EA Aims For Annual Racing Games After Codemasters Purchase

If you're a fan of racing games, then Electronic Arts has some very good news for you. The game publisher is moving to release new racing games every year, and the development teams at Codemasters are a big reason why that's possible.

As discussed during an investors meeting this week, the still-pending Codemasters acquisition would allow EA to release a racing game every year. In addition to its own Need for Speed and Burnout franchises, it would acquire series such as F1, Dirt, GRID, and Project Cars, which attract more hardcore racing fans than EA's other series.

Presumably, Codemasters would also be able to offer assistance to Need for Speed. It's a franchise that has struggled in recent years with varying quality and a lack of identity, though developer Criterion is helming it moving forward and had great success with its 2012 game Need for Speed: Most Wanted. After that game's release, the franchise shifted to Ghost Games, which released several entries but failed to recapture the magic that made earlier Need for Speed games so popular. Criterion, meanwhile, shifted to support work on other projects and a planned extreme sports racing game. It was teased in a very early state before being canceled.

EA also said the Codemasters acquisition could allow for opportunities with EA Sports games. It's unclear which games this is referring to, but the publisher just announced that it would return to college football. The NCAA Football franchise last released a game in 2013 following disputes regarding players' likenesses, but it looks like there was some sort of agreement worked out to bring it back--though the NCAA name was missing from EA's announcement.