Slightly Mad Studios has been acquired by racing game titan Codemasters. Slightly Mad Studios worked on two Need for Speed games – Need for Speed: Shift and Shift 2: Unleashed. And of course, there was the Project CARS epic racing adventure they created. There were even some rumors that the studio was working on a console, The Mad Box, which wasn’t going anywhere let’s be honest.
Codemasters built their brand in the early days of console gaming creating devices for cheating, but quickly transitioned into racing games after that market floundered. The company pushed out various tie-in titles for the F1 racing brand, as well as tons of other titles. Codemasters will now publish Project CARS, as well as an unannounced Hollywood blockbuster title.
Frank Sagnier, CEO of Codemasters, has made his commitment to the future of Slightly Mad pretty clear. Adding to the announcement that this new acquisition “unequivocally establishes us as a global powerhouse in the development of racing titles.” The publisher and developer has already made forays into new ventures, like a port for Google Stadia, and Sagnier made it clear that this trend will continue with new titles and ports too.
Ian Bell, Founder and CEO of Slightly Mad Studios, made a similar announcement on the news saying, “this new partnership will enable us to learn from each other, share resources and take advantage of emerging platforms and technology.” Ian Bell will retain his position as Founder and CEO of Slightly Mad Studios in the acquisition.
Bell has maintained quite the reputation during his time with the studio, because it’s pretty aptly named. He had a pretty strong penchant for doing crazy things over the years. The studio was founded in 2017, and grew to prominence off the back of great games. Bell became a bit of wild card, even taking to Twitter to say “I want to be clear about this. The best slogan for the ‘Mad Box’ gets 10K and free games for life. This isn’t a joke. Hit me.” His promotional antics probably helped grow the brand of Slightly Mad, so it’s all good, even if it was weird at the time.
https://twitter.com/bell_sms/status/1081791507714125825
