EA to pay staggering price to aqcuire developer of F1-game

Video Game company Electronic Arts will acquire Codemasters, the developers responsible for the official Formula 1 game, at the beginning of next year. EA will pay a staggering $1.2 billion dollars for the acquisition.

It will not be the first step within the racing game category for EA. The company owns the Need for Speed games and Real Racing for mobile users. However, with the acquisition, EA will own a much larger segment of the category; Codemasters is not only the developer of the F1 game, but also of Dirt, Dirt Rally, Grid and Project Cars.

To Motorsport.com, Gerhard Florin, Chairman of Codemasters, explains the acquisition: “Electronic Arts and Codemasters have a shared ambition to lead the video game racing category. The Board of Codemasters firmly believes the company would benefit from EA's knowledge, resources and extensive global scale – both overall and specifically within the racing sector.”

The CEO of Electronic Arts, Andrew Wilson, points to the shared interests of both companies to take a leading role. "Our industry is growing, the racing category is growing, and together we will be positioned to lead in a new era of racing entertainment," said Wilson.