Could EA Sports Lose The F1 License After 2025?

EA-Sports-Could-Lose-F1-License-After-2025.jpg
Image: EA Sports / Codemasters
In 2008, Codemasters acquired the license to create the official F1 games, which was carried over to EA Sports after it acquired the studio. However, the long-standing partnership could end after the 2025 season.

An entire generation of racing fans has grown up with Codemasters' F1 games: The studio acquired the license in 2008 after Sony had held it exclusively from 2003 to 2006, and made its debut with 2009's Wii exclusive F1 2009. The following year's F1 2010 is generally regarded as the proper start to the series of F1 games by Codemasters.

Since then, the studio has created the official games of the Formula One World Championship on consoles and PC, as well as a few spin-offs like F1 Clash. In 2021, publisher EA Sports acquired Codemasters, and with it, the license to the games. It had been extended long-term until 2025 only in 2019, with the option for an extension over two further years if "certain performance thresholds" were achieved.


F1 24 Sales - Reason For Concern?​

And this is where F1 24 might be reason for concern. While the specifics of these performance criteria are not known, it is not unreasonable to think that they are tied to the game's financial performance - so how well it sells. Rumors are swirling in Facebook groups and on Reddit already.

The game's player numbers on Steam are known, however - and, as vginsights.com reports, the sales on the PC game platform are far behind those of its predecessor. While F1 23 is listed to have sold about 503.000 units, F1 24 only has 134.000 copies sold on Steam as of September 12, 2024, according to vginsights.

Of course, F1 23 has been out for longer and has been on sale as well, but this discrepancy can also be found in the player numbers. F1 23's peak in its launch month of June 2023 was at 13.261 players on Steam, with its all-time peak occurring in November that year at 14.432. F1 24, meanwhile, peaked at 6.190 players on Steam when it launched in May 2024, which still stands as its all-time peak.

But even F1 23 saw a downward trend already compared to its predecessors, as can be seen in the table below. This does not factor in the EA App and the console market, of course, which is important for the F1 games as well

TitleUnits sold (on Steam)Launch month concurrent player peakAll-time concurrent player peak
F1 20151.400.000*2.64083.968**
F1 2016389.0004.6685.647
F1 2017523.0008.0858.085
F1 2018265.0004.3889.559
F1 2019293.0009.11212.736
F1 20201.200.00023.76623.766
F1 20211.100.00024.26825.575
F1 22773.00023.76323.763
F1 23503.00013.26114.432
F1 24134.0006.1906.190
Sources: vginsights.com / steamcharts.com
*2015 marked the first time EGO Engine 4.0 was used for an F1 title as the series made the jump to Xbox One & PlayStation 4, then the latest generation of consoles. EGO 4.0 has been used in every F1 main series game since.
**
F1 2015 was free for Steam players to get and keep on April 27 and 28, 2018, causing this unusually high peak.

However, certain trends can be observed when looking at the numbers going back to F1 2019, when the current license agreement was extended. While the game slots in between F1 23 and F1 24 with its numbers, its successors pulverized them as the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the Drive To Survive Netflix series drew in countless new fans.

Interestingly, F1 22, the first F1 title with direct EA Sports involvement - the publisher became an EA subsidiary only in February 2021, when development of F1 2021 was in its late stages already - saw a significant decrease in sales on Steam, but not players on the platform. Still, from then on, a downward trend can be observed.

F1 24 will likely still increase its sales numbers, as it has not been part of events like the 2024 Steam Summer Sale yet and the holidays usually also mean a rise in video game sales. But with the comparatively slow start, there might be reason for concern regarding the aforementioned performance goals.

F1-24-Review.jpg


F1 24 In EA Sports' Top 3​

Expecting the peaks of 2020-2021 to last would have been unrealistic as well, but the series has lost traction in the last few years quite considerably, judging from the available numbers. Mixed reviews for the 2023 and 2024 editions likely did not help, and neither did the handling debate prior to the release of F1 24 - many who played the preview version of the game voiced their criticism of the handling model, which prompted EA Sports and Codemasters to release a handling update roughly two weeks after F1 24's launch.

It is worth noting, however, that F1 24 still was one of the three main revenue-driving games for EA Sports in Q2 of 2024 alongside EA Sports FC 24 and EA Sorts Madden NFL 24, with the three franchises amounting to a full game net revenue of $250 million. With this in mind, it would seem likely that EA Sports would want to keep the F1 game series under its own umbrella.

Could this mean we will see an outstandingly exciting F1 25? Maybe - but the decision to extend the license would likely have to be made before the release of next year's game already.

One thing is certain, though: If EA Sports and Codemasters do lose the F1 license after 2025, an era will come to an end. What started with F1 2009 or F1 2010, depending on who you ask, would come to a close after a whopping 17 years - that has to be a fair bit of nostalgia for many F1 fans and racing gamers.

And then, the question of who picks up the license would arise.

What would you like to see in the F1 game series' future? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our forums!
About author
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

Comments

New regulations to make the show less about DRS and easy overtakes and more about classic racing battles...

Oh wait... The game...

Fans of the series deserve a good representation, one that has the level of detail LMU has in it's driving and the level of detail codies have put into the world around that driving...

Of course it'll have to include codies options to tone it down for the casual, which are industry leading in how they can turn a car with a lot of horse power into the smash the pedals toy... And their industry leading AI...

Codies have been let down by the practices of EA since the takeover... Rinse and repeat, add some monetization options and rinse and repeat...
 
With a growth in racing fans, race fans/race titles have become easy pickings to make more money with smaller increases in improvements. F1 to me, has been a crap-fest for ages. It's always been hit and miss. The worst news in the world, was when EA got the WRC license. I was worried they'd ruin WRC (for me), just as they've performed meh with F1. WRC would have been fine with DiRT2 physics as a base.

They all have their profits to make, and the more they make, the more they want. EA have done me a favour. I'm a one trick pony and only use sim type titles. So, I won't support their crap now. I got burned on WRC though, so will never buy that again. I should have refunded via Steam, doh. So, not buying F1 and WRC now funds iRacing. So, screw EA - they can ruin whatever they feel like because I vote with my feet. They aren't the only dev underperforming.

For me, when iRacing bring in the tyre physics upgrades, I can just see me buying a modern F1 car in iR to lap with. The only downside with the modern iR cars to me is, they don't allow custom tga files. I'm past caring about EA now. I've wasted too much money on their willingness to hold back the only genre I use. For all of you that love the F1 games and have no issues with the current state of affairs, I hope they keep delivering for you.
 
Who in their right mind would want to take the licence on and scrap any current game they're producing?
 
I think a lot of analysis from fans and the like forgets the fact that F1 games from Codies/EA are also available through EA Play/EA Play Pro. I mostly only read comparisons on Steam, but where is EA Play, PS, Xbox?
 
The formula is easy, just deliver what have people been asking for since 2014 - historic content.
2013 was closest with this and 2020 wasn’t too far either. Give people with the current season past seasons as well.
Not just a few cars, add in the 2020 roster, 2013 roster, 2000’s roster and 80’s roster with some legendary tracks as well. Half of these they already have from past games. And a lot of historic content was already made. Just add a few things to it, release it as a separate mode and people will ne happy.
When the F1 season isn’t interesting anymore, either make it interrsting (as Codies tried and failed) or remind people how interesting it was in the past!
 
I don't know about pricing in other regions but I know it has to be significant that the big drop in numbers coincides with EA taking with also coincides with a massive price increase. In my region the increase was about 220% the first year and is now sitting at about 370% of what Codemasters were charging for the game. They brought the game price into the same region as the PGA, NBA, NFL games. They did the same when they bought the Super Mega Baseball franchise, the difference in price between them is over 400%.

I actually found this comparison chart online, between F1 2020 and F1 2021 prices around the world. Its really a no brainer that they have lost sales:
EzBh4ksWEAY5i4s.jpg
 
I don't think they will lose it. Like they say, it's one of EA main-revenue driving game. Also it's not like the FIFA license, they will probably extend the contract and make the game a standalone game and upgrade it like the WRC game, that's is probably why we won't have a F1 26 or F1 27 game.
 
In the way the world is evolving, I expect Mario Kart to take over the future of a fully electric F1 freak show.

What do I want to see?

That you get back to the core. Away with TV interviews and personal The Sims gossip adventures and melodramas - back right to the core and down into the cockpit - and out onto all the tracks raced in a season that actually is reflected throug the sim title.

Which should be pure logics.

In addition, I'd like what Geoff Crammond's team understood already back in the 90ies;
Capturing the vulnerability of each of the cars. Although there are of course far fewer of them than 30 years ago, it is a spice that simply has to be included, i.e. the very small details. After all, F1 has developed into rather 'meh' goose-stepping on perfect surfaces, and if the real events are about to go a little bit the other way, as can be seen with returning grass areas, then of course a new provider must be sharp and catch this in the bud, so that everything is clear at least a few weeks before each event itself is due to take place.
 
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Premium
last one i played and kept was '21, i returned '23 and '24 on steam. I just buy the AC version now. Even more so now with VRC stepping up their game with the Formula Alpha '24
 
Please let there be light! No more of EA/Codies drivel. We need a dev group who actually know how to do decent physics. I will say though, visually, I do quite like the Ego engine (on the PS5... For whatever reason on the PC it does look a bit blurry). It'll never ever happen, but if VRC or RSS was commissioned to do the physics I'm sure they'd knock it outta the park!
 

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