NEWS - Friday, May 9, 2008
Codemasters Acquires F1 License
Codemasters today revealed it has acquired the Formula 1 license, ending Sony’s four year ownership of the franchise and paving the way for a new series of current generation F1 titles across all major formats.Chris Deering, chairman at Codemasters said, "[Our] success and recent innovations in the racing game space makes the company more than appropriately tuned for the challenge. The combination of FORMULA 1’s new momentum of expansion and Codemasters’ contemporary technology and past experience is the breaking of a new dawn for the sport, on the track and on the HD game screen."
Having remained dormant since last year’s Studio Liverpool PlayStation 3 title Formula 1 Championship Edition, the news comes following murmurings that Sony were effectively being priced out of the licence by Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Association. Any future title will mark the first time an official Formula One title has been seen outside Sony hardware since EA offered up Formula 1 Career Challenge in 2003.
As of yet it is unknown when we can expect the first fruits of the new deal, though a statement today suggested it will utilize the EGO engine that Codemasters has put to good effect in the forthcoming GRID game.
Source: http://www.ign.com
