EA's recently announced acquisition of Codemasters means another big racing game developer has been picked up by the publisher. Joining the likes of Criterion Games, huge racing IPs like Dirt, Grid, Project Cars, and F1 will now fall under the EA banner. Not to mention any possibility of Codemasters being tasked with developing a new or separate Need for Speed game alongside Criterion. However, given EA's history with studio acquisitions and expectations, Codemasters' fans are understandably weary. There's the very real possibility that Codemasters' fate could either go the way of Respawn Entertainment, or end up like Ghost Games.
This acquisition is by no means inherently grim, as Codemasters could potentially do great things under EA's financial and production support. Dirt 5, Codemasters' latest game prior to the merge, saw very positive reviews as a next-gen launch title. Not to mention various other Codemasters racing franchises like Project Cars that are typically recommended by racing game fans. Unfortunately, there's the inherent worry for Codemasters to suffer under the same company that's struggled with the Need for Speed franchise for years. There are certainly pros and cons to this Codemasters-EA deal, inspiring some cautious optimism for the popular racing game developer.
The Good: Better Codemasters Games, Potentially a Better Need for Speed
There's definitely some pretty obvious pros to a studio acquisition by EA. Being one of the largest video game companies in the entire world, Codemasters will certainly have any financial backing at its disposal to keep making excellent racing games. Given how Dirt 5 and F1 2020 in this year alone saw excellent critical reception, any kind of additional support for an already-successful game developer (in most cases) is only a good thing for Codemasters. Plus, with EA Play on Xbox Game Pass, that means games like Dirt 5 are going to receive much more exposure inherently because of the subscriber base and variety-based nature of Game Pass.
Additionally, assuming Codemasters would be interested in it, it could also potentially assist with the Need for Speed franchise. It's no secret that EA, Criterion, and the now-shuttered Ghost Games have struggled to maintain Need for Speed relevance in the last few years, at least for good reasons. Many of the latest Need for Speed entries have simply not met the standards of EA, nor have those games met the standards that the franchise once set many years ago. Codemasters could certainly help with that, whether it's a spin-off style game like Pro Street or Shift, or a true-to-form new entry in the long-running racing game franchise.
The Bad: Imposing Need for Speed on Yet Another New Studio
However, on that note, it is very possible that Need for Speed could be imposed onto Codemasters as an additional project alongside the developer's existing franchises. Either that, or EA's acquisition of the studio was made with the expectation that Codemasters' input on the Need for Speed franchise would be beneficial. In an ideal world, every developer on the Codemasters team would be thrilled to work on a Need For Speed game. However, as mentioned previously, EA has set a high standard for the Need for Speed franchise that Codemasters will have to meet, assuming the studio does work on a new Need for Speed title.
The last Need for Speed game, Need for Speed Heat, was one of the first entries in a long time that had comparatively strong sales. Need for Speed Heat had the most concurrent players during launch week compared to any other entry released this generation, which in any other context would've been good news. However, even in spite of this seemingly encouraging news, EA shuttered the Ghost Games studio (developer of Heat) and shifted the primary development of the franchise back to Criterion. Granted, Ghost Games is not innocent here either, as that was the same development studio that worked on 2015's lackluster reboot and Need for Speed Payback.
The Ugly: EA's Treatment of Racing Game Studios
EA is notorious for downsizing and shutting down first-party studios when they don't meet expectations. Visceral Games is a studio example that comes to mind right away, but a more apt example, in this case, is Black Box games, which was also a core Need for Speed development team prior to 2013. Given that Ghost Games' closing only happened earlier this year, Codemasters is joining EA's game development studios with that context. To be fair, Codemasters has consistently put out some of the best racing games of the generation, so there's still a degree of confidence to hold on to for racing fans after this acquisition.
Knowing what EA has done in the past with attempting to recapture the magic of Need for Speed, it's important to note that could affect Codemasters' future. Even if it turns out Codemasters will not be affiliated with Need for Speed in any way, it's an understandable assumption based on this acquisition that the studio would help in some way. Codemasters could still continue making games like Project Cars or Dirt under the EA banner, without touching Need for Speed, and that wouldn't be a terrible thing by any means. Time will tell what Codemasters' role under EA will truly look like, whether that means a Codemasters Need for Speed game, or more of the same.