The Project Cars 4 is not going to be developed. The Electronic Arts company will be ending the series and reassigning Slightly Mad Studios employees to other tasks.
This racing series focusing on a reasonable combination of simulation and arcade approach made its debut in 2015 and went on to three installments.
However, now EA is “completing further work and investment,” – according to an announcement uncovered by the company’s employees.
Whether the decision will mean layoffs is unclear at this time, but it will probably not go without job cuts.
The American corporation is going to move employees “as far as possible” to other “suitable” positions, adds GamesIndustry, which saw the content of the announcement.
Codemasters purchased Slightly Mad Studios in 2019, at which time the London-based studio had around 150 employees.
Meanwhile, a year later, Codemasters itself was just sold to Electronic Arts, following a brief bidding war with Take-Two, the other interested party.
“Today we announced an in-house update to our racing portfolio,” an EA spokesperson clarified. “After reviewing the next title in the Project Cars series and assessing the long-term potential, we have decided to discontinue further development and investment in the series.”
“Such a decision is always difficult, but it allows us to focus on areas that we believe have the greatest growth prospects and that create experiences that fans will love,” – It added. “We are focusing on the strengths of our racing portfolio, especially licensed brands and open worlds, while also expanding our series to be more social and constantly updated, engaging global communities.”
It is possible to imagine a situation in which Project Cars is no longer in existence at all, at least for new gamers. The first and second installments were already removed from distribution because of the expiring licenses for cars and tracks.
