After months of speculation, we finally got the news that Codemasters had been bought by EA last week. This new relationship raises a lot of questions, especially concerning Codies' current racing games series.
However, we want to focus on the series that could be revived under Codemasters thanks to this partnership.
Codies aren't the biggest developers, but funding from EA could see them expand their operations beyond their three current series (F1, Dirt and GRID).
Which series would we like to make a return? We've selected five that we know would be a big hit upon their comeback!
IndyCar
America's biggest and fastest open-wheeled series hasn't had an official video game since 2005. That was IndyCar Series 2005 and was developed by none other than Codemasters.
Presumably, the licence was too expensive to continue for the British developers and that was the final title in the series.
It's amazing that no other video game developer has picked the IndyCar series since.
We've already spoke in detail about why the IndyCar video game would be perfect for a revival and the EA-Codemasters relationship is an ideal candidate to produce it.
Can you imagine an F1 2020-style Career Mode but with equal cars and oval racing? It would be an absolute thrill ride!
TOCA
Another series we think should get a revamp is the TOCA series. TOCA was a brilliant touring cars game from the PS1-era and we sorely miss it.
The game had a brilliant handling model and was extremely solid, being a genuine rival to Gran Turismo.
When it comes to seeing a brand new TOCA though, it's not looking good. TOCA eventually morphed into what is now the GRID series and that's still going strong.
Furthermore, touring car series on the whole have suffered a decline in popularity in the past few years, so interest isn't that high.
So, realistically, we could see a remaster, but a new title would be very difficult to get off the ground.
Need for Speed: Shift
A subseries of Need for Speed, the Shift games were a change in direction for the NFS series. Shift went away from the usual arcade racing associated with the series in favour of a more simulation stance.
Slightly Mad Studios developed both Shift and Shift 2 for EA. The studio was bought by Codemasters in 2019, meaning that Shift 3 got rebranded as Project Cars 3.
However, with Slightly Mad now under EA again, this could mean we see Shift 3 in the near future.
Criterion are developing NFS 2021 this year, but beyond that, Codemasters or Slightly Mad could well take up the mantle on an alternating development deal similar to what the Call of Duty series has.
Fuel
There aren't many post-apocalyptic open-world racing games out there, but Fuel is one of them. Fuel is set in a world where petrol is so scarce, that it's become currency.
Arguably Fuel's standout feature is its map, which is ginormous even by today's standards. It stretched for over 14,000 square kilometres, which for reference, is around the size of the entire state of Hawaii.
What made Fuel never have a sequel was likely the cost of creating such a huge world to roam in. This is also likely why the racing was lacklustre.
With a bigger budget available and Codemasters' weather system coming on leaps and bounds since 2009, we think Fuel on next-gen consoles would be incredible.
NASCAR
Another American racing series that would be perfect for Codemasters to develop would be the NASCAR video game series.
This is one that's less certain than IndyCar though, as there are still yearly NASCAR titles being released.
EA would have to purchase the rights off of 704 Games, as they have been developing the NASCAR Heat series since 2016. NASCAR is massive in the US and under the right publisher such as EA, would be a roaring success.
Like IndyCar, the cars are equal, so it's all down to the driver and the strategists to make the difference on-track. NASCAR's calendar is comprised almost exclusively of oval circuits, so this may not be a big seller in Europe.
However, if Codies can make this game have some interesting mechanics such as a rivalry system like we saw in some of EA's previous NASCAR titles.