In December last year, EA shocked the gaming world as it overtook Take-Two Interactive in the acquisition of racing game makers Codemasters. Today, in a press release, EA has announced that it has completed the acquisition of the UK-based studio.
According to the press release, EA has completed its acquisiton of Codemasters “for 604 pence (approximately US$8.37*) in cash for each ordinary share of Codemasters with an implied enterprise value of US$1.2 billion*”
The combination of Electronic Arts and Codemasters marks an exciting new era in racing game entertainment. Bringing together two of the most passionate, creative and talented game developer and publishing organizations in the industry will enable further growth and continued success for a stable of the most powerful and popular racing brands in the world, including Formula 1®, Need for Speed, DIRT, DiRT Rally/WRC, GRID, Project CARS, Real Racing and more. With this critically acclaimed portfolio, Electronic Arts and Codemasters will be positioned to bring fans a regular cadence of new and exciting racing content, in addition to reaching across more platforms and more regions of the world.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson also shared a statement for the acquisition:
This is the beginning of an exciting new era for racing games and content as we bring together the talented teams at Electronic Arts and Codemasters. Racing fandom continues to grow worldwide, and the franchises in our combined portfolio will enable us to create innovative new experiences and bring more players into the excitement of cars and motorsport. Our teams will be a global powerhouse in racing entertainment, with amazing games for players on every platform, and we can’t wait to get started.
Let’s hope Codemaster’s racing games released in the future won’t drop in quality with the acquisition.
Right. More like a regular serving of schlock. This company is the bane of the industry.
RIP Codemasters. Let us all enjoy watching the mass EXODUS from another talented company and very quickly become a husk of its former self. Bonus points for wasting every single person working there, forcing them to adopt that Frostbite garbage for the next 2 years before another game is even attempted.