My favourite racing game of all time is Codemasters’ Colin McRae Rally for the original Sony PlayStation console.
Graphically, for the time, it felt ahead of the curve. The car would get dirtier as you ripped around the dirt rally circuits, and you could choose from all of the official cars in the World Rally Championship (including that iconic Subaru Impreza WRX all the boy racers had). Plus, you could listen into directions from a co-driver over the radio while ripping around circuits around the world and you could customise the car for all of the different landscapes too. It absolutely ruled.
Its lineage continued into the modern era as the Dirt franchise, most recently with Dirt 5 in 2020. More recently, after the EA buyout of Codemasters buyout in 2021, came EA Sports WRC in 2023.
However, it appears the series of rally games dating back to 1998 has crossed the finish line with the news there’ll be no new updates for EA Sports WRC and there are no plans for a future instalment of the series.
In an update posted by the UK-based developer, Codemasters said: “For now, we are pausing development plans on future rally titles.
“Our partnership was a culmination of sorts for our Codemasters journey with off-road racing, spanning decades through titles like Colin McRae Rally, and Dirt. We’ve provided a home for every rally enthusiast, striving tirelessly to push the boundaries and deliver the exhilarating thrill of driving on the ragged edge.
“We’ve brought together incredibly talented racing developers, worked with some of the sport’s icons, and had the opportunity to share our love of rallying. Thank you to all the fans who have and continue to be part of our rally journey.”
It’s a shame to see the Codemasters classic fall by the wayside, but it’s not like EA Sports WRC was among the best PS5 games and the World Rally Championship doesn’t quite command the same attention as it did in the days Colin McCrae was tearing up the countryside in real life.
It’s also perhaps an indication of what happens when a behemoth like EA takes over a smaller gaming giant that once offered titles for enthusiasts during a different time in gaming.
