F1 2015 Codemasters staff cuts on the way

[Thomas Hinss]

UK based racing developer Codemasters has been hit with staff layoffs, according to a recent Eurogamer report. It has been reported that 50 jobs are under review, with a 30 day consultation period set to occur with 30 or more of those jobs being cut. Globally around 500 people work for the Southam based developer.

It has been revealed by Eurogamer that designers and artists on the Grid and Dirt team are in the danger zone, with programmers and production staff safe.

The F1 team of the developer, currently working on the next Formula One game for the PS4 and Xbox One have been unaffected by the cuts, with development on that game and other current active projects continuing.

A new Dirt game which was to be announced for an Early Access-style release in February may not occur when planned. With the car licences required for the game yet to be obtained this release date seems unlikely.

Eurogamer reports that the team working on the next Dirt game has been downsized, with under 20 people on the project compared to the 50 or more that worked on Grid Autosport.

Senior management is yet to confirm how many from each department are remaining in the company, reportedly with many staff only finding out about the consultation in recent days.

“As a result of this review, a small number of roles have been proposed as being at risk of redundancy. Those in potentially affected roles are now involved in a consultation period to discuss the proposal. The proposal does not affect the on-going production of titles in development and no projects have been cancelled as a result of the proposal,” Eurogamer was told by a company spokesperson.

 

[Tony Gentile]

Codemasters have only themselves to blame.
There games were good in those days.
Never really improving much F1 2010 - F1 2013
We stopped at F1 2013 only because they included the classics
still good but no WOW factor.
But now with what Assetto Corsa, Raceroom ,Project Cars, and i racing
have been bringing to the Sim party.WOW........
Its like Codemasters turning up with low cal beer to a good party
The money they had made just from there F1 titles alone,
You would think they would be up there with the best?????
There is a spot out there for a really good rally sim like Richard Burns Rally now there is a Gem
We still now days enjoy it thanks to all the modding communities
Best Rally Sim.
A full RallySim could be your return no arcade rubbish though.

 

[Justin]

I find this news quite interesting to be honest.

There's been a bit of a rumour floating around that Codies won't be renewing the F1 license past the end of their current contract, which ends either at the end of this year or next year, can't remember when. These layoffs make a bit of sense when combined with the rumour; they may not affect the F1 team now as they're well and truly in development on F1 2015, but more cuts could be on the line after that game has been released, with the rest of the team that survive then moving to work on the next Dirt game which probably needs more than 20 people to finish. This could be especially true if F1 2015 is both a commercial and critical disappointment like 2014 is. A new engine combined with a new Creative Lead Director (as the one they've had since F1 2010 has now left CM) could revitalise the series, or it could make the same mistakes with a new coast of paint and be a huge financial loss to CM.

To add to this, apparently Microsoft of all companies wants to have the license next and they won't be challenged for it, as they would be the only ones to afford the ridiculous price of the F1 license right now. They would hand the development of the game to Playground Games, a studio based in the UK who currently work on the Forza Horizon games for the Xbox platform. This studio has plenty of racing game development pedigree. Former members of CM, Bizarre Creations (PGR series), Criterion (Burnout), Slightly Mad (NFS Shift/Project Cars), Black Rock (Split/Second) and Sony Liverpool (All the F1 games on PS1/PS2 up until CE on PS3 in 2006) are at this studio now. I personally enjoyed the first Horizon game on the 360 for what it was and apparently the 2nd game on Xbox One is pretty good too, so they've got some talent there.

There's gonna be massive problems with this if it does happen though. This move might improve the actual car physics as CM have missed the mark on this aspect throughout their tenure of owning the license. However as this game would still be on a console base with a similar target market to the current F1 games, the same arcade-sim mashup that CM aimed for might apply and make the driving model in these future games just as disappointing as the games we have now. Making two different driving models for arcade and sim players like F1CE would be great but I just don't ever see it happening as there's no real precedent for this in racing games in general anymore due to developer preference for unified experiences. The casual market on consoles is always larger than the dedicated sim market so usually compromises have to be made due to publisher pressure.

That being said, I get a feeling this could end up making the F1 series a console-exclusive series again like it was for Sony in the PS2 era anyway. Microsoft could release it for PC, but gaming wise their baby is the Xbox and the PC hardly receives any Microsoft published games anymore.

The F1 games occupy a niche space in the racing game community as it was never considered a true sim, yet the driving model in those games is still a bit more richer than your average arcade racer like NFS. Sim racers played the sims and continue to do so now and get their F1 content through community made mods, and casual racers play the easier to pick up and play racers out there. These F1 games were really only for F1 fans that don't enjoy traditional sims. That isn't exactly a huge market. F1 cars are even getting into console sims like Gran Turismo and Forza these days which means console-bound sim racers stick with the cars available in there as opposed to buying the F1 games, which obviously doesn't help.

However F1 2010 and 2011 were great successes on the consoles and that's why Microsoft might take the risk of developing an F1 game. However for many of us on the PC attention is definitely elsewhere and MS might see little point in releasing a F1 game on PC that could be instantly shunned by the community.

It is only a rumour though so take the essay above with a grain of salt . However the more and more I hear about CM these days, the more I believe many of things above to be true.

 

[Andy_J]

If Microsoft do get the licence, they need one man to lead the dev. Geoff Crammond.

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

I guess the fans have seen through the hype with each new game from CM.

I remember in the 90's I thought the Colin McRae series was pretty good.

The Dirt series made me look for something better and then I found RBR and apart from RBR, Assetto Corsa is now the only Sim that I boot up daily to get my Sim fix !

 

[Andy_J]

apart from RBR, Assetto Corsa is now the only Sim that I boot up daily to get my Sim fix !

Have you not tried GSCE? Or Race 07? RRE? All great sims.

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

Have you not tried GSCE? Or Race 07? RRE? All great sims.

Oh yes I have tried them all but since Assetto Corsa came along they feel very bland in comparison.

In Race 07 I spent hundreds of hours actually but GSCE doesn't have the FFB I like and the FFB in RRE I feel are really bad and the fact that it hasn't got any roadfeel at all made me uninstall it completely even though I really liked the engine sounds. But good audio and graphics doesn't make a good sim in my opinion.

FFB and Roadfeel is essential in a sim and I think AC has really nailed it to the point where you can really feel the connection and grip of the tarmac and when you loose it.

I would actually like to save up for a full motion rig now.

I guess you could call me a AC fangirl

 

[Patrik Marek]

very sorry to hear, hope the layoff people will soon find something new,
I enjoyed most Codies games, even the Grid2& autosport. F1 franchise is also very well done - epscially love the whole career where you really feel like it's you fighting for title, not just some random driving in F1 cars,

all the best to everyone at codemasters and good luck to those hit by these

 

[SwaggerJacker]

I'm going to upgrade my computer to prepare for the new games, and the great ones we already have. I don't believe I'll be getting iRacing. Only because it's online only. I hope the Codies deliver on the new F1 title.

Time to look for a puter.

 

[H34d5h07]

I have never been that huge fan of Codemaster, but I absolutely loved Dirt 1 and to some extent, even Dirt 2. I bought Dirt 1 and 2 for the rally only. Nothing else.

Sure, on some occasions I also did a few other races/events, but I could honestly spend hours and some more hours, driving only the rally stages.

To me the downfall started with Dirt 2.
A lot of things in Dirt 2 were just incredible annoying. Like the longest intro ever, and all these phone calls. Everyone treated you like their best friend and it just felt awkward.

Never bought Dirt 3/Showdown or what the correct title are. And really I'm happy for that.
Sure, I really wanted to drive the rally stages, but since there were no real championship like Dirt 1 had, I just wasn't that interested anymore.

Bought only the first F1 game, and even thou I'm not a the biggest fan of F1 IRL, I still had fun with it.
But I don't wanna waste money buying the same game over and over again.
There might be some slightly difference, but lets be honest, all F1 games by CM are pretty much the same game.

Never bothered with any of the GRID games. Not my type of games.
If CM want my money again, they better start looking at them selfs and put out games that's not just a copy/paste version from previous games. Also, I wouldn't mind if they actually tried create a 100% rally simulator, similar to Dirt 1 or even Richard Burns.

Now that, I would buy in a heart beat.

 

[Sk3ptik0n]

The problem with Codemaster can be explained in one short sentence: It tastes like Chicken. That is all.

 

[Leonardo Chaves]

With the death of arcades, arcade games have declined a huge deal the last decade.

Football games are no longer fast paced action and special power kicks, they have gained in complexity in both controls and tactics and aim to look like a real game.
Basketball? The same applies, the NBA Jam style died, now a complex simulation is on top.

The same thing applies to racing imo, games about wrecking the others and dodging oncoming traffic have lost space to games that more closely resemble how an actual car drives.
Codemasters is paying the price for aiming for easy drifting and action packed wreck fests rather than realism.

PC simracing is still considered niche though i wonder if that isn't because PC gaming is a niche itself... I'm curious to know how it would do if someone went all out on consoles with a solid marketing budget, could it blow the so called simcades out of the water?
I don't consider Project Cars a full sim, but it may be a good indicator of how a full sim could do on consoles... who knows?

The F1 series isn't arcade, it's a simcade and there's nothing wrong with that, simcades can be pretty cool if they are well made, the problem is... i don't think the F1 games are well made, it's lacking in options (setup and otherwise), it lacks good FFB, it's driving model is still too basic...

Forza and GT are always looking to improve it's "sim credentials" yet Codemasters atitude towards sim requests are dismissive "this would be a feature that would only interest a small portion of our fan base, we choose to focus our efforts on feature 'xxxx' instead, pretty cool huh?", i feel f... disrespected and i bet some other guys who might have interest in this series feel that way too.

 

[Steve William]

Actually i only care about the team that created Dirt, grid 1, toca, colin's series, for the F1 team, kill, burn, shoot, set them on fire i couldn't care less, they just dont give a **** about anyone F1 2010 was good, F1 2011 properly bad, F1 2012 the best one, the rest F1 2013 , 2014... oh not again.

them and milestones devs. since they got their hands on WRC series they just messed everything up.

All kidding aside, the real problem with codies or similar companies, they start with good intentions and they create a great games, fun and addicting, BUT then greed or reality hits them and they realise that they need more money to create the next game so they try their best but eventually the give up and get PARTNERS in to get enough money for licensing cars and tracks... SO THE POINT IS PARTNERS KILL GAMING INDUSTRY.

And to get to the point Codies can fix it but i dont believe they will any ways i dont really care.

 

[Reanimocio]

If CM lose/don't renew their license and Microsoft buy it and give the game to Playground games I will be so incredibly happy. Forza Horizon is by far the best open-world racing game and it has everything (good physics for the cars, incredible graphics, insanely good optimization, etc.). My only concern is that the car physics in FH(2) are directly copy/pasted from Forza 4/5 (nothing wrong with that) but if they get F1 license they'd have to start from scratch and develop the handling model themselves. Maybe Turn 10 can create the handling model and Playground the rest

 

[Salut Gilles]

Not surprised. They dropped the "Live the Life" exciting feelings of F1 2010 in Career mode, while they should have developed it further to make it even more exciting and closer to the real thing. And after five iterations, they still haven't found a way to display cockpit-view mirrors properly. They better fix them all in F1 2015 or it will be over.

 

[Karl Fuss]

I have had a ton of fun with the F1 games over the last 5ish years... but the lack of support this time around is disappointing. The game is not good enough to have proper league competition on a console (maybe pc is better?). I highly doubt that F1 2015 will be anything spectacular given that it seems the company is slowly closing down shop. The inevitable patch required to play the game properly will not happen next year the same way it didn't happen this year, and the people who purchase the game will be left by the way side. I will not be purchasing the game. It would require a huge investment in a new console and wheel and accessories that would be better spent on a PC for racing. Unfortunately that won't be happening for me either though, i'll simply be revisiting the F1 games from the past until i can't take it anymore or win the lotto.
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.... it's really too bad.

 

[Colin Knowles]

I have had a ton of fun with the F1 games over the last 5ish years... but the lack of support this time around is disappointing. The game is not good enough to have proper league competition on a console (maybe pc is better?). I highly doubt that F1 2015 will be anything spectacular given that it seems the company is slowly closing down shop. The inevitable patch required to play the game properly will not happen next year the same way it didn't happen this year, and the people who purchase the game will be left by the way side. I will not be purchasing the game. It would require a huge investment in a new console and wheel and accessories that would be better spent on a PC for racing. Unfortunately that won't be happening for me either though, i'll simply be revisiting the F1 games from the past until i can't take it anymore or win the lotto.
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.... it's really too bad.

It's the Steering wheel issue for me. Lack of them in the wild and about the same price as an actual safari is off putting no doubt.


This is from codemasters new forum employee of the month

Hi all,

Sorry I've not been about as much today, been crazy busy! Got a few updates and things I can confirm for you that have been mentioned here and on Twitter/Facebook.

I don't have anything to share about online at the moment but I am happy to say that yes you can hone your skills in the new Online Practice Session, and then challenge your friends and racing rivals from across the world in Online Multiplayer. (this is new info)

Lot of people asking about podium celebrations... Yes we have those too (that was in the announce blog post).

As for those asking for more info on Championship and Pro Season mode I really think you'll like what we've done, I think its awesome and we'll be sharing more info on it when we're ready.

I know how you guys feel about how we've perhaps treated you in the past. Try to stop thinking of F1 2015 as the next game after 2014 (I know that sounds stupid but hear me out). Forget everything you know about our past games, this is a fresh start from the ground up in every meaning of the word, not only for the game but hopefully how we talk about it (how am I doing so far???).

If it helps think of it as more like Batman Begins and less like Batman and Robin.

Think Batman Begins Karl.

 

[Karl Fuss]

It's like a poor game of "cry wolf".
"No, we really mean it this time, the game is so much better this year. You'll just love it to death"
I've fallen for that before only to be left in the lurch without any game support.

They can stick it.
They can say all they want before the games release to try to drum up sales (that's really what they need). The only people that have any hope of getting me to buy the game are forum members here. If the game is good or great or amazing than these forum members will be sure to say something about it. CM hyping their own product before release (again!) can suck an egg, literally.

 

[Richard Alexander]

The only people that have any hope of getting me to buy the game are forum members here.

Oh, Karl. How long it has been!
I agree with this. I won't be buying the game until I see results. PC of course. That's where I headed off to after our F1 2013 season a year ago. According to Steam, I only played F1 2014 for 32 hours. And that was mostly in the first few weeks of it's release.
Will the departure of Steve Hood make the game any better? Well, only time and the reviews will tell. Hopefully there's a summer sale after release if it is somewhat desirable!

 

[Rob]

It's like a poor game of "cry wolf".
"No, we really mean it this time, the game is so much better this year. You'll just love it to death"
I've fallen for that before only to be left in the lurch without any game support.

They can stick it.
They can say all they want before the games release to try to drum up sales (that's really what they need). The only people that have any hope of getting me to buy the game are forum members here. If the game is good or great or amazing than these forum members will be sure to say something about it. CM hyping their own product before release (again!) can suck an egg, literally.

With Project Cars, Forza 5 (yes, you heard me right) and THIS!!!!

Coming out soon too, the only thing that will convince me to spend $60 on a Codemasters game is word of mouth and good reviews. They gaps between what they told the pubic about Autosport, for example, were huge, and it's not so much what they said but what they didn't say, while shouting from the rooftops that is was the next Assetto. The only positive I take from CM these days is that they are keeping their massive traps shut.

 

[Rob]

I have had a ton of fun with the F1 games over the last 5ish years... but the lack of support this time around is disappointing. The game is not good enough to have proper league competition on a console (maybe pc is better?). I highly doubt that F1 2015 will be anything spectacular given that it seems the company is slowly closing down shop. The inevitable patch required to play the game properly will not happen next year the same way it didn't happen this year, and the people who purchase the game will be left by the way side. I will not be purchasing the game. It would require a huge investment in a new console and wheel and accessories that would be better spent on a PC for racing. Unfortunately that won't be happening for me either though, i'll simply be revisiting the F1 games from the past until i can't take it anymore or win the lotto.
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.... it's really too bad.

Karl I'm right there in agreement with you about 2014. maybe for different reasons, but ultimately for the same thing -- shoddy workmanship. But for me, the debacle that was and is F1 2014 is a positive sign that 2015 will be much different. You know F1 is putting massive pressure on them. You know they are sacking people so they can retain the license, and you know they know it's do or die. So, finally they are not hyping it, and actually working on it instead (see: pCARS). At least I hope so.