codemasters
Latest
'F1 2016' gets 22-player support for online multiplayer races
F1 fans, get ready for a whole new kind of race, as F1 2016 will be adding 22-player online racing and a host of new features for this year's iteration of the official Formula One World Championship video game.
Codemasters snaps up 'Driveclub' developer Evolution Studios
It was a sad day when Sony decided to drop Evolution Studios from its pantheon of first-party video game developers. Following the announcement, it was unclear what would become of the company best known for creating Driveclub and the MotorStorm franchise. Well, now we have an answer. Codemasters, another racing specialist in the UK, will be picking up the company on April 25th. It'll create something of an independent super-studio, with Mick Hocking, co-founder of Evolution, taking on the role of VP Product Development at Codemasters.
Codemasters offers refunds to irked Colin McRae Rally players
Codemasters' Colin McRae Rally is a fondly-remembered 1998 racing game for PC and PlayStation that spawned a series of games which would eventually become the Dirt series. So when a Steam page advertised a game by the same name, touting updated graphics, fans were excited. They were less excited when the software they'd purchased turned out to be a port of a 2013 mobile game with a 69 rating on Metacritic. Thankfully, Codemasters is offering refunds to those who feel they were given a raw deal. "As an act of good faith, we have worked with Valve to enable anyone that bought the game to claim a refund," reads a note from the developer on its Steam Community page. Customers will be able to receive a refund by visiting their account transactions page any time between now and August 19 and simply clicking the "Refund" button. Codemasters hopes the gesture, along with an updated product description that's more clear about just what the game is, "goes some way to restoring any lost faith." [Image: Codemasters]
F1 series making last-gen pit stop ahead of 2015 upgrade
Codemasters announced the next entry in its annual F1 series is coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on October 17 in Europe and October 21 in North America. Then next year, the UK developer plans to release the series' first entry on the latest consoles, a separate game that's confirmed for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Interestingly, Codemasters Community Manager Luke Spring said the 2015 game will hit store shelves earlier in the F1 season - typically F1 seasons run from March to November. Spring added the new game will add "2015" content throughout the season, adding that players will be able to compete "against the same drivers and teams you watch week in and week out." - F1 rosters are much more static throughout a season compared to other sports, so it'll be interesting to see what the additional content exactly entails.
Grid Autosport rep on controversial DLC: 'It sells'
In an unexpected show of honesty, Codemasters has defended the latest DLC release for Grid Autosport by pointing out that, despite the angry protests of the Internet masses, such additions earn good money. Yesterday saw the debut of the Grid Autosport "Boost Pack," a $3 DLC item that grants players a permanent 50 percent increase to experience points as well as additional cash. Fan reactions were largely negative, with many wondering why Codemasters would release an item that shortens the effective lifespan of its new racing sim. Ben Walke, the game's community manager, offers a candid response: "Regarding the boost pack we did similar with GRID 2 as a car unlock, we got a bit of flak from that but in all honesty and without any PR bull shit ... it sells," Walke wrote. "There is a silent subset of players that do like that sort of content but whether or not it's here to stay is something the industry is yet to work out." Walke then denied allegations that Codemasters had made Grid Autosport more of a grind than necessary to drive sales of the Boost Pack. "Under no circumstances did we make the game a grind on purpose (that much I can promise you), in the grand scheme of things it's still relatively easy to progress via single player and online it's not that difficult to earn money." This controversy comes only months after a similar uproar over the heavily DLC-laden Forza Motorsport 5. Whether you agree with Walke's point or not, he's right about this sort of thing becoming a trend in gaming. If you don't like it, we suggest you not purchase the DLC. [Image: Codemasters]
Humble Flash Re-Bundle: Overlord, DIRT, Operation Flashpoint
Codemasters and the charitable folks at Humble Bundle have teamed up to offer a pile of guns, cars and overlords in a new "Flash Re-Bundle" for a very limited time. For one day only, seven games plus DLC are available in a pay-what-you-want bundle. Overlord and the Overlord: Raising Hell DLC, the military sims Operation Flashpoint: Red River and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising and the action RPG Rise of the Argonauts are part of the initial bundle. Paying $6 or more for the bundle adds DiRT Showdown, DiRT 3 and Overlord 2 to the deal. All games are available on Steam with a $1 minimum purchase. The featured charity for the bundle is The Prince's Trust, an organization that supports 13- to 30-year-olds who are unemployed, are struggling at school and at risk of exclusion. [Image: Humble Bundle]
GRID Autosport DLC plans include new cars, 'mini-expansions'
GRID Autosport makes its public debut tomorrow, and to celebrate, developer Codemasters offers one final blog entry to discuss the studio's post-launch DLC plans. While GRID Autosport will debut with 80 cars, Codemasters plans to expand the game's virtual garage via periodic car packs. It's not known how many cars will be included with each pack, but Codemasters has three such DLC additions planned so far. In lieu of issuing solitary tracks as unique DLC, Codemasters will instead release "mini-expansions." The developer has three of these additions planned, each centered around a particular theme. "The mini-expansions will each include a selection of new locations, some will include new cars and in some cases new game modes entirely," Codemasters said. The studio has yet to reveal any sort of pricing scheme for its planned DLC, but does note that both the PC and PlayStation 3 iterations of GRID Autosport will offer players the opportunity to pre-purchase the entire slate of additions at a discount via Season Pass. [Image: Codemasters]
Grid Autosport announced, bringing 'authentic' drives to PS3, Xbox 360, PC in June
Codemasters whisked off the sheet on Grid Autosport today, a new entry in the racer series that's swerving onto retail shelves as soon as June 24 in North America and June 27 in Europe. The UK studio unveiled the game for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, which are the same platforms Grid 2 was released on last summer. In an extensive introduction, Community Manager Ben Walke said Codemasters is building GRID Autosport based on community feedback to Grid 2. According to Walke, the prevailing message the studio heard was the wish for a more authentic racer experience that tracked closer to some of the studio's previous games. "If Grid 2 raced off into a more narrative-led world of racing with more accessible controls," Walke said, "it's clear that for many of you, that wasn't what you wanted or expected from Grid 2. So with Grid Autosport we had the opportunity to make a much more focused motorsport game, a desire that many of you have expressed directly to us, and a game that in spirit goes back to some of our earlier titles in terms of content and handling." To that effect, Walke explained car handling in Grid Autosport veers slightly closer to a simulation than the original Race Driver: Grid, with the game's five different disciplines offering distinctly different drives. While the game is targeted to offer a more realistic experience, Walke noted that Codemasters' aim is for something "authentic, not clinical." Also, just to stress that Codies is listening to the fans, Autosport features the return of the cockpit view, as well as a dashboard view to provide a total of two in-car cameras. In terms of more on-the-box features, Autosport promises 22 locations with 100 different routes to drive, a single-player career mode and once again RaceNet support for multiplayer. [Image: Codemasters]
Forza 5, GRID 2 devs have fun over BAFTA award mix-up
Question: When is an April Fool's prank not an April Fool's prank? Answer: When the prank happens three days late and isn't intentional. In other words, when the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), which is responsible for the BAFTA Awards, accidentally sends a nomination slip intended for Turn 10, developers of Forza Motorsport 5, to Codemasters, developers of the GRID and F1 series. Whoops. Codemasters took the mix-up in stride, tweeting at Turn 10 to let them know where their paper was, followed by playfully ransoming it off. Turn 10 noted that April 7 is National Beer Day in the US, and asked if a pint would cover the cost. Codemasters pointed out that they've already got quite the nice pub, and that's when things started to get a little ... silly. Read on for images and more tweets from the playful exchange.
Humble Weekly Codemasters sale: Overlord, Operation Flashpoint
The Humble Weekly Sale is Codemasters crazy, offering four games (and one piece of DLC) from the studio's backlog for any price you want, plus three more games for $6 or more. The "pay anything" games are Overlord (and the Raising Hell DLC), Operation Flashpoint: Red River, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising and Rise of the Argonauts. The $6 or more games are Dirt Showdown, Dirt 3 and Overlord 2. All games are PC and on Steam. The charity that you can send all your money to this time around is Special Effect, a UK organization that helps people with all kinds of disabilities play video games. Keep in mind that some of these games use Games for Windows Live, a service that is quickly becoming extinct. Dirt 3's GFWL systems are replaced with Steamworks, but Codemasters has no comment about its plans for both Operation Flashpoint games in this week's bundle.
Codemasters' Drive USA spotted on Singapore App Store
It looks like Codemasters is making another foray onto the roads of iOS, this time with endless free-to-play racer Drive USA. As spotted by superannuation and on the Touch Arcade forums, the game's been on the Singaporean App Store since Christmas Eve, as part of a soft-launch test. "We can confirm that our new endless racer game for mobile platforms, Drive USA, is currently in soft launch in Singapore," a Codemasters spokesperson told Joystiq. "We will have more information on the game once there's a firm date for our global launch." Beyond it being on iOS, Drive USA looks like unusual fare for the Grid and Dirt developer. More arcade than sim, it tasks players with dodging cars, using power-ups, and making stylish drifts as they zip along a dynamically-changing road.
F1 Challenge races to iOS
Codemasters launched a new Formula One racing game on iPhone and iPad today called F1 Challenge. For $2.99 (£1.99 in the UK), players can engage in 90 racing events with officially-licensed F1 drivers, cars and teams. Players are also given the opportunity to "recreate thrilling moments from the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship," such as out-pacing racers like Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in order to unlock Formula One facts and information. F1 Challenge features a top-down, isometric view with simple touch controls for steering and Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) speed boosts that can be optimized for left or right-handed players.
Grid 2 enters the demolition derby with free DLC pack
While most of Grid 2 tasks players with preventing collisions, developer Codemasters has issued some free DLC unlocking a demolition derby mode. The DLC is free to download on Xbox 360 and PC right now, and will be available next week on PS3. The free DLC takes players to Detroit, adding a new stadium and Jupiter Eagle Ray Mk 5 car to wreck around in. The stadium has two track configurations and can be played in single-player, through split-screen or with up to eleven other racers online.
Codemasters ditching online pass for F1 2013
Grid and Dirt series developer Codemasters will drop the "VIP Pass" online multiplayer activation system initially planned for its upcoming racer F1 2013, MCV reports. Codemasters launched the VIP Pass program in 2011, requiring players to either input a code or pay a one-time fee to access the online multiplayer features in Grid 2, Dirt 3, and other games. The publisher did not announce whether it plans to abandon the VIP Pass program for all of its upcoming releases. Electronic Arts eliminated the equivalent Online Pass system for its current and future games in March. "We recently reviewed the VIP Pass activation system and took the decision not to include it in either F1 2013 and F1 2013: Classic Edition," a Codemasters spokesperson told MCV. "Players will not be required to activate multiplayer functionality via a VIP Pass code and we have no plans to replace the pass with an alternative paid-for activation system in the game when it launches this October."
F1 2013 launches in October
Codemasters' F1 2013 is dated and primed, ready to cross Europe's finish line on October 4 before taking the podium in North America on October 8. The release date is a little later than usual for the yearly motorsport series, which typically arrives in late September, but matches neatly with the weekend of the Korean grand prix, when the real-life F1 season starts to gear towards its conclusion. For fans who prefer their F1 with more Mansell-power, the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC game offers a new 'F1 Classics' mode featuring 1980s drivers and circuits, introduced of course by the retired but still legendary voice of F1, Murray "He's lost both right front tires!" Walker.
F1 2013 out this fall in standard and 'Classics' editions
F1 2013 is hurtling toward Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this fall, complete with a new mode, "F1 Classics." The new sees players race classic 1980s cars on legendary circuits, against drivers like Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi and Gerhard Berger. The game comes in a standard edition and as F1 2013: Classic Edition, which includes two more content packs, one of which is a 1990s homage with more classic cars and drivers. Both additional Classics packs will be available for purchase after launch. F1 2013 is integrated into Codemasters' RaceNet, a free online community platform.%Gallery-193832%
Grid 2 on pole in this week's UK charts, Fuse debuts 37th
Grid 2 crosses the line as the third different UK no. 1 in three weeks. That's despite a 29 percent drop in launch sales compared to Race Driver: Grid, which debuted in second place back in 2008 - albeit behind a Grand Theft Auto IV cruising to its fifth week on top. Perhaps the bigger story, however, is Fuse only just making the UK Top 40. The Xbox 360 and PS3 shooter crackled in at 37th in its first week. Considering the dearth of new releases this month, it's a disastrous showing for Insomniac Games and EA. Again, best exemplifying the quiet season is FIFA 13, still holding up in second place. Also proving to have strong sticking power is Dead Island: Riptide, which makes it six weeks in the UK top four. Tomb Raider may be about to drop out of the top ten in its 13th week, but much like Lara Croft it's clinging on for dear life.
Grid 2 review: DNF
You're behind the wheel of a V12 monster, brimming with power and torque, throwing out a noise that would make Thor stand up and unironically slow-clap in admiration. You are waiting for the starting line's light to turn green, and your only mission in life is to pilot that tremendous craft beyond the limits of your own courage and, God willing, across the finish line. Now you're surrounded on all sides by 11 completely homicidal maniacs who want nothing more than to reach their respective vehicle's top speed and crash directly into you and/or anyone else around them. Despite your ability to partially rewind time, you are powerless to stop them and you will die. This is the madness that is Grid 2.%Gallery-185349%
GRID 2 BAC Mono Edition is £125,000
You might be thinking that some countries use commas instead of decimal points, but the headline above does indeed say one hundred and twenty-five thousand British Pounds ($188,700). You might also think that's awfully expensive for the special edition of a racing game (any game, really), but allow us to put things in perspective. The GRID 2 BAC Mono Edition isn't so much a special edition of a game as it is a luxury sports car that happens to come with a game. Specifically, the BAC Mono Edition comes with the Mono, essentially a street legal formula racing car. Also included is a racing suit and helmet, a copy of GRID 2 and a PlayStation 3 on which to play it. According to BAC's website, a Mono with no frills has a base price of £96,495 ($145,919), and that's before throwing in VAT. Only one copy of the BAC Mono Edition is being manufactured, making it something a collector's item. You can place your pre-order exclusively with GAME. Oh, and shipping is free. Not to be left out, Best Buy is hosting a special edition of GRID 2 in North America. It includes the IndyCar DLC pack and retails for $59.99. GRID 2 comes out next week.%Gallery-189346%
GRID 2 Mono Edition: buy a £125,000 racing game, get a supercar for free
While we like our collector's edition games, there's no question that even the better bundles are full of knick-knacks we'll use just once or twice. No one will say the same for Codemaster's GRID 2: Mono Edition, though. The UK-only bundle includes the GRID 2 racing game, a PS3 to play it on... and a very real BAC Mono supercar. Whoever buys the £125,000 ($188,700) kit will get to both pick up the 280HP single-seater as well as customize it at the BAC factory, including the racing suit for those inevitable track days. With just one instance available for GRID 2's May 31st release, the Mono Edition bundle is more of a promotional stunt than a business strategy -- but it might be the only special edition where the extras are more exciting than the game itself.
