EA and DiRT Rally - What do we think will happen?

[Jake Cushing 816]

<nothing but unbridled fear>

 

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by Jake Cushing

[Rogerbee 92]

Massive promotional hype and nothing in the actual game that the hype promoted.

[AnwaanJiimiz 3]

My concerns:

Codemasters bought the rights to the full WRC franchise starting in 2023 which made it unlikely there was going to be another DiRT 2.0 Style game until then. The question then becomes will EA even proceed with WRC at all.  I assumed CM's WRC would replace and absorb the DiRT Rally series and make THE definitive rally game with official cars, drivers, and the potential  to have historics that included having the likes of Makkinen, McRae, Saintz etc. similar to the Prost v Senna style release. Problem is EA isn't real big on "niche" markets and we who love to Rally aren't going to be seen as a viable source of income.  They've mangled Madden, given up on PGA, and let's not forget......ugh.....Anthem!

I also have a feeling (and I stress it's just a feeling) that a big reason behind EA acquiring codemasters was the added benefit of a partnership with the FIA as they try to make Formula 1 more mainstream and accessible based on the upcoming changes.  I think that is where their priorities will be and not making rally games.  I hope I'm wrong.

[FlatOverCrest 120]

@AnwaanJiimiz

It was my understanding that the next Dirt Rally entry would release before any potential Codemasters' WRC game. Hopefully whoever acquires Codemasters, leaves the rally team alone so that they can make the awesome sim-focused rally games that they want to.

Edited December 17, 2020 by FlatOverCrest
edited to be more positive

[Madhun1967 54]

If Dirt titles have made money through the years and made the name Codemasters ,then there is hope that EAs pencil pushers will see it as such, and keep it going.If it wasnt lucrative, we are ****** ....................just my opinion.

[PJTierney 4,963]

Instead of immediately jumping on the negative, maybe a more level discussion can be had here instead 😉 

 

 

FYI: I currently know nothing other than what's in the news, though I'm generally opposed to excess negativity on forums and prefer constructive discussions.

[Jake Cushing 816]

10 hours ago, PJTierney said:

Instead of immediately jumping on the negative, maybe a more level discussion can be had here instead 😉 

 

 

FYI: I currently know nothing other than what's in the news, though I'm generally opposed to excess negativity on forums and prefer constructive discussions.

But the negative's too much fun!

Oh alright, alright:

- Serious cash and resources/tech injection. So night-time lighting can finally look current-gen.

And a better brand of rain noodles at launch, like gourmet italian.

[JorritVD 1,245]

With EA in the game, Codemasters maybe not need to focus on their own Engine development, but can use an EA engine for their next gen games.
So resources can be shifted towards other parts, like physics, cars, etc.

Also Codies aquired Slightly Mad Studios, and now with EA in the game, both those companies seem to be quite good in licensing and maybe also have better connections/entries at manufacturers. So that might be positive for future cars in the game.

It is quite fearefull though that the big EA takes over our beloved Codemasters.
I think because that is the lack of info of what EA would want to do with Codemasters and its games / IPs.
As lot of times with these kind of investments or from private equity companies, is that they keep / sell / stop / invest in parts, depening on their potential and risk. 
Basically i think DiRT Rally and normal DiRT Arcady be kept and be invested in, while a GRID and Project CARS will be reviewed and made a strategy about. Both games are similar and not the best and not really have a clear vision what to be.

Btw, another possible positive is that Codies get investments and can bring more beautiful games. A few months ago I showed @PJTierney a game concept which is a spinoff from GRID, like DiRT Rally is a spinoff from DiRT/CMR. Maybe Codies have multiple ideas/concepts/IPs laying around, but due to limited resources, these can't be researched or created. 

 

[Jake Cushing 816]

46 minutes ago, JorritVD said:

Btw, another possible positive is that Codies get investments and can bring more beautiful games. A few months ago I showed @PJTierney a game concept which is a spinoff from GRID, like DiRT Rally is a spinoff from DiRT/CMR. Maybe Codies have multiple ideas/concepts/IPs laying around, but due to limited resources, these can't be researched or created. 

 

Now that is truly positive thinking!

I still want Dirt Retro to be made.

A 16 bit retro rally with rpg elements. So, an RRRpg.

EA execs, DM me if this floats your Citroen DS, I have a stack of design concepts for it ok fine

[Dytut 91]

On 12/18/2020 at 12:52 PM, JorritVD said:

With EA in the game, Codemasters maybe not need to focus on their own Engine development, but can use an EA engine for their next gen games.
So resources can be shifted towards other parts, like physics, cars, etc.

Also Codies aquired Slightly Mad Studios, and now with EA in the game, both those companies seem to be quite good in licensing and maybe also have better connections/entries at manufacturers. So that might be positive for future cars in the game.

It is quite fearefull though that the big EA takes over our beloved Codemasters.
I think because that is the lack of info of what EA would want to do with Codemasters and its games / IPs.
As lot of times with these kind of investments or from private equity companies, is that they keep / sell / stop / invest in parts, depening on their potential and risk. 
Basically i think DiRT Rally and normal DiRT Arcady be kept and be invested in, while a GRID and Project CARS will be reviewed and made a strategy about. Both games are similar and not the best and not really have a clear vision what to be.

Btw, another possible positive is that Codies get investments and can bring more beautiful games. A few months ago I showed @PJTierney a game concept which is a spinoff from GRID, like DiRT Rally is a spinoff from DiRT/CMR. Maybe Codies have multiple ideas/concepts/IPs laying around, but due to limited resources, these can't be researched or created. 

 

Yeah this really is the best case scenario. More cash, a full spec next-gen engine to replace ego.

But while the main dirt series and project cars are given brands that I think EA will want to milk/invest in, the less cash cow ones are always at risk when being bought. 

Will the WRC license be aimed to be an arcadey touch, or go the dirt rally route of realism? I can easily see WRC getting arcadey, and will Dirt Rally 3.0 see the light of day? DR really is one of those passion projects that EA really don't care about. Does it rake in enough cash for it to not be ripped to shreds by EA?

F1 might get a bit more budget so VR can be added as a default feature (it's quite silly not to, to be honest)... or it can get more arcadey to sell more. 

 

While it might be a good move for Codies as a company in a financial sense, I still fear for the simulation style games of codies. As a big fan of DR that makes me at least a bit worried.

[chukonu 476]

Yeah the positivity is nice but you have to be real and look at EA's history. Like 25 years of destruction. I've seen many franchises be killed by EA and they all start with the same "but at least money won't be a problem". Well no, but you trade it out for soul. And without a soul, your franchise dies. There's no doubt in my mind that it will kill the DiRT Rally series in due time. Perhaps we're lucky and DR3 comes out good, though.

For me, all Codies games are DOI from now on unless proven otherwise.

Edited December 22, 2020 by chukonu

[tbtstt 2,405]

Reassuring post from Ross on the future in the Gossip thread...

https://forums.codemasters.com/topic/178-dirty-gossip-about-dirt-rally-games/?do=findComment&comment=586767

 

23 minutes ago, cmRossGowing said:

Just popped in to have a read before I break up for Christmas tomorrow and have realised I'm probably a bit late to the party on folks worrying about everything to do with the takeover. I can't go into massive (any) amounts of detail, and you might well think I'm just blowing hot air to calm people down, but my honest message is that you have nothing to worry about.

I've been in a lot of meetings about the future of DiRT Rally and our team this year, and have never had any indication that me or any of my fellow Directors and Leads will be asked to betray how we want to represent rallying for you. We won't always be able to control everything related to the publishing and business side of things (we're the development team, so whilst we have a voice in discussions ultimately we trust our colleagues who are specialists in those areas) but when it comes to how a car goes down a stage that's firmly in our control.

A phrase I've kept being told (in one wording or another) in presentations and meetings with external parties related to the takeover has been 'we can see the quality of the game the team has made, and the passion the studio has for rallying, and we don't want to mess with that'. I'm certainly planning to keep doing what we've been doing and I've got no-one in my ear trying to persuade me otherwise.

So with that I'll wish you all a Happy Christmas/Holidays/Etc, take care of yourselves and your loved ones, and here's to 2021.   

 

Edited December 22, 2020 by PJTierney
Added quote.

[Rogerbee 92]

And faith is restored!

[chukonu 476]

Good to see optimism in the team, but experience tells me that time will prove me right.

[dgeesi0 313]

its great to see ross has posted. hope its genuine. if you think logically why would you change a winning recipe ? it makes no sense. the problem often is money. we will see how legit things turn out later on.

 

often after big companies get took over there is a clearing out. restructure.

 

you will probably tell in the next game how this will turn out. one thing to know is people involved in projects or cm will always be commited to project positivity, its their job!

 

its going to be interesting to see how this plays out. hopefully everyone is genuine and we get great better games !

[sebvongum 0]

3 hours ago, dgeesi0 said:

its great to see ross has posted. hope its genuine. if you think logically why would you change a winning recipe ? it makes no sense. the problem often is money. we will see how legit things turn out later on.

 

often after big companies get took over there is a clearing out. restructure.

 

you will probably tell in the next game how this will turn out. one thing to know is people involved in projects or cm will always be commited to project positivity, its their job!

 

its going to be interesting to see how this plays out. hopefully everyone is genuine and we get great better games !

 

[bn880 548]

On 12/22/2020 at 7:00 PM, dgeesi0 said:

its great to see ross has posted. hope its genuine. if you think logically why would you change a winning recipe ? it makes no sense. the problem often is money. we will see how legit things turn out later on.

 

often after big companies get took over there is a clearing out. restructure.

Correct, if they're smart they'll keep things mostly as is and only try to help with some injection of funds to expand features/team.  However; what happens with investors often is that they want a specific  growth rate year over year from every venture. (or bi yearly)  This, if it happens, could start to trigger counter productive changes.   I am quite sure DR3 will be fine.  I am more concerned for down the road.