Codemasters has acquired Slightly Mad Studios, adding Project Cars to its games catalogue

Codemasters has agreed to acquire Slightly Mad Studios, the developer behind Project Cars for $30 million (£23.3 million). This move will bring Slightly Mad Studios, and its racing expertise, into the Codemasters organisation, which already creates the DIRT, GRID and official Formula 1 series’ of games. 

This acquisition will take on all of Slightly Mad Studio’s 150-person staff into Codemasters, with Codemasters paying $30 million upfront for the studio. $25 million of this purchase will be in cash, and $5 million will be in stock. An earnings clause in the agreement could make this payment larger, assuming Slightly Mad meets its earnings targets. 

Acquiring Slightly Mad Studios has made Codemasters the undisputed leader of the racing game genre. Slightly Mad Studios has at least three games in development, including a mobile game, Project Cars Go, a game that’s based on a Hollywood franchise, likely Fast & Furious, and a third title that’s based on Slightly Mad’s IP, possibly Project Cars 3.  

Below are comments from Codemasters’ CEO Frank Sagnier.