EA has announced the end of its partnership with the World Rally Championship, saying it’s “pausing development” on all future rally games.
EA’s inherited the World Rally Championship license as part of its acquisition of UK racing game specialist Codemasters in 2021, and its first WRC title – EA Sports WRC – released two years later in 2023. But that, EA has now confirmed, is as far as the partnership will go.
“Every great journey eventually finds its finish line, and today, we announced that we’ve reached the end of the road working on WRC”, the company wrote in a message signed by The Codemasters WRC Team and shared on social media.
Despite the end of the partnership, EA Sports WRC will continue to be available; however, its previously released 2024 season will be its last expansion. Additionally, EA has announced that “for now”, it’s “pausing development plans on future rally titles”.
“Our WRC partnership was a culmination of sorts for our Codemasters journey with off-road racing, spanning decades through titles like Colin McRae Rally, and DIRT,” it continued. “We’ve provided a home for every rally enthusiast… We’ve brought together incredibly talented racing developers, worked with some of the sport’s icons, and had the opportunity to share our love of rallying. Thank you to all the fans who have and continue to be part of our rally journey.”
EA’s decision to end its WRC partnership follows its announcement last year – made as it laid off 670 employees – that it would be moving away from “future licensed IP” toward its “owned IP, sports, and massive online communities”.
Today’s WRC announcement follows yet more layoffs at EA, reportedly affecting “between 300 and 400” employees. It’s unclear if the Codemasters team has been impacted following EA’s decision to ‘pause’ rally development, but we’ve reached out for clarity on the situation.