Breaking News: Slightly Mad Studios Bought by Codemasters

[Deleted member 197115]

Grid 5 confirmed.
AMS 2 would need new engine, no way CM will license Madness Engine to anyone else since they own it now.

 

[Zytok]

Yup, may boy managed to achieve opposite lock on the crainer curves at Donington when only 4-years-old

Super proud

I'll see your 4 and raise you though I have to admit, your lad's driving much quicker! Had to laugh when she said she knew where she was going though.

 

[Jonny Austin]

You Sir obviously don't play any Codemasters game. I throw out the word "Racenet" and everybody who is using it knows why that wouldn't be such a stellar idea. NoRacenet would be the more precise term for it. I'm still at a loss how a game company so big is unable to provide a reliable online service. Or just doesn't care, even though they're forcing us to use it for ****** career mode. Why, just why? Hell, even a very small publisher like Frontier can do it for ED? I'm starting to babble, but I have to admit that grinds my gears in a very bad way.

That makes sense & explains why Iracing is so expensive.It obviously takes up huge resources & is difficult even if the developer does have resources.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

@Zytok

Awesome!

 

[billymitchell]

Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll do something revolutionary…

• Battle royale with cars!
• Featuring an open world (like Forza Horizon)
• All the cars available from F1, PCARs, Dirt, etc.
• A gazillion cosmetics available for micro-purchasing

If only we could be so lucky

 

[blot]

This announcement surprised me! Best thing about Pcars2 IMO is the rallyX content, That's why it stays on my HDD, Tarmac/Loose physics feel spot on, I'm hoping we can get a decent rally sim out of this partnership!

 

[Zytok]

This announcement surprised me! Best thing about Pcars2 IMO is the rallyX content, That's why it stays on my HDD, Tarmac/Loose physics feel spot on, I'm hoping we can get a decent rally sim out of this partnership!

Dirt rally 3.0 with pcars physics and weather anyone?

 

[Gregz0r]

Good news for VR-playing F1 fans, as SMS' 'Madness Engine' comes with kick-ass VR out of the box.

 

[north]

*snip*
AMS 2 would need new engine, no way CM will license Madness Engine to anyone else since they own it now.

Nope. Explained by Renato over at the Reiza forum.

 

[Deleted member 955978]

Might be okay in the end but I'm not holding my breath. I can see Codemasters' PC series using their weak engine after this last SMS version release. Codies bought rights to use names and licenses is all, doubt if SMS proprietary software survives.

The Madness Engine might survive in Automobilista 2 though.

 

[David Wright]

The potential benefits for both parties are huge, so could/should be good news. Its just that Codies as a publisher/studio owner don't have the best reputation. To use the old cliche - time will tell.

 

[RockettSally]

I think this is very positive, Project Cars finally could be a fun arcade. PCars has a lot of potential but currently is in the middle of nowhere, not a serious sim, not a fun arcade.

Imagine GRID Autosport 2 with PCars Endurace System and Weather!

 

[Luke Maney]

Just bought PC 2 and a PS4 Pro so I can do Le Mans...gotta get my old school Le Mans fix somehow

 

[Renato Simioni]

Nope. Explained by Renato over at the Reiza forum.

And just to reinforce it here, nothing changes for us as far as AMS2 is concerned. You can read more in-depth comments on the nature of our deal here.

GRID: Samba does sound quite enticing tho

 

[RCHeliguy]

The best case scenario is that there is eventually a solid VR engine behind most of the Codemasters products going forward.

SMS has seemed a bit pie in the ski lately and not rooted in reality. My take is that they had a lack of leadership and this is a change in direction for their resources.

Other than Dirt Rally 1&2, I've not tried anything else by Codemasters. I have a copy of PC2 that is collecting dust, and I wouldn't have purchased whatever SMS created next, although I think they have a solid VR engine.

I won't guess at how this will play out, but they are a couple of the larger players in this market. How they use their new found collective critical mass will be interesting.

 

[Leonardo Chaves]

Hope it doesn't affect AMS2, which I already backed in good faith I don't know how it could affect though

Well... poor engine support is certainly a possibility now, i can totally see Codemasters being less "enthusiastic" about this cooperation, we don't even know if they'll ditch Madness completely and stick just with their EGO engine.
That means bugs and bugs and more bugs that never get solved, and maybe some features that aren't perfectly implemented.

 

[Francis Clark]

If you can't see this is big news for the sim racing industry why reply with such a line if you can't be bothered.

I Cant see it

 

[mantasisg]

@Renato Simioni Samba IMO definitely does sound enticing ! Samba associate to me with nice sympathetic girls lol

And great Brazilian music of course

 

[RKip455]

Don't think this is a good move at all, you have 2 developers that produced games that have a huge amount bugs, which the same bugs existed in previous releases, and both were incapable of fixing them..
That is what I love about ACC, you can see the fixes happening and actually improving the sim everytime, and the fact Kunos and his team actually listen to the community, neither of the above did or hardly do..
Still every so often you do see a flying pig..

Exactly my thoughts....

SMS - pC1 was haunted with bugs and the physics never amounted to Ian's claims. pC2 was loaded with content but again, though improved, lacking consist physics and was soon dropped with only many minor bug fixes.

CODIES - F1 took 10 years to develop into what we have now, although 2018 was as good IMHO. DR was epic IMHO and DR2 was disappointing. Although, I have not had any issue with the DLC. I hate with developers release a second game and do not make previous titles available - i.e. Forza). With this said, their games have had bugs and dropped without correction. Grid is a joke IMHO... and I own it. Crashes constantly and is riddled with bugs.

One less independent studio is never a good thing.

RIP SMS. It was fun to be part of WMDs. It is disappointing to see that SMS had lost its independence that they fought hard for.

As a WMD supporter, with over $700US and buying into Ian's BS about being independent and developing a great game (I think he planned this all along) this is the most disappointing for me. He sold out on his belief or at least what we all believed in with WMD. Money... he sold out as they all do.

 

[Reynaldo Luna]

No! It is never a good thing that one big studio buys out another. It just means that they eat their competition and kill off their product. Why Ian why? You guys where doing great and I was waiting for PC3. I love your sim. I play it every chance I get. This is bad news for me. I don't like any of Code Masters new titles. I only play Dirt 2 and Dirt Rally every now and then. I hate DR 2s staggered DLC. SMS gave you a better bargain with their stuff. I bought DR 2 as a pre-order and then found out about the progress being locked to online only. I tried to get my money back, but it was too late. I have not even downloaded it because of this BS. Grid has lots of nice looking cars, but no real feel. I wanted SMS to make Project CARS 3 the Good Wood FOS of the sim industry. I am truly heartbroken by this bad news. Like the death of a loved one.