EA to “Pause Development” on Upcoming Rally Games

Alright, so I’m sitting here, thinking about how Codemasters just said, “Welp, we’re done here,” about their rally games. Picturing them packing up their virtual wrenches and helmets. Turns out, after they wrapped up this Hard Chargers pack for EA Sports WRC, they’re like, “Yep, no more updates, folks.” It’s kinda like when your favorite bandaid brand stops making unicorn designs. You just gotta deal.

Now, Codemasters, bless them, have been key players in the VR race game scene. We’re talking rally legends here, with titles like EA Sports WRC, DiRT Rally, and DiRT Rally 2.0. If you were into virtual mudslinging with friends, sorry! You might find yourself drifting into some other racing game — unless you’re cool with replaying what’s already on your hard drive.

The announcement they dropped was a bit like saying goodbye at the end of an epic road trip. They were all nostalgic, saying things like, “Every great journey finds its finish line.” Maybe slightly poetic for a racing game, but hey, it works. They did promise that EA Sports WRC isn’t going anywhere, though — like, you can still play it, keep the love alive kinda deal. They’re hoping it still revs your engines, you know?

And, just stepping down memory lane here — Codemasters and rally games go way back. Like, 1991-old-school-back with that Paris to Dakar Rally game on the ZX Spectrum. The kinda thing that would look like digital archaeology today. Anyway, fast-forward a bit, and they scored big with Colin McRae Rally in ’98. Three million copies! That’s a lot of dust trails.

So, for about a decade, these guys were all about the drive, and hey, they even hopped on the VR bandwagon early. I remember when DiRT Rally VR came out in 2016, people were saying it set the bar sky-high. The sequel wasn’t just a shot in the dark, either. But now? Well, are EA’s job cuts playing a part? Maybe. Over 300-400 jobs cut, they say. We’ll need to sit tight and see if there’s more to this chapter.

Thinking about the future, there aren’t exactly a ton of VR rally games in the pipeline ready to floor it. Will Codemasters keep updating the VR side of things? Could be, could be not. Their next game, F1 25, is sure sticking with PC VR support, at least. Any new games rolling up, you’ll hear it from me first. Cheers!