4 Potential Benefits of EA acquiring Codemasters

Earlier this month, it was announced EA would be buying Codemasters for $1.2 billion, snatching the British Games Developer from Take-Two just as they proposed to buy the organisation for $200,000 less. Given EA's reputation, there has been a negative sentiment towards this move with varying opinions on whether this acquisition will be the lesser of two evils compared to Take-Two taking control. Personally, I'm hopeful EA will make this move work, benefits both the companies involved and players. Here are four reasons why:

Safeguarded future for Codemasters

The most important benefit is that Codemasters has received a significant funding boost, which should enable the company to keep churning out games for years to come. The most plausible theory for why EA made the last minute move for Codemasters is for the Formula 1 license. Given EA's success with the FIFA franchise, it would make sense for them to add another popular sport with annual game releases in their lineup. Additionally, Codemasters have acquired the WRC license, adding another sports title from 2023.

The $1.2 billion cash injection should also help with other franchises in the Codemasters portfolio, including the Dirt, Dirt Rally and GRID games. It's also worth remembering Codemasters owns Slightly Mad Studios and this could also safeguard the development of future Project CARS games. I guess you can also say they make the Fast & Furious games, but the less said about that, the better. 

Better Publicity for Games

Following on from the first point, being under EA's control now firmly places Codemasters as a Triple-A development studio; they have full access to EA's budgets and tools which means we should expect to see games of a very high standard. For the most part, Codemasters have delivered high-quality experiences, but marketing for some titles has been weak at times. The best example of this is the failure of OnRush which lead to layoffs at the Codemasters Chesire studio (Formerly Evolution Studios).

Now that publishing can be taken care of by EA, gaining access to more marketing channels and main stage appearances at gaming conferences should be more accessible for games developed by Codemasters.

Filling in talent gaps for Criterion

Perhaps part of the reason for acquiring Codemasters is for EA to overcome some of the development troubles they have been having with the Need For Speed series lately. EA has stated that their primary reason for the closure of the Swedish-based studio Ghost Games was due to the trouble they had sourcing talent for the development of future games. Now that the Need For Speed franchise has been handed back to Criterion, the critically acclaimed studio based in the UK.

Due to the closer proximity to the Codemasters studios, it will be easier for staff to hop between development teams and utilise talent when necessary to develop future Need For Speed titles. Beyond that, the Codemasters acquisition could see assets and technology being shared between games.

The potential resurrection of historic IPs

Based on EA's track record, a considerable number of studio acquired by the gaming giant end up being closed down. While this situation is not ideal, there is still some good that can come out of this. With a whole team of talented personnel who specialise in racing game development, why not use them to develop successors games that used to be in EA's portfolio? A new Burnout would probably be the most sought after project in this regard, but if you remember Shox: Rally Reinvented, I think you would agree this would be a better fit given Codemaster's expertise with offroad racing.

 

It is worth bearing in mind this is an on-going bidding war between EA, Take-Two and which ever company wants to get involved. Personally, I would rather see EA take control of Codemasters given their more extensive past in racing games, hopefully this move takes Codemasters to new heights!