Codemasters` have won the battle for the rights to produce games based around Formula 1 racing. It is understood they had been involved in a bidding war along with EA, Ubisoft and Sony to try and secure a deal with Formula 1 bosses. Sony announced earlier in the week they had dropped out of negotiations as the fees being demanded for the rumoured five year deal were too high. It is understood Sony paid around $75 million for the rights back in 2003 which expired at the end of 2007. With Codemasters` now owning the rights we can expect to see Formula 1 games appearing on all consoles instead of just Sony machines. Codemasters` have said they will be using the same game engine as forthcoming title Race Driver: Grid for their first Forumula 1 title.
Talking about the deal Chris Deering, chairman of Codemasters` said “success and recent innovations in the racing game space makes the company more than appropriately tuned for the challenge. The combination of FORMULA 1’s new momentum of expansion and Codemasters’ contemporary technology and past experience is the breaking of a new dawn for the sport, on the track and on the HD game screen.” Codemasters` say they expect their first Formula 1 game to be released in 2009.
