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| Codemasters | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | October 1986; 39 years ago (1986-10) inBanbury, England |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | , England |
| Products |
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Number of employees | 700[1] (2019) |
| Parent |
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| Website | www |
The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name:Codemasters) is a Britishvideo game developer and formerpublisher based inSoutham. It is a subsidiary of American corporationElectronic Arts and managed under theEA Sports division. Founded by brothers Richard andDavid Darling in October 1986, Codemasters is one of the oldest British game studios, and in 2005 was named the best independent video game developer by magazineDevelop.[2] It formerly also published third-party games.
Codemasters Group Holdings plc was the holding company of Codemasters, which was publicly traded and owned Codemasters until being purchased by EA in 2021 for $1.2 billion.
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While attending school inVancouver, Richard Darling and his elder brother,David Darling, had learned programming withpunch cards and had access to the school's computer room outside of hours through one of the school's janitors.[3] Additionally, on weekends, they were allowed to use theCommodore PET computer owned by their father, James, to create a text version ofDungeons & Dragons.[3] Later on, the two brothers and school friend Michael Heibert, whose family possessed aVIC-20 computer, founded Darbert Computers and createdvideo game clones of popular games, such asGalaxian andDefender.[3]
The Darling brothers later returned to England, where they acquired their own VIC-20 and founded Galactic Software, again with the help of Heibert.[3] An advertisement placed in the magazinePopular Computing Weekly caught the attention ofMastertronic, a British software publisher, and the two brothers quit their education to pursue development of budget-priced games for the company.[3] These games includedSpace Walk,BMX Racers,Jungle Story,Orbitron,Sub Hunt andPigs in Space.[3] They also developed The Games Creator, a game-making tool that would later be sold commercially.[3] The Darling brothers found success in making these games, gaining£200,000 by the time they were 16 and 17 respectively.[3] In 1985, the two owned a 50% stake in Mastertronic, which they proceeded to sell in March 1986 when they decided to become independent.[3] By October 1986, the Darling brothers, with help from their father, had founded Codemasters.[3] They initially worked out of the Beaumont Business Centre inBanbury, where their elder sister Abigail managed the front desk.[3]
Codemasters' first game wasBMX Simulator, a successor toBMX Racers.[3] According to David Darling, the company aimed at making budget-priced games with the quality of full-priced games, as they would gain a larger customer base that would subsequently create better exposure.[3] To produce more games in less time, Codemasters started hiring developers on afreelance basis.[3] Products developed using this strategy includeG-Man andDanger Zone by Mike Clark,Terra Cognita by Stephen Curtis,Super Robin Hood andGhost Hunters by theOliver Twins,Super Stuntman by Peter Williamson,Lazer Force by Gavin Raeburn, andATV Simulator by Timothy R. Miller.[3] By April 1987, Codemasters started seekingprogrammers that would createplatform conversions of Codemasters' games in exchange for four-digit sums, via placements inPopular Computing Weekly.[3]
As the8-bit computer market diminished, Codemasters turned to the16-bit console market and moved away from budget titles to full-price games on the 16-bit computers — 1992 saw the last title in theDizzy series,Crystal Kingdom Dizzy, released at full price. They had major success with theMicro Machines series[4] andPete Sampras Tennis on theSegaMega Drive. Both franchises featured theJ-Cart, allowing two extra controllers to be attached to the game cart without requiringElectronic Arts'4 way play orSEGA's four-player adaptor.[citation needed]
Codemasters is notable for making the large majority of games published byCamerica, which bypassedNintendo'slock-out chip byglitching it and produced unlicensedNES games.[5] These NES games were known for being shiny gold and silvercartridges.[6] Many Codemasters titles were also featured on Camerica'sAladdin Deck Enhancer.[7][8]
In 1990, Codemasters developed a device called theGame Genie, which came out of the lockout bypass work to play unlicensed games.[9] It was a cheat cartridge for the NES, released in the US byGaloob and inCanada and theUK by Camerica. In the caseGaloob v. Nintendo, the courts concluded Game Genie did not violate Nintendo'scopyright because it qualified as fair use under the law.[10][11]
In an effort to establish themselves in the United States, they announced that they would launch a new development studio in Oakhurst, using offices that were abandoned bySierra On-Line and hiring much of Yosemite Entertainment's laid off staff in mid-September 1999.[citation needed]
Between 1998 and 2003, Codemasters teamed up with Jester Interactive Limited to publish their range of music creation software, for PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PC,MUSICtm,Music 2000,MTV Music Generator andMTV Music Generator 2.[12] In 2003 this partnership was dissolved, with Jester releasing their ownMusic 3000 product. Codemasters released their final music based product,MTV Music Generator 3, in 2004.[citation needed]
Codemasters have since continued to release titles for later generation systems, such as theBrian Lara Cricket series,Colin McRae Rally and Dirt series,Dizzy series,F1 series,Grid series,LMA Manager series,Micro Machines series,Operation Flashpoint series,Overlord series,Project CARS series andTOCA series. They owned the rights to use the titleOperation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (2011), but have parted with the original developerBohemia Interactive Studio. In spite of this, Codemasters releasedOperation Flashpoint: Elite, developed by Bohemia, forXbox in October 2005. The year 2005 also saw the appointment of Rod Cousens, formerly ofAcclaim, as managing director.[citation needed]
In December 2006,Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment entered into a game distribution agreement with Codemasters to distribute the company's titles in North America.[13] Also in April, Codemasters launched themassively multiplayer online role-playing game,The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar in Europe on behalf ofTurbine. In June, Codemasters were purchased by equity group Balderton Capital[14] and they changed their logo to an interlocked metallic C and M. Later that month they released the latest in theColin McRae Rally series,Colin McRae: Dirt. They also publishedOverlord andClive Barker's Jericho. Following the death ofColin McRae on 15 September 2007, Codemasters released a public statement expressing their sorrow and support for the family.[15][16][17]
In March 2008, Codemasters announced a new partnership withMajesco Entertainment which would focus on titles forDS andWii, includingNanostray 2,Toy Shop,Cake Mania 2 andNancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society for DS, andWild Earth: African Safari,Our House andCake Mania for Wii.[18] In May, it was announced that Codemasters had won the rights to theFormula One licence afterSony's deal ran out and thus endingPsygnosis and Sony'sFormula One series.[19] The first resulting game,F1 2009, was released on the Wii andPlayStation Portable in November 2009, and another similar game,F1 2010, on thePC,PlayStation 3, andXbox 360 in 2010.[citation needed]
On 8 April 2008, Sega announced the closure ofSega Racing Studio. The studio's only release had beenSega Rally Revo, which was greeted with fairly positive reviews but poor sales figures. At a later time Sega announced none of the employees were folded into internal studios.[20] On 25 April 2008, Codemasters bought Sega Racing Studio.[21] The studio was headed by Guy Wilday, who was involved in theColin McRae Rally games and was formerly the series producer.[22]
In the2008 Queen's Birthday Honours, the Darlings were appointed Commanders of theOrder of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the video game industry.[23]
On 5 April 2010,Reliance Big Entertainment, an Indian company acquired a 50% stake in the company.[24] Later in 2010, Codemasters launched thefree-to-play version ofLord of the Rings Online. While originally scheduled for 10 September, it was delayed due to contractual reasons and launched on 2 November. In May 2011, Codemasters transferred control of the EuropeanLord of the Rings Online to Turbine.[citation needed]
In May 2011, Codemasters signed a North American distribution deal withTHQ.[25] In March 2012, Codemasters renewed its American distribution deal with Warner Bros.[26]
On 3 June 2011, the Codemasters.com website was breached. It is believed that the attacker was able to gain access to the personal information of registered users with Codemasters accounts. Codemasters notified its users about the attack via email on 10 June 2011, after which their websites were pulled down and users redirected to theirFacebook page.[citation needed]
In mid-2012, it was announced that Codemasters' racing games, whether about to be produced or developed, would begin to be branded under the "Codemasters Racing" label.Dirt: Showdown andF1 2012 were the first racing titles to receive the new label name. The label was discontinued in 2016, as Codemasters' subsequent racing games,Dirt Rally andF1 2016 are branded with the regular Codemasters logo.[citation needed]
On 9 June 2013, Reliance Entertainment increased its stake in Codemasters from 50% to 60.41%, making it the majority owner.[27]
In April 2015 Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens left to joinJagex, leavingCOO Frank Sagnier as the new temporary CEO.[28] In April 2016, Codemasters announced that they had hired most of the staff of racing game developerEvolution Studios after Sony closed the company.[29]
The first Codemasters title foreighth generation consoles wasF1 2015, launched in July 2015. In October 2015 they releasedOverlord: Fellowship of Evil, their first non-racing game since 2011.
After the disappointing sales ofOnrush, several members of the Codemasters EVO development division were made redundant and the division was shifted to a support role for other titles.[30]
Codemasters held aninitial public offering to list the company on theLondon Stock Exchange'sAlternative Investment Market on 1 June 2018. The company's shares were valued at 260 pence during trading bringing in a total of£185 million. As a result of the IPO, Reliance Entertainment held a 29.5% stake in Codemasters.[31][32]
Through placings in June and November 2019, Codemasters welcomed new institutional shareholders to the register whilst providing Reliance with a highly satisfactory exit and thus ending their nine-year relationship with them.[33]
Codemasters acquiredSlightly Mad Studios, the developers of theProject CARS titles, in November 2019 for aboutUS$30 million. The acquisition brought the total staff at Codemasters to about 700 people.[1]
The studio acquired the exclusive license to theWorld Rally Championship series in June 2020 which will begin as a five-year deal in 2023, with plans to release their first game in 2024.[34]
Codemasters announced in November 2020 that it had been approached to be acquired byTake-Two Interactive as a buyoff offer valued at£739.2 million. Codemasters said its board was ready to approve the deal, pending the required regulatory approvals and Take-Two's own commitment once those approvals were granted.[35][36] In the same month, both Take-Two and Codemasters agreed to a Take-Two buyout of Codemasters in a stock and cash deal aroundUS$994 million, which was expected to be completed by early 2021.[37] Following the acquisition, Codemasters would have operated within the2K label under its existing leadership. In a statement, Take-Two bossStrauss Zelnick said that Codemasters' racing games would fit well with its own roster of sports games.[38] However, Take-Two's bid was subsequently trumped byElectronic Arts in December 2020, which offered to buy all outstanding shares at£6.04 for an offer valued at aboutUS$1.2 billion, about 14% higher than Take-Two's offer. Codemasters' board of directors agreed to the EA deal, which closed by the first quarter of 2021.[39] Take-Two formally withdrew its offer in January 2021, ceding to EA's bid,[40] while Codemasters' board signed off on EA's bid later that month.[41] The acquisition was completed on 18 February 2021, with all shares transferred to Codex Games Limited, a subsidiary of EA.[42] EA's Andrew Wilson said they plan to keep Codemasters as a standalone entity within EA similar to Respawn Entertainment.[43] Codemasters announced in July 2021 that CEO Frank Sagnier and CFO Rashid Varachia will depart the company at the end of the month, as part of the EA acquisition plan. Special vice president of product development Clive Moody and of publishing Jonathan Bunney will take over leadership of Codemasters following this.[44]
In May 2022, EA merged Codemasters subsidiary Codemasters Cheshire intoCriterion Games, an existing subsidiary of EA, as to support effort on theNeed for Speed series as the two companies were already working together on a new title in the series together for months, then later that year in October, announcing a new title calledNeed for Speed Unbound,[45] which was released on 2 December 2022.
In December 2023, an unknown number of employees at Codemasters were laid off by EA.[46]
In May 2025, it was announced[47] that Codemasters had stopped development on itsWRCtitles.[48] More people were laid off as well, while an unspecified amount of other employees would move to work on other EA Sports properties.[49]
Ego is a modified version of the Neon game engine that was used inColin McRae: Dirt and was developed by Codemasters andSony Computer Entertainment using Sony Computer Entertainment'sPhyreEngine cross-platform graphics engine.[50] The Ego engine was developed to render more detailed damage and physics as well as render large-scale environments.[51][52]
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