Founder and CEO Ian Bell Announces Departure from Slightly Mad Studios

Jack Vos said:

The start of Project Cars on the good old no grip forum

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Wow! Sim racing history I'd never seen before. Thanks for sharing!

Ian Bell was 150% right about this. Especially if he'd open-sourced the Madness engine, released an extensive API guide, and let PCars be a collection of high-quality locked-up encrypted content curated by SMS – but others could mod content and add on top. Given AC's popularity and modding scene, there is clearly a business case for that!

Despite being the polarising and sometimes (often?) idiot that Bell is, he's clearly a bold thinker and unafraid to try some unusual and different things. You could say he has the all-important touch of Madness. (Sorry, couldn't resist )

After SMS being bought, Bell's exit isn't surprising to me. Who ever would have thought an self-confident and independent spirit (for better or for worse) like Bell would have been happy and lasted under the EA/Codemasters juggernaut? Not me, that's for sure.

I mean ok the guy wasn't the best of characters but the things he has done for the racing community and industry are some that really i would say probably haven't been done before. So props to him but very odd timing i would say...

Sad to hear that, for sure Ian love simracing and i still play Pcars2 but maybe mad studio forget the best part for a simracer and is close to reality games, things that obvious was forget on Pcars3, Dirt5 or Grid 2019.
Anyway i just want to say a great thank to Bell cause he made me enjoy a lot of hours on Gtr2 and still on Pcars2, so i hope he gone for a different project, and he'll got all my respect always for It.
Good luck Mr Bell, and thank you for all hours you made me happy driving games.
The King has died, long live King!!

PC probably made more money than they actually expected. Once you hit the big time and sell out to a mainstream publisher then the way forward isn't going to be hardcore level sims.

I'd say the only game with his involvement that I skipped was PC3 as the reviews made it clear it wasn't what I was looking for. Not quite sure why people want to burn him at the stake though.

Loved GTR2...sunk a shed load of hours into that game.....loved Nogrip too. I got involved with PC1 and it was ambitious....maybe too ambitious but I liked it a lot, PC2 improved things in many areas and was a blast, but wasn't as much a wow factor for me more an evolution (and equally too ambitious). But when the other devs not only kept up but raised the bar....PC3 came and I was dissapointed. I still think the idea of a community assisted racing sim is a good idea, I had a great time with PC1 and 2 on the forums. Good Luck Ian.

A failed personality

I expect I have rather different recollections of PC2 than others here. As a relatively new, console, controller player, PC2 was the first game that resembles a sim I ever played. And I loved it. Such a wide variety of tracks was something I could not ignore as a console player, which is the main reason I bought it, but the sheer beauty of some of the weather and time cycles (as others have mentioned) is the reason I really cherish it now. And the DLC is, in my opinion, excellent, especially the 2016 Le Mans cars. I have a lot of time in those machines. And PC2 eventually got me onto other sims like AC and ACC.

So, while PC3 was a *bit* of a disaster, I have a lot to thank SMS for. While I never saw anything directly related to Ian Bell, I have the idea he's pretty controversial. But a great pioneer for sim racing, despite many flaws.

Codemaster is like Disney, everything that touches it turn into ****, Project Cars still is subpar simulation anyways , won't be missed.

End of an era for me. Project cars was the racing game that I was probably the most involved with, despite the fact that I worked as freelancer earlier for game companies like Simbin / Eden Games and some more. With project cars I felt more connected , felt like there is a bigger potential to be involved , and while it maybe didn't deliver on al accounts, it definitely made other developers work harder to make their games better, as well as inspired other to add some of the features into their games

This decision is somewhat expected, as most of the CEOs go different route, once their companies are sold. Even all mighty lord Kunos left his company, it's normal. So I wouldn't really try to see anything behind the scenes on this one

I am however bit disappointed by seeing some of the comments here, especially the " good riddance " kind, .. I mean seriously? what does the guy owe you to be saying things like that? would that say that you your classmate / colleague face to face ?

I for one had personal issues with Stefano ( well maybe he had it more with me then the other way around) , but I would never be saying things like " good riddance" , despite our differences I could see what he brought to the table , but anyhow.

I also wouldn't put all the decision on Ian Bell though, there was a team of people making the games, bringing ideas, and there was also publisher, who can also have a lot of to say about what they are releasing.

One thing is for sure - at least in my opinion - the game scene wouldn't' be what it is, if it wasn't for SMS and Ian Bell. AC woudlnt' be as good as it is , becasue the competition pushed them to make it better, to avoid mistakes that people point out on SMS titles. It's a competitive and very small market, so when people complain about feature X in one sim, all other sims would be silly not to listen to that feedback

anyhow. Enjoyed Pcars1 and 2 , was really honored how much I could have contributed - especially to the first one. ( from the car design in the game to the steelbook cover ) , so pcars and sms will forever part of my successes of my work life, and I really thank Ian for giving me (and others) this opportunity

Patrik Marek said:

the game scene wouldn't' be what it is, if it wasn't for SMS and Ian Bell

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Exactly, he made a great contribution to this hobby, PCars and PCars2, have changed the SIM world. That engine has and is still today, doing thing better, than any other engine. Ian Bell is controversial, for sure, but also a visionary and he loves SIM racing. If PCars had been developed longer, who knows how great it could be today.

Richard Wilks said:

I just wish we could have an opened version of the madness engine. Its possibly the best racing game engine out there.

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If PCars was made modable, like AC is and if someone with Ilja talent, was to work on it, the result could yield the best simulator ever.
All it would take is start with one car series and a few tracks and make something great, as opposed to the common mistake of launching a zillion tracks and cars and hope for the best, fixing it here and there. I am ready to sign for my second patreon, the first one I ever took part in being Ilja CSP patreon.

Cote Dazur said:

If PCars was made modable, like AC is and if someone with Ilja talent, was to work on it, the result could yield the best simulator ever.
All it would take is start with one car series and a few tracks and make something great, as opposed to the common mistake of launching a zillion tracks and cars and hope for the best, fixing it here and there. I am ready to sign for my second patreon, the first one I ever took part in being Ilja CSP patreon.

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I have been playing with idea of making my own game for years now, I even started, but the amount of work needed is just monumental , the personal sacrifices you need to make, money that you need to put in , and at the end of the day, it's so easy for the final product to be shot down becasue few vocal people dislike some of the decisions you made ( some of which might have been heavily influenced with the pressure of releasing it ...) , such a tough business ( just look at the incoming reviews for Nascar Ignition )

if you do make it tough, you end up doing something you really love, and make some decent $$$ in the process , which is a win win , and I think there isn't all that many people that can say that they have achieved it

I dont understand why so many people dislike him, its very odd, he really hasnt robbed your house or stolen your wife.

He has done a lot for our hobby and his work over the years has really helped shape and push things forward.

Hes a successful guy, he has a passion for motorsport and sims and he seems like someone that would be great fun to go for a beer with, i say respect to Ian Bell

Ian Bell, who founded Slightly Mad Studios more than a decade ago, has announced that he is leaving the company.

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End of a era..thank f***k..

F2020 said:

I dont understand why so many people dislike him, its very odd, he really hasnt robbed your house or stolen your wife.

He has done a lot for our hobby and his work over the years has really helped shape and push things forward.

Hes a successful guy, he has a passion for motorsport and sims and he seems like someone that would be great fun to go for a beer with, i say respect to Ian Bell

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Its too bad you can't bring Hitler along for a party.

He surely needs therapy as he isn't slightly mad. I liked his older games though.

He will have walked away with a tonne of money.
I will remeber most that he bought off pretend race cars, remeber him?
Then PRC and his 'blog' stopped being critical about PCars2, in fact siad it was great, then went on to take pop shots at RFactor2 and others till finally studio3whatever, i assume took legal action...

Oh and he also tired to ruin the career of a GT3 racer who dared question the GT3 merc in PCars2...

His son Nathan i assume will still work there, and if you though Ian was bad....just wait..

He made a far bigger contribution to this hobby than some of the predictable toxic vitriolic contributors on this thread that's for sure.

As far as I remember, he is a psychologist by training so GlobalTherapy sounds like a new e-business right up his street.

I enjoyed the good old days of the "High Gear" forums with many of the guys who eventually became SimBin/Blimey/SMS. GTR/GTR2/GT Legends... we have Ian Bell and his crew to thank for those milestones in Sim Racing history.

I don't begrudge the guy wanting to make money. At least he built a product rather than just showing his face on some stupid you tube channel. I'll take product over celebrity any day.

Not only that, he gave many people an opportunity to invest. I think I tripled my money on PC1. Should have gone "All In".

Jack Vos said:

The start of Project Cars on the good old no grip forum

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Yeah nice, and your Post got deleted when reporting bugs you find after one hour of playing and wondering how nobody noticed them.

Copef1 said:

I've been sim racing since the early 90's, and before the GTR stuff there was only F1, Nascar, and Indycar sim's.

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Back then we also had Touring cars (live for speed, TOCA touring car 1 and 2, Gran Turismo 1 and 2), gt cars(Sports car GT, Viper racing), multiple series (TOCA race driver, Gran turismo 1 and 2), rally (Richard Burns rally, Colin mcrae rally 1 and 2, rally championship 2000), Motorbikes (GP500).

The simracing panorama wasn't as sterile as how you now remember it.

Copef1 said:

The GTR mod started us on our way to being able to race the vast array of other series we have now, and gave race sim modding its start.

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Not really, they didn't were pioneers in the modding scene. I remember mods for as early as in grand prix 2 (1996), F1 racing simulation (1997), grand prix legends (1998), F1 racing championship (1999) and EA's F1 2001.

Moded games with different series as early as in grand prix legends (1998) with initially the lotus cortina mod and the TC cars mod, Grand prix 3 (2000), Nascar racing 2003 with the legendary GTP mod.

As a sidenote Grand prix legends share with GP500 the honor of being the first sims that I remember being able to add new tracks, what a great year was 1998 for simulators of all genres.

Copef1 said:

Its funny, if you could travel back in time to 2002, and look at a racing forum from that time, you would see nothing but praise for Ian. Times change I guess.

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True. You either die as a heroe or live long enough to see yourself turned into the villain.

Patrik Marek said:

I also wouldn't put all the decision on Ian Bell though, there was a team of people making the games, bringing ideas, and there was also publisher, who can also have a lot of to say about what they are releasing.

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This is the best take in this thread. The CEO of a major game development studio does not descend from the heavens and take command of everything from design choices and AI logic, to tire physics for very specific cars. He is more akin to a rock band manager, nurturing relationships with investors and greenlighting ideas.

Most of this thread reads as if people are blaming Noel Monk for Eddie Van Halen becoming obsessed with writing keyboard music and turning VH into a power ballad band.

That being said, a few comments in here probably deserve a deeper dive.