Developer Codemasters, the studio behind the Dirt and Formula 1 franchises, has been negotiating with several publishers in an effort to secure an acquisition. Recently, Take-Two Interactive was at the forefront of these discussions, with the major publisher behind series including Grand Theft Auto, BioShock, and Red Dead Redemption making a substantial offer to acquire Codemasters. However, it retracted the offer after Electronic Arts submitted a more lucrative bid.
Since then, EA has been the big name looking to bring Codemasters into its stable of studios, and it seems a deal with the company is relatively close to being locked in. According to VGC, Codemasters' Executive Director Ian Bell, CEO Frank Sagnier, and CFO Rashid Varachia have all agreed to vote in favor of the EA acquisition, with the publication noting that this decision is a "binding agreement."
In other words, Codemasters potentially cannot accept any other offer that comes into the studio, even if it's higher than EA's $1.2 billion bid. The only way the studio will be able to exit its deal with EA is if the publisher opts to retract its offer, or if the terms expire. The three high-ranking members of Codemasters are also relying on the votes of its shareholders, however the board has already heavily advised partners to vote in favor of the new deal. If everything goes smoothly, EA is allegedly looking to wrap up the deal during the first quarter of 2021, according to VGC.
The deal is no doubt a big one for Codemasters and EA, with the former having some hugely successful names under its belt. The team worked on two well-received games last year, with F1 2020 landing in July and Dirt 5 following in November. It will be interesting to see whether the company changes focus if it becomes a part of EA, whether that's shifting to fresh projects or continuing to develop new iterations of its library of successful franchises.
Whatever happens, it should still be developing racing games, with EA sharing in a statement that Codemasters will help the company "lead in a new era of racing entertainment." Little else was shared about how the publisher intends to achieve that lofty goal, but it seems fans of the studio's extensive roster of racing classics will still have plenty to look forward to in the years to come. Outside of the Codemasters acquisition, EA is primed to have a big year, promising fans in 2020 that EA studios would release six next-generation games by March 2022.
Source: VGC