Breaking News: Slightly Mad Studios Bought by Codemasters

[michelforest]

Been saying this for a decade
There is too many sims, too many engines

In a way, yes: too many sims featuring the same types of cars and tracks. How many sims with GT3 cars are there? I'd gladly trade one for a good Indycar sim. (Well almost... I would definitely not trade ACC.)

 

[Marcel Offermans]

I am a bit worried about the other "sim" developers (Kunos, Reiza, Studio 397..), as they have to manage the increasing complexity of racing/driving simulators without having huge resources at their disposal or a huge market to make a profit from. ... ... ... ... RF2 is chugging along and improving all the time.. slowly. Luckily today there is early access and other formulas to start making money and at the same time continue the development, so this is a lifeline. Good luck and stay strong.

First of all, thank you for your nice wishes. There is no reason for concern as far as Studio 397 goes. As you state, we are continuously improving our title and there's a lot more in the pipeline. We are financially healthy and growing. Of course we are following important developments in our industry closely and we are looking forward to 2020 already!

 

[aka2k]

Evolution Studios. Absorbed in 2016 and forgotten. :/

 

[Ruy Horta]

Not positive, that’s my first thought.
We need a competition in this sector.
Although not perfect SMS will lose in this and Codies will not improve.
Net loss for gamers.

 

[Ruy Horta]

...so lets dumb down PCars to sub Grid?

Respect and all, but that would kill two franchises for me instead of just one - and I mean the one made by Codemasters.

 

[Jriv012]

Sad news for motorsports simulators.

 

[CrimsonEminence]

You could fear the future, or instead see opportunities in it. The only constant is change. Decide by yourself, which choice is better.^^

 

[gustau]

While they don't implement the awful menus from Codemaster!

 

[Rallycameraman]

As far as our hobby is concerned this is as big a news as is possible. A lot of positive can come out this union. I am hoping for a madness engine, VR supported, F1 2020.

VR is definitely coming to F1 in 2020.

 

[Jonny Austin]

Do you honestly think the F1 Licensing people would be fine with their brand being lumped in with "lesser" series?

F1 is already a partner with Codemasters.Why would they decline more money from a trusted partner?F1 is lumped in with lesser series at most Grand Prixs.Porsche Supercup,Supercar series,Australian GT,Historic F1.SkyF1 tv channel lumps in GP2,GP3,Porsche Supercup & Indycar coverage.There is also the positive aspect that younger people become F1 fans after playing games.

 

[Proved Remedy]

Wise man learn from History ( EA><SMS ), others learn from experience ....

 

[OzzyNeil]

I don't give a **** who's in bed with who, just someone for christ sake make a fully fledged nuts and bolts, cross the tees and dot the i's Racing Bloody Simulator. FFS I'll be dead soon.

 

[justfdl]

I hope this news makes something like an official IMSA,WEC or BTCC title more likely.

Imagine if Codemasters put the content from F1,GRID,Project Cars 2 & Dirt Rally into an an online version of Iracing & did not charge for content.Just an annual subscription.

You Sir obviously don't play any Codemasters game. I throw out the word "Racenet" and everybody who is using it knows why that wouldn't be such a stellar idea. NoRacenet would be the more precise term for it. I'm still at a loss how a game company so big is unable to provide a reliable online service. Or just doesn't care, even though they're forcing us to use it for ****** career mode. Why, just why? Hell, even a very small publisher like Frontier can do it for ED? I'm starting to babble, but I have to admit that grinds my gears in a very bad way.

 

[Salvatore Sirignano]

There might well be passionate people working at Codemasters, but the ethos of the company is to milk their customers for all they're worth. So they have all these millions sloshing around to buy SMS, yet they couldn't hire a few more devs to implement VR for the F1 series, or implement mouse support, or add the Dirt Rally 1 stages to Dirt 2 as free content, and make some other stages as DLC?
I'm not expecting this merger to change any of that...

 

[randomcallsign]

Take all my wat.

 

[north]

I'll use this news to enjoy my hobby of hype train'ing and envision all the awesome stuff that will roll out the doors at such a pace that I will beg them to pause.
Best of luck to them though.

 

[Cheesenium]

I am a bit worried about the other "sim" developers (Kunos, Reiza, Studio 397..), as they have to manage the increasing complexity of racing/driving simulators without having huge resources at their disposal or a huge market to make a profit from.

Agreed, very worried about this niche market now. Once the acquisition starts, thats where the fun ends as it will be all about the money. Kunos is already owned by 505, Kylotoon by Big Ben, S3 by KW Suspension, and now SMS by Codemasters.

I really hope those mass-market features, such as live services, overpriced and out of place cosmetics, silly dance moves like flossing and so on won't be added to the games anytime soon.

 

[Boby Kim]

Codemasters have a tiny bit of attention as i like to race GRID 2 with WSAD against my brother in law. SMS does not have my attention at all. I wish them luck by conquering the mobile & console market.

 

[justfdl]

I am a bit worried about the other "sim" developers (Kunos, Reiza, Studio 397..), as they have to manage the increasing complexity of racing/driving simulators without having huge resources at their disposal or a huge market to make a profit from. Let's be honest, if I am the FIA, SRO, etc I want a game to promote my series, I am not really interested in how realistic it is, I want visibility.

Well, for one Kunos is not independent any more, 505 Games is the name behind it. So they do have more resources and distribution channels for console. And about not beeing realistic, that won't fly either if you want to build an esport series like SRO, to be honest I think they're doing a very good job with the onsite championship.

But I'm totally with you that it will be a lot harder for the smaller studios with less financial backing for the development phase. Which is why I have bought in in AMS2, even though I haven't played AMS for at least two years and why I've gotten AC and ACC on release day for EA, in the hope we will get further games in the future. I may even get GTR3 in EA...
Edit: How could I forget, of course I got rf2 right after release with every DLC, too

 

[Momperface]

New on the CM blog: PRC Fridays with Austin!

If they start using Madness for everything, that would mean VR for a bunch of new racing series and projects, including F1.

f1 with VR but **** physics