One of the world’s largest video game publishers is about to buy the world’s largest racing game developer. And in case you wonder why Electronic Arts would be interested in Codemasters, it’s all about the annual potential.
More specifically, it’s all about Formula 1. EA held an investor conference call yesterday and issued a deck together with him. On pages 15 and 16, the publishing giant discusses the acquisition of Codemasters in more detail. Among the reasons listed for the acquisition is that Codies will “allow EA to launch new racing experiences annually”, and we know that major publishers love their annual franchises.
Formula 1 is Codies’ only annual series at the moment, one that has been advancing on an annual basis since 2009, after taking over Sony’s licensing rights. After a few difficult years at first, the franchise has blossomed into a critical and commercial darling – something EA is well aware of, as the publisher cites a Metacritic score of 88 for the most recent release, F1 2020, right there in your slide show.
The rise of F1 as a gambling entity reflects the growth of F1 as a sport over the years 2010. In 2019, sport reached 1.9 billion viewers – the most global since 2012 – although the unique audience has fallen slightly. Of course, that was before the pandemic, which saw F1 racing revenue plummets as a result of the lack of ticket sales and hospitality in 2020. The growth of F1’s social media channels has helped to expand the sport, and now it has a TikTok, if you can believe it. Have you ever imagined this happening with Bernie Ecclestone?
Anyway, all of this makes F1 the perfect fit for EA Sports. The editor can count on F1 every year, just as he can count on Madden and FIFA, in addition, F1 enjoys considerably more critical praise than these franchises (Madden 21 sits at 63 on Metacritic, while FIFA is 74.) The circumstances are ripe for an F1 Ultimate Team mode full of microtransactions, which you know EA is trying to accomplish. I’m looking forward to unwrapping a Nick Heidfeld of 80 in total in a pack of cards I spent $ 5 on.
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There is even more potential for an annual racing game waiting for EA, too, as Codemasters seeks to launch its first licensed World Rally Championship title by 2023. The profit potential here will certainly not be as great as in F1, which I little worried. The Dirt Rally The team working on a fully licensed WRC experience would be a perfect match, the kind that racing and rally fans always want. Kylotonn, who continues to produce WRC games until Codies takes over, delivered solid titles alone, although the studio cannot really push the technical envelope as Codemasters and EA should be able to with their combined resources.
In addition to F1 and WRC, Dirt will continue in its arcade form, but on two fronts, judging by the slide. There are also Network and Project cars – two series of circuit racing that are at risk of stepping on each other’s heel today, especially as Project Cars 3 opted for an arcade inclination, unlike its predecessors.
It is unclear what the EA acquisition could impose for any titles that these respective Codies-owned studios have underway. I don’t need to point out that EA has a history of meddling in its internal studios. I need speed was one of the worst victims of that. Ghost Games developed what was, in my opinion, a promising return to form in 2019 NFS Heat, only for EA to rip the series and return it to Criterion for the next release; Criterion already lost NFS when it was played for Ghost in the first place. Burnout’s inclusion in the presentation is particularly overwhelming, considering that there hasn’t been a new entry in this franchise in 13 years.
So, yes, there are still many, many questions to be answered here, and we probably won’t see the real ramifications of this acquisition in the market for a few years. EA will soon be home to a supergroup of legendary talent in racing game development – I pray they use it effectively, but most of all, patiently.