Slightly Mad Studios

Last updated

Slightly Mad Studios Ltd.
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Video games
Predecessor Blimey! Games
FoundedJanuary 2009;15 years ago (2009-01) [1]
FounderIan Bell
HeadquartersLondon, England
Products
Parent Codemasters (2019–present)

Slightly Mad Studios Ltd. was a British video game developer based in London. Founded in 2009, it was best known for the Project CARS series of racing games that it developed from 2015 until the series' discontinuation in 2022. Codemasters acquired Slightly Mad Studios in 2019 and was itself acquired by Electronic Arts in 2021.

Contents

History

On 12 January 2009, Ian Bell acquired the business and assets of Blimey! Games from bankrupt parent 10tacle Studios. [2] In September 2009, Slightly Mad Studios released Need for Speed: Shift with Electronic Arts. [3] Its sequel Shift 2: Unleashed was announced in November 2010 and released in March 2011. [4] [5] [6]

The company uses a distributed development structure, with developers living across the world and working remotely. [7] Slightly Mad was ranked as the 17th most successful developer in the Develop 100 list for 2010. [8]

In 2012, the company released Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends , which focuses on Ferrari's history across Formula One, rallying and sports cars. [9]

In 2015, Slightly Mad launched Project CARS , a community-developed racing simulator. [10] In 2017, Slightly Mad Studios released the sequel Project CARS 2 . [11] This title was developed using community-based development, pre-alpha testing, and funding, in an attempt to bypass normal publishing costs. This was the first title of a series of similarly-developed games.[ citation needed ]Project CARS was featured in professional videogaming competitions by the ESL from 2015 to 2018. [12] [13]

On 2 January 2019, CEO and founder of Slightly Mad Studios, Ian Bell, announced via Twitter that the company would be creating its own video game console, which would have been called Mad Box. Bell claimed that the console would be "the most powerful console ever built", saying that it would be capable of running games at 4K resolution, at up to 120 FPS, and will support most major virtual reality headsets at 60 FPS per eye. It's considered that the console should be equivalent to a "very fast PC 2 years from now". The company estimated that the console would be released in 2022. In addition to their console, Bell announced that the company would give developers free access to its proprietary game engine to develop games for their console. The company does not currently intend to have exclusive titles for their console. [14] [15] [16] [17]

On 25 May 2019, it was announced that upcoming racing title Automobilista 2 developed by Reiza Studios will be using the Madness engine developed by Slightly Mad Studios and used for Project CARS 2, then the game has released a year later, at the end of June. [18] Slightly Mad Studios was acquired by Codemasters in November 2019 for about US$30 million. This includes the rights to the Project CARS series and a yet-unannounced game. [19] On 28 August 2020 Slightly Mad Studios released Project CARS 3 , [20] three weeks after the publisher launched Fast & Furious Crossroads .

In February 2021, Codemasters was, in turn, acquired by Electronic Arts. [21] Slightly Mad Studios developed a free-to-play mobile Project CARS game, Project CARS Go, which was released by Gamevil in March 2021. The game was withdrawn from sale in October that year, followed by the shutdown of its services in November. [22] Also in October, Bell left the studio. [23] Under Electronic Arts, Project CARS and Project CARS 2 were removed from sale in 2022 as licenses for tracks and cars expired. On 8 November 2022, the publisher announced that it would discontinue the Project CARS series and move affected Slightly Mad Studios staff to other projects. [24] Bell offered to hire affected employees under his new company, Straight4 (before rebrand as Mildly Annoyed Games). [23] [25]

Games

YearGamePublisher
2009 Need for Speed: Shift Electronic Arts
2011 Shift 2: Unleashed Electronic Arts
2012 Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends Rombax Games
2015 Project CARS [10] Bandai Namco Entertainment
2016Red Bull Air Race: The GameWing Racers Sports Games
2017 World of Speed Mad Dog Games LLC
2017 Project CARS 2 [26] Bandai Namco Entertainment
2020 Fast & Furious Crossroads [27] Bandai Namco Entertainment
2020 Project CARS 3 [28] Bandai Namco Entertainment
2021Project CARS GoGamevil

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic Arts</span> American video game company

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the designers and programmers responsible for its games as "software artists". EA published numerous games and some productivity software for personal computers, all of which were developed by external individuals or groups until 1987's Skate or Die! The company shifted toward internal game studios, often through acquisitions, such as Distinctive Software becoming EA Canada in 1991.

Need for Speed (NFS) is a racing game franchise published by Electronic Arts and currently developed by Criterion Games. The series generally centers around illegal street racing, and tasks players to complete various types of races while evading the local law enforcement in police pursuits. Need for Speed is one of EA's oldest franchises not published under their EA Sports brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Codemasters</span> British video game developer

The Codemasters Software Company Limited is a British video game developer and former publisher based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts and managed under EA Sports division. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in October 1986, Codemasters is one of the oldest British game studios, and in 2005 was named the best independent video game developer by magazine Develop. It formerly also published third-party games.

Criterion Games is a British video game developer based in Guildford. Founded in January 1996 as a division of Criterion Software, it was owned by Canon Inc. until Criterion Software was sold to Electronic Arts in October 2004. Many of the studio's titles were built on the RenderWare engine, which Criterion Software developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bohemia Interactive</span> Czech video game development studio

Bohemia Interactive a.s. is a Czech video game developer and publisher based in Prague. The company focuses on creating military simulation games such as Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis and the Arma series. It is also known for having worked on a game conversion of the DayZ mod created for Arma 2.

<i>Fuel</i> (video game) 2009 open world racing video game

Fuel is an open world racing video game developed by Asobo Studio and published by Codemasters. The game was released in North America in June 2009 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows. It is set in a post-apocalyptic United States after the Sun scorched the Earth, with a completely free-to-roam open world approximately 5,560 square miles (14,400 km2) in size, which is roughly the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut. In the free roaming mode, the game features the ability to drive anywhere in the game world without incurring loading times; however, crashing a vehicle – or invoking the reset function to return to the road – does invoke a loading screen.

World Rally Championship is a rally racing video game series. The series is currently developed by Codemasters and published by EA Sports. To date, a total of seventeen main games have been released, with the latest game released on 3 November 2023.

<i>Shift 2: Unleashed</i> 2011 racing video game

Shift 2: Unleashed is a simcade racing video game, the seventeenth installment of the Need for Speed series. It was developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Electronic Arts. The game serves as a direct sequel to Need for Speed: Shift and expands on many aspects that were introduced in the original. Shift 2: Unleashed was released worldwide during March and April 2011.

<i>Forza</i> Racing video game series published by Xbox Game Studios

Forza is a racing video game series for Xbox consoles and Microsoft Windows published by Xbox Game Studios.

<i>Project CARS</i> (video game) 2015 racing video game

Project CARS is a motorsport racing simulator video game developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published and distributed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was released in May 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

<i>Project CARS 2</i> Motorsport racing simulator video game

Project CARS 2 is a motorsport racing simulator video game developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published and distributed by the Bandai Namco Entertainment group. It was released worldwide on 22 September 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.

<i>Onrush</i> 2018 racing video game

Onrush is a racing game developed by Codemasters and published by Deep Silver for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was developed by Codemasters and the team from Evolution Studios. Onrush servers officially shut down on November 30th, 2022.

<i>Dirt Rally 2.0</i> 2019 video game

Dirt Rally 2.0 is a racing simulation video game developed and published by Codemasters for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. It was released on 26 February 2019. A version for Amazon Luna followed on 3 June 2021. It is a successor to the 2015 video game Dirt Rally and emphasises realistic driving physics.

<i>Project CARS 3</i> 2020 racing video game

Project CARS 3 is a racing video game developed by Codemasters subsidiary Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was released on 28 August 2020 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The game marks a departure from the realistic, motor simulation gameplay of the series' first two instalments, with the game featuring more arcade-style racing and simpler mechanics.

<i>F1 2019</i> (video game) 2019 video game

F1 2019 is the official video game of the 2019 Formula One and Formula 2 Championships developed and published by Codemasters. It is the twelfth title in the Formula One series developed by the studio. The game is the eleventh main series installment of the franchise, and it features all twenty-one circuits, twenty drivers and ten teams present in the 2019 Formula One World Championship. Codemasters said that the game was in development for nearly two years, and described it as "the most ambitious release in the franchise's history". This game is dedicated to Tony Porter, Niki Lauda, Charlie Whiting, and Anthoine Hubert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardlight</span> British mobile game developer owned by Sega

Hardlight is a British video game developer founded by Sega and based in Leamington Spa, England. Revealed in January 2012, it is focused on mobile games for smartphones and became a part of Sega Europe in 2019.

<i>Dirt 5</i> 2020 racing video game made by Codemasters

Dirt 5 is a simcade racing video game developed and published by Codemasters. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 6 November 2020, for Xbox Series X/S on 10 November, and for PlayStation 5 on 12 November and 19 November, for Stadia on 24 March 2021, and for Luna on 15 July 2021. It was the last video game released by Codemasters as a publisher before being acquired by Electronic Arts (EA) on 18 February 2021.

F1 is a racing video game series by Codemasters under the EA Sports banner since 2021. The series holds the official license of the FIA Formula One World Championship, with the FIA Formula 2 Championship available since the 2019 game. A total of twenty-two games have been released to date, with the series' latest installment, F1 24, released in May 2024.

<i>Project CARS</i> Racing video game series by Slightly Mad Studios

Project CARS was a sim racing video game series developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The franchise was introduced in 2015 and received a sequel in 2017, followed by Project CARS 3 in 2020. Following the acquisition of Codemasters by Electronic Arts, the Project CARS IP was later shutdown in 2022.

<i>Grid</i> (series) Racing video game series by Electronic Arts

Grid is the racing video game series developed by Codemasters and published by Electronic Arts. It's the successor of TOCA Race Driver series.

References

  1. ↑ "Our Heritage". Slightly Mad Studios. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "Blimey! goes Slightly Mad | Game Development | News by Develop". Develop-online.net. 12 January 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  3. ↑ Crossley, Rob (23 March 2009). "EA Dates Need For Speed Shift Release | Edge Magazine". Next-gen.biz. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  4. ↑ Wesley Yin-Poole (2 November 2010). "Shift 2 Unleashed announced". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  5. ↑ "Shift 2 Unleashed". Needforspeed.com. 16 November 2010. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  6. ↑ "Shift 2: Unleashed release date slips a week". CVG. 18 February 2011. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  7. ↑ "Rod Chong Appointed Slightly Mad Studios COO". www.gamasutra.com. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  8. ↑ "Develop 100 – 2010 Edition". Issuu.com. 5 May 2010. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  9. ↑ Meunier, Nathan (3 July 2012). "Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends Review". IGN . News Corporation. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  10. 1 2 "Announcing Project CARS". wmdportal.com. 11 October 2011. Archived from the original on 13 December 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
  11. ↑ "Racy: Ex-Stig And The Crowd-Sourcing Portal". Rock Paper Shotgun . 11 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
  12. ↑ Slightly Mad Studios and ESL partner to make Project CARS an official eSport game Archived 20 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine – AR12Gaming, 9 September 2015
  13. ↑ The end of Project CARS on ESL Play Archived 20 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine – ESL, 29 October 2018
  14. ↑ "Slightly Mad Studios' CEO Reveals Details on New Console (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . 2 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  15. ↑ "PS5 vs Xbox Two console war shaken up by shock Mad Box reveal". TrustedReviews. 3 January 2019. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  16. ↑ "CEO of Project CARS developer Slightly Mad Studios teases new console on Twitter". Polygon. 2 January 2019. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  17. ↑ "Mad Box: a gaming console that wants to take on Xbox and PlayStation". TechRadar. 3 January 2019. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  18. ↑ Papadopoulos, John (25 May 2019). "Automobilista 2 will be powered by the Project CARS 2 MADNESS Engine, releases in December 2019". Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  19. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (28 November 2019). "Codemasters acquires Project CARS developer Slightly Mad Studios". Polygon . Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  20. ↑ Penzhorn, Sascha (28 August 2020). "Project Cars 3 im PC-Test: Krasser Spurwechsel". GameStar (in German). Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  21. ↑ Robinson, Andy (18 February 2021). "EA has officially completed its purchase of Codemasters". Video Games Chronicle . Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  22. ↑ Nelson, Jared (29 October 2021). "'Project Cars GO' Shutting Down Just 7 Months After Launch". TouchArcade . Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  23. 1 2 Gould-Wilson, Jasmine (9 November 2022). "Studio founder blasts EA after it cancels award-winning racing game series". TechRadar . Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  24. ↑ Dealessandri, Marie (8 November 2022). "EA dropping Project CARS". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  25. ↑ "Ian Bell Introduces New Development Studio Straight4Games". Bsimracing.com. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  26. ↑ "Project Cars 2 is racing to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in late 2017". venturebeat.com. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  27. ↑ Project CARS maker Slightly Mad working on Fast and Furious game Archived 20 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine – PC Games Insider, 13 December 2019
  28. ↑ "Project CARS 3 Will Be a 'Spiritual Successor to Shift'". gtplanet.net. 31 December 2018. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.