An in-game screenshot of a "DiRT Rally" vehicle on the road. (Photo : YouTube/Codemasters)
Codemasters has rescued Evolution Studios after being shut down by Sony in late March. Studio director Mick Hocking has now become the vice president of product development of the game publisher.
Most of the Evolution Studios staff has now been transferred to the game publisher and they aim to become the biggest game company that is only focused on racing, according to Games Industry. They will be a separate team, but at the same time will be working in the same offices to create a brand new IP for the game publisher. The old game titles will stay at Sony, but the whole studio staff will be continuing their good work under new ownership.
Hocking will now be responsible for all of the game company's studios, which includes his old team in Cheshire. According to his statement from the official blog of Codemasters, he is happy that gets to join the game company at a good time and that they share a passion for racing.
Codemasters CEO Frank Sagnier said to the Games Industry publication that they want the team to stay the same, so it would be easier to work with under their ownership. Together with the team they want them to create games with the knowledge they have learned from their previous game titles, he added. What the game company wanted is to keep the whole team together and let them work on a new game that will benefit them both.
The CEO assured that there was no money involved in taking in the studio, and he just wanted his team to be bolstered with talents that have experience in this field of expertise. He also revealed that he knew Hocking for a while now and have talked regularly, and when Hocking found out that the studio was going to be shut down, they knew that this will be a good opportunity for both parties.
It has been a hard road for the game publisher like dropping some projects, making hard decisions, and letting people go, Sagnier said. With this new acquisition, he expects that their new team acquisition will boost their company's growth cycle and create more racing games in the future.
Check out "DiRT Rally" reveal video below:
