The American publisher Electronic Arts is abandoning the Project Cars license from Slightly Mad Studios and Codemasters.
This decision by EA was made after evaluating the status of Project Cars following the acquisition of Codemasters, concluding that it had little chance of becoming a hit game or integrating with the rest of the US publisher’s racing portfolio. For the record, the first game launched in 2015, with a sequel released in 2017. The third installment arrived in 2020 but, unlike its predecessors, was poorly received by press and gamers alike. All three titles were published by Bandai Namco as Slightly Mad Studios was still independent. The license also had a mobile adaptation which was released in 2021.
EA is dropping Project CARS, https://t.co/Mz1KhrAeuF can reveal. The firm is to “stop further development and investment” in the series, the affected staff is to be moved to other EA roles wherever possiblehttps://t.co/iBs1omn27v
— GamesIndustry (@GIBiz) November 8, 2022
A spokesperson for Electronic Arts said :
We have internally announced an update to our racing game portfolio. Following an assessment of the upcoming Project Cars title and its longer-term growth potential, we have made the decision to halt further development and investment for this franchise. Decisions like this are very difficult to make, but they allow us to prioritize where we think we have the best chance of creating experiences that fans will love. We are focusing on the strengths of our racing game portfolio, especially licensed IP and open-world experiences, and growing our franchises to be more socially focused, with live services long-term that will involve global communities. Games are at the heart of sports entertainment and motor racing, and with changing fan expectations, we recognize the need to evolve our games beyond pure gaming, providing fans with experiences to watch, create and connect with their friends. We are working with everyone affected by this decision to place them in appropriate positions within our EA Sports and racing games portfolio, as well as other parts of EA, where possible. Our priority now is to provide as much support as possible to our employees during this transition.
