Following the closure of Evolution Studios last month by Sony, GRID and Dirt developer Codemasters announced today that the team from Evolution will be joining their lineup of studios on April 25.
As a result, Evolution’s Mick Hocking will be the VP of Product Developer at Codemasters, making him responsible for all of the company’s studios, including the “now multi-platform Evolution team in Cheshire.”
With the addition of Evolution Studios, Codemasters says they’re now the world’s largest racing-focused company:
Why are we so excited? Well, that should be pretty obvious! Over the last 30 years, Codemasters and Evolution Studios have created some of the most successful racing franchises in the industry, including GRID, DiRT, DRIVECLUB and MotorStorm. This expansion will not only see us gain a wealth of racing expertise and skill, but it’ll take Codemasters to the next level as the world’s largest racing-focused games company. With phenomenal racing DNA on both sides, we hope that gamers out there are excited to see what we do next – as are all of us here at Codies.
Codemasters CEO Frank Sagnier said, “The addition of the Evolution team to our studio group will allow us to scale our business and strengthen our leadership as the world’s premier racing game developer.” He later added that he’s looking forward “to the great games and brand new IP we will develop together.”
Hocking said:
I’m delighted to be joining Codemasters at such an exciting time in the company’s growth. We have a shared passion for racing, a desire to innovate and a determination to create the best racing games and build the biggest racing community in the market. I’m very much looking forward to working with so many of the world’s greatest racing developers, on new IP as well as exciting franchises including DiRT, GRID, Micro Machines and the FORMULA ONE games.
DriveClub Game Director Paul Rustchynsky posted on Twitter that the Evolution Studios team at Codemasters will soon begin working on “an exciting new racing IP.”
What do you think of the move?
[Source: Codemasters, Paul Rustchynsky]
