and
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
, including ''Nanostray 2'', ''Toy Shop'', ''Cake Mania 2'' and ''Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society'' for DS, and ''Wild Earth: African Safari'', ''Our House'' and ''Cake Mania'' for Wii. In May, it was announced that Codemasters had won the rights to the
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
licence after
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
's deal ran out. The first resulting game, '' F1 2009'', was released on the Wii and
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
in November 2009, and another similar game, ''
F1 2010 The 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 64th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a 1–2 finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Driv ...
'', on the PC,
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
, and
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
in 2010. On 8 April 2008, Sega announced the closure of
Sega Racing Studio Sega Racing Studio (abbreviated as SRS; also known as Sega Driving Studio) was a computer and video game developer established in 2005 (based in Solihull, England) for the sole purpose of developing AAA Sega racing titles. The studio had radical ...
, although no reason was specified it has been assumed it was due to lackluster sales of ''
Sega Rally Revo ''Sega Rally Revo'' (known in Europe as ''Sega Rally'') is an offroad racing video game, the fourth installment of the ''Sega Rally'' series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows in 2007. ...
''. At a later time Sega announced none of the employees were folded into internal studios. On 25 April 2008, Codemasters bought Sega Racing Studio. The studio was headed by Guy Wilday, who was involved in the ''Colin McRae Rally'' games and was formerly the series producer. In the
2008 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2008 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Of ...
, the Darlings were appointed Commanders of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(CBE) for services to the video game industry.


2010–2020

On 5 April 2010,
Reliance Big Entertainment Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd is an Indian media and entertainment company. It is a division of Reliance Group, handling its media and entertainment business, across content and distribution platforms. The company was founded on 15 February 20 ...
, an Indian company acquired a 50% stake in the company. Later in 2010, Codemasters launched the
free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...
version of ''
Lord of the Rings Online ''The Lord of the Rings Online'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows and OS X set in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, taking place during the time period of ''The Lord of the Rings''. Originally dev ...
''. While originally scheduled for 10 September, it was delayed due to contractual reasons and launched on 2 November. In May 2011, Codemasters transferred control of the European ''Lord of the Rings Online'' to Turbine. In May 2011, Codemasters signed a North American distribution deal with
THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...
. In March 2012, Codemasters renewed its American distribution deal with Warner Bros. On 3 June 2011, the Codemasters.com website was breached. It is believed that the attacker was able to gain access to the personal information of registered users with Codemasters accounts. Codemasters notified its users about the attack via email on 10 June 2011, after which their websites were pulled down and users redirected to their
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page. In mid-2012, it was announced that Codemasters' racing games, whether about to be produced or developed, would begin to be branded under the "Codemasters Racing" label. '' Dirt: Showdown'' and ''
F1 2012 The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 66th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 63rd FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internati ...
'' were the first racing titles to receive the new label name. The label was discontinued in 2016, as Codemasters' subsequent racing games, ''
Dirt Rally ''Dirt Rally'' (stylised as ''DiRT Rally'') is a racing simulation video game developed and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows. A Steam Early Access version of the game was released on 27 April 2015, and the full version was released ...
'' and '' F1 2016'' are branded with the regular Codemasters logo. On 9 June 2013, Reliance Entertainment increased its stake in Codemasters from 50% to 60.41%, making it the majority owner. In April 2015 Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens left to join
Jagex Jagex Limited is a British video game developer and publisher based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. It is best known for ''RuneScape'' and ''Old School RuneScape'', both free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playi ...
, leaving
COO COO or coo may refer to: Business * Certificate of origin, used in international trade * Chief operating officer or chief operations officer, high-ranking corporate official * Concept of operations, used in Systems Engineering Management Process ...
Frank Sagnier as the new temporary CEO. In April 2016, Codemasters announced that they had hired most of the staff of racing game developer
Evolution Studios Evolution Studios Ltd. was a British video game developer based in Runcorn, Cheshire. The company was founded in 1999 by Martin Kenwright and Ian Hetherington, following the purchase of their studio Digital Image Design's publisher Ocean Softwa ...
after Sony closed the company. The first Codemasters title for
eighth generation console The eighth generation of video game consoles began in 2012, and consists of four home video game consoles: the Wii U released in 2012, the PlayStation 4 family in 2013, the Xbox One family in 2013, and the Nintendo Switch family in 2017. The gen ...
s was ''
F1 2015 The 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars. It was the 66th Formula One World Championship recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ( ...
'', launched in July 2015. In October 2015 they released '' Overlord: Fellowship of Evil'', their first non-racing game since 2011. After the disappointing sales of ''
Onrush ''Onrush'' (stylized as ONRUSH) is a racing game developed by Codemasters and published by Deep Silver for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was developed by Codemasters and the team from Evolution Studios. Gameplay ''Onrush'' is an arcade-sty ...
'', several members of the Codemasters EVO development division were made redundant and the division was shifted to a support role for other titles. Codemasters held an
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
to list the company on the
London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
's
Alternative Investment Market AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in operation since 1980. It allows ...
on 1 June 2018. The company's shares were valued at 260 pence during trading bringing in a total of . As a result of the IPO, Reliance Entertainment held a 29.5% stake in Codemasters. Through placings in June and November 2019, Codemasters welcomed new institutional shareholders to the register whilst providing Reliance with a highly satisfactory exit and thus ending their nine-year relationship with them. Codemasters acquired
Slightly Mad Studios Slightly Mad Studios Ltd. is a British video game developer based in London. Founded in 2009, it is best known for the ''Project CARS'' series of racing games that it developed from 2015 until the series' discontinuation in 2022. Codemasters acq ...
, the developers of the ''
Project CARS ''Project CARS'' is a racing video game series developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The franchise was introduced in 2015 and received a sequel in 2017, followed by ''Project CARS 3'' in 2020. Games ' ...
'' titles, in November 2019 for about . The acquisition brought the total staff at Codemasters to about 700 people. The studio acquired the exclusive license to the ''
World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
'' series in June 2020 which will begin as a five-year deal in 2023, with plans to release their first game in 2024.


2020–present: As an Electronic Arts subsidiary

Codemasters announced in November 2020 that it had been approached to be acquired by
Take-Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K, which operate internal g ...
as a buyoff offer valued at . Codemasters said its board was ready to approve the deal, pending the required regulatory approvals and Take-Two's own commitment once those approvals were granted. In the same month, both Take-Two and Codemasters agreed to a Take-Two buyout of Codemasters in a stock and cash deal around , which was expected to be completed by early 2021. Following the acquisition, Codemasters would have operated within the 2K label under its existing leadership. In a statement, Take-Two boss
Strauss Zelnick Harry Strauss Zelnick (born June 26, 1957) is an American businessman. Born in Boston and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, he attended Columbia High School, Wesleyan University, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School. He is the f ...
said that Codemasters' racing games would fit well with its own roster of sports games. However, Take-Two's bid was subsequently trumped by
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
in December 2020, which offered to buy all outstanding shares at for an offer valued at about , about 14% higher than Take-Two's offer. Codemasters' board of directors agreed to the EA deal, which closed by the first quarter of 2021. Take-Two formally withdrew its offer in January 2021, ceding to EA's bid, while Codemasters' board signed off on EA's bid later that month. The acquisition was completed on 18 February 2021, with all shares transferred to Codex Games Limited, a subsidiary of EA. EA's Andrew Wilson said they plan to keep Codemasters as a standalone entity within EA similar to Respawn Entertainment. Codemasters announced in July 2021 that CEO Frank Sagnier and CFO Rashid Varachia will depart the company at the end of the month, as part of the EA acquisition plan. Special vice president of product development Clive Moody and of publishing Jonathan Bunney will take over leadership of Codemasters following this. In May 2022, EA merged Codemasters subsidiary Codemasters Cheshire into
Criterion Games Criterion Games is a British video game developer based in Guildford. Founded in January 1996 as a division of Criterion Software, it was owned by Canon Inc. until Criterion Software was sold to Electronic Arts in October 2004. Many of Criter ...
, an existing subsidiary of EA, as to support effort on the ''
Need for Speed ''Need for Speed'' (''NFS'') is a racing game franchise published by Electronic Arts and currently developed by Criterion Games, the developers of ''Burnout''. The series generally centers around illicit street racing and tasks players to com ...
'' series as the two companies were already working together on a new title in the series together for months, then later that year in October, announcing a new title called ''
Need for Speed Unbound ''Need for Speed Unbound'' (stylised as ''NFS Unbound'') is a 2022 racing video game developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is the twenty-fifth instalment in the ''Need for Speed'' series, the first for Criterion since ...
''.


Games


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