Codemasters is hitting the brakes on their World Rally Championship games. Yep, they’re wrapping up the EA Sports WRC updates and saying “see ya later” to future rally endeavors. It’s like when a long trip ends, you gotta unpack and figure out what’s next.
Oh, and this Hard Chargers thing? It’s their last hurrah. Codemasters, known for killer VR features in games like EA Sports WRC, DiRT Rally, and DiRT Rally 2.0, is basically dropping the VR baton—time for rally fans to cruise somewhere else in VR land.
Their announcement had this kind of “end of the road” vibe. “We’re pausing the rally title stuff for now,” they said, trying to sound hopeful. “EA Sports WRC? Still around for old and new drivers. Keep loving it, we poured our souls into it.” Sounds a bit dramatic, right?
If we talk history, Codemasters dipped their toes in rally waters way back, like 40 years ago—back to Paris to Dakar Rally on the ZX Spectrum in ’91. A blast from the past! They really revved their engines with Colin McRae Rally in ’98. Three million copies sold, and boom, they were on the racing map.
Fast forward a decade or so, they dive deep into driving games. Innovators, really. Early birds with VR and all. In 2016, when DiRT Rally VR dropped, it was like a VR racing gold standard. The sequel? Not too shabby. Who knows if EA’s layoffs (300-400 roles!) have thrown a wrench in the works.
So, what now? New picks for VR rally diehards? Slim. Codemasters might—or might not—keep tinkering with VR supports. They’ve got F1 25 backing PC VR, though. Should anything new speed our way, you’ll hear about it, promise.
