[ad_1]
EA is hoping that its planned acquisition of UK racing game maker Codemasters will see it start releasing a new racing game every year, on par with its other EA Sports franchises.
In one slide game Accompanying the publisher’s third quarter financial results today, EA highlighted the motivations for its impending acquisition, including a desire to increase its presence in racing, EA CEO Andrew Wilson describing the sport as “one of the few truly global sports” when calling for company results. .
EA’s presentation further described Codemasters’ IP lineup, which includes IP Dirt, Dirt Rally, Grid, Project Cars and the upcoming Project Cars Go mobile franchise, as well as the IP F1 license and upcoming games licensed for the. world rally championship from 2023..
These would be added to racing franchises owned by EA Need for Speed ​​and Burnout Paradise, as well as Real Racing – which hasn’t had a new game launch since Real Racing 3 in 2013.
Later in the call for results, COO Blake Jorgensen praised the viability of F1 racing, especially as a global franchise that is currently gaining traction in the United States, suggesting that EA hopes to become the publisher of reference. for racing games more broadly, saying the genre is “one of the best opportunities for growth there is.”
“Besides the fact that the Dirt franchise, the Grid franchise, all of their franchises are amazing games, but none of them really benefit from a great publishing organization and the marketing power that we are able to. provide. And we also believe that the talents that can continue to help our Need for Speed ​​business or our Real Racing business could be very powerful. So we know that this is not a company the size of FIFA, but we know there is an incredible opportunity to own basically every driving business that there is. “
Wilson added that EA also sees an opportunity with Codemasters titles to incorporate other elements of live service, saying “F1 plus live service the greater our marketing strength is a profound opportunity.”
This comes with another statement from Wilson on the call for results, indicating EA’s intention to expand EA Sports to different types of sports, with more announcements planned “in the weeks and months to come.” . Wilson added that this included “at least one new experience” launching the next fiscal year – which will begin in April 2021.
IT announced its intention to acquire Codemasters earlier this month for an approximate price of $ 1.2 billion, which initially competed with a $ 1 billion bid from Take-Two Interactive before the latter retracted its offer. The acquisition is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2021, or between April and June of this year, and is currently awaiting a vote from Codemasters shareholders.
Codemasters launched Dirt 5 in November of last year as a launch title for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S. Our opinion Called it “a complete about-face” for the franchise, and an “shameless arcade-inspired racing experience.”
Rebekah Valentine is a journalist for the IGN.
[ad_2]
