Codemasters buys Sega Racing Studio

By Laura Jenner, GameSpot UKPosted Apr 25, 2008 4:02 am PT

British developer back from the brink as publisher steps in to take it over.

Earlier in April, it looked like the death knell had been sounded for Sega Racing Studio, when Sega confirmed that the Solihull-based studio was to be shut down. However, the Sega Rally Revo developer is being saved from the scrapyard, as today Codemasters announced that it will take over the studio with immediate effect.

Codemasters is already well established in the racing genre, having produced the Colin McRae series of rally racing games, which evolved into DiRT last year, as well as the TOCA racing series, known in its upcoming iteration as Grid.

"In seizing this opportunity, we have created additional resources to escalate our plans in the racing segment," Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens said. "We hope to welcome more than 40 people to the company and we have enjoyed the full cooperation of our friends at Sega in making this happen."

As for why the racing studio was set for closure in the first place, Sega cited the underwhelming sales performance of its flagship title, last year's Sega Rally Revo, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, as a factor. A PSP edition of the game was handled by external studio Bugbear Entertainment.

"The decision is part of a review of Sega's Western Development Studios to ensure that each studio is a profitable entity in its own right," the company said, "and unfortunately the Sega Racing Studio's five-year plan would not result in a successful return for the Sega business moving forward."

The closure would have been yet another blow for the British game development industry, which has slipped from third to fourth place in the global rankings as Canada has increased its investment into the industry. This is despite the increase in game sales in the UK, which generated revenue of £418.4 million ($828.9 million) in the first quarter of 2008, according to the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association.

Gavin Cheshire, vice president of Codemasters Studios, told GameSpot, "Codemasters Studios is on a constant growth curve; in the last 12 months we have opened and staffed up our Guildford studio, and taking over the Sega Racing Studio could take our development headcount over the 350 mark, creating a massive force in British game development. We've invested in talent, created smart technology, and, with this move, we're very proud to be able to offer the development talent at Sega Racing Studio the opportunity to be part of a great team."

41 Comments

  • sidious

    Posted Apr 28, 2008 7:27 am PT

    OH, but I do want to add to the "favorites" here, my favorite Rally series is still the long lost RallySport Challenge series from the OG XBox. It may not have been as technically impressive as some, but the sheer amount of pure racing fun I've yet to see matched. My pals and I played four player split screen on RSC 1 almost as much as we played Halo. Good times.

  • sidious

    Posted Apr 28, 2008 7:24 am PT

    I'm glad to see this happen. Dispite lack luster sales, I personally loved Sega Rally (the latest version), and thought it was a more complete game than Dirt, even if it wasn't as pretty. Glad to see these great developers join forces.

  • CasinoOutlaw247

    Posted Apr 28, 2008 4:06 am PT

    A great move for Codemasters....

  • magicalclick

    Posted Apr 28, 2008 12:53 am PT

    Totally agree with revelations. Codemasters racing games is good, but not as good as RSC2, Forza, and GT.

    Too bad RSC series is dead after EA bought Digital Illusion. MS should have bought it.

    Anyway, I think Sega Rally developer is really talented because the track deformation is really nice. However, they certainly need a good direction on how to make the game more fun and more console attractive.

  • Meta_Knight

    Posted Apr 27, 2008 10:45 pm PT

    Sega Rally is my favourite rally game ever!!!

  • revelations

    Posted Apr 27, 2008 7:50 pm PT

    Codemasters is always one step away from that perfect racing game. I don't know if they'll ever reach the top. Dirt was fantastic and Grid looks awesome, but do those come close to Rallisport Challenge 2, Forza, GT? Not quite. We don't get enough good racing games as it is so I take what I can get. But I still hope they can one day reach that level of quality the other (older in some cases) games have been for the genre. A genre...I might add....that has been solid only because of a few great franchises. Need for Speed and Ridge Racer have not done a whole lot of good in my opinion. But luckily Criterion and Bizarre Creations have so, more of that would be welcomed!

  • jackrocks123

    Posted Apr 27, 2008 2:59 am PT

    well codemasters messed up on turning point, so shows you that they don't make shooting games, lets hope they make better racing games

  • commander1122

    Posted Apr 27, 2008 12:46 am PT

    codemasters = turning point = r.i.p

  • PacoL250

    Posted Apr 27, 2008 12:27 am PT

    @DrKill09: Sometimes, there's a bit of user error involved in installation processes. Plus, a demo is a demo; it's not supposed to represent the finished product anyway.

  • hannify

    Posted Apr 26, 2008 7:35 pm PT

    Guys... if this is taken over by Codemasters. Sega is out of the picture so why you mentioning sega?

  • kono11

    Posted Apr 26, 2008 7:02 pm PT

    Kool!

  • bunnyman14

    Posted Apr 26, 2008 10:47 am PT

    If Sega brings track deformation, and Codemasters brings back simulation and weather effects they would make a perfect rally game.

  • cooldude03

    Posted Apr 26, 2008 5:57 am PT

    Sega Rally and Colin McRae(DiRT) are both awesome rally franchises. With Motorstorm2 in the works Codemasters need all the resources they can get to compete in the rally circuit.

  • DrKill09

    Posted Apr 26, 2008 12:42 am PT

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I freaking HATE Codemasters! I've never liked them, and I don't want them to do ANYTHING with any former Sega studio. Their NES games were bad, and their more recent games weren't much better. On top of that, their freaking DiRT demo installed Starforce on my computer and then wouldn't run... then again, same thing with Sega Rally Revo, I guess both of these loser companies will do great together, but I ******** HATE starforce! It is killing PC gaming!

  • 5FingersOfDeath

    Posted Apr 25, 2008 6:42 pm PT

    Makes a lot of sense.

  • koce_mishiman

    Posted Apr 25, 2008 4:34 pm PT

    Sega Rally Revo>DiRT. Good save.

  • mrklorox

    Posted Apr 25, 2008 4:25 pm PT

    This is good news! Codemasters make some pretty hardcore racing games for some pretty hardcore racing gamers. It is easy to blame Sega for the poor performance of the dev's last racing game... but it will be much more difficult to do so with Codemasters in the driver's seat.

  • theclaw135

    Posted Apr 25, 2008 2:44 pm PT

    I'm not too familiar with Codemasters racing games. But I hope Sega gets the genre right again. Daytona USA and OutRun 2 are awesome. ^_^

  • snarple_basic

    Posted Apr 25, 2008 1:43 pm PT

    Glad to hear that they can make the next dirt game even better. For sega saying Sega Rally Revo was there flag ship title?? If it was I would have think they could have advertised it more. Felt like it got no attention at all. Not to mention I felt like the demo included 1 of the hardest tracks in the game (my opinion). Im talking about the Canyon track not the Safari track.

Sega Rally Revo Quick Links

Summary | Reviews | News | Images | Videos | Answers | Forum | Check Prices

Check Prices

GameStop $12.99 SHOP ›
advertisement
Sega Rally Revo Boxshot Enlarge the boxshot
Sega Rally Revo

Game Stats

Full Game Details »Close
Also on

Games you may like…

Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.

See More Similar Games
advertisement
Click Here