Codemasters Set To Develop WRC Games Starting 2023

Codemasters Set To Develop WRC Games Starting 2023

Earlier today, the global video games industry news website www.gamesindustry.biz broke the news that British video game developer Codemasters has secured an exclusive five-year license to develop games for the FIA World Rally Championship.

The Codemasters license will take effect in 2023, and will initially last to 2027. The first WRC game developed by Codemasters will arrive At the latest in Q1 of 2024. From then on, Codemasters will also handle all eSports events associated with the WRC gaming franchise.

Back in the 2000s, the official WRC license was held by Sony Interactive Entertainment who had British developer Evolution Studios develop five successive WRC games for the PS2 between 2001 and 2005. The games already featured the official drivers, cars, and locations of the WRC championships of those seasons.

In 2009 Italian publisher Black Bean Games signed a four-year licensing deal. Italian developer Milestone was responsible for four official WRC games based on seasons from 2010 to 2013 which were released for the PC, PS3, and the Xbox 360.

In 2013, French publisher Bigben Interactive and French developer Kylotonn Games Studio took over and started work to eventually release the WRC 5 game in 2015, WRC 6 in 2016, WRC 7 in 2017, and WRC 8 in 2019. These four titles were available for the PC,PS4, and Xbox One. Later on, the WRC extended the licensing agreement until 2022.

Back in March of 2020, Bigben Interactive and French developer Kylotonn Games announced that they will be developing the upcoming WRC 9, WRC 10, and WRC 11 rally games for the next-gen Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 platforms.

Now the question remains if this change of the guard will lead to a similar or totally different WRC game experience?