Slightly Mad Studios Ltd. 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
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Founded in 2009, it is best known for 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
' ...
'' series of
racing games
Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...
that it developed from 2015 until the series' discontinuation in 2022.
Codemasters
The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Octo ...
acquired Slightly Mad Studios in 2019 and was itself acquired 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 2021.
History
On 12 January 2009, Ian Bell acquired the business and assets of
Blimey! Games from bankrupt parent 10tacle Studios. In September 2009, Slightly Mad Studios released ''
Need for Speed: Shift'' with
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 ...
. Its sequel ''
Shift 2: Unleashed'' was announced in November 2010 and released in March 2011.
The company uses a distributed development structure, with developers living across the world and working remotely. Slightly Mad was ranked as the 17th most successful developer in the Develop 100 list for 2010.
In 2012, the company released ''
Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends'', which focuses on
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
's history across Formula One, rallying and sports cars.
In 2015, Slightly Mad launched ''
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
' ...
'', a community-developed racing simulator.
In 2017, Slightly Mad Studios released the sequel ''
Project CARS 2
''Project CARS 2'' is a motorsport racing simulator video game developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published and distributed by the Bandai Namco Entertainment group. It was released worldwide on 22 September 2017 for Microsoft Windows, Play ...
''. This title was developed using community-based development, pre-alpha testing, and funding, in an attempt to bypass normal publishing costs. This was the first title of a series of similarly-developed games. ''Project CARS'' was featured in
professional videogaming competitions by the
ESL
English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EF ...
from 2015 to 2018.
On 2 January 2019, CEO and founder of Slightly Mad Studios, Ian Bell, announced via
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that the company would be creating its own
video game console
A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally placed i ...
, which would have been called Mad Box. Bell claimed that the console would be "the most powerful console ever built", saying that it would be capable of running games at
4K resolution
4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K Ultra-high-definitio ...
, at up to 120
FPS
FPS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* "F.P.S." (''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''), an episode of the TV show ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''
* '' fps magazine'', a defunct magazine about animation
* ''The Fabulous Picture Show'', a televi ...
, and will support most major
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
headsets at 60 FPS per eye. It's considered that the console should be equivalent to a "very fast PC 2 years from now". The company estimated that the console would be released in 2022. In addition to their console, Bell announced that the company would give developers free access to its proprietary
game engine
A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...
to develop games for their console. The company does not currently intend to have exclusive titles for their console.
On 25 May 2019, it was announced that upcoming racing title ''
Automobilista 2
''Automobilista 2'' is a Sim racing, racing simulator game created by Reiza Studios, under the lead of Renato Simioni. The game was initially released as an Early Access title on March 31, 2020, via Steam (service), Steam, with the official V1.0 r ...
'' developed by Reiza Studios will be using the Madness engine developed by Slightly Mad Studios and used for ''Project CARS 2'', then the game has released a year later, at the end of June. Slightly Mad Studios was acquired by
Codemasters
The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Octo ...
in November 2019 for about . This includes the rights to the ''Project CARS'' series and a yet-unannounced game. On August 28, 2020, Slightly Mad Studios released ''
Project CARS 3
''Project CARS 3'' is a racing video game developed by Codemasters subsidiary Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was first released on 28 August 2020 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game ...
'', three weeks after the publisher launched ''
Fast & Furious Crossroads''.
In February 2021, Codemasters was, in turn, acquired by Electronic Arts. Slightly Mad Studios developed a
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 ...
mobile ''Project CARS'' game, ''Project CARS Go'', which was released by Gamevil in March 2021. The game was withdrawn from sale in October that year, followed by the shutdown of its services in November. Also in October, Bell left the studio.
Under Electronic Arts, ''Project CARS'' and ''Project CARS 2'' were removed from sale in 2022 as licenses for tracks and cars expired. On 8 November 2022, the publisher announced that it would discontinue the ''Project CARS'' series and move affected Slightly Mad Studios staff to other projects.
Bell offered to hire affected employees under his new company, Mildly Annoyed Games.
Games
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2009 establishments in England
British companies established in 2009
Video game companies established in 2009
Video game companies of the United Kingdom
Video game development companies
Companies based in London
Codemasters
Electronic Arts
2019 mergers and acquisitions