EA Ending the Project CARS Franchise

By Marc Deschamps

Electronic Arts is officially ending the Project CARS franchise. The racing series has been around since 2015, and was acquired by the company as part of its purchase of Codemasters back in 2021. The series was developed by Slightly Mad Studios. In a statement provided to GamesIndustry.biz, EA confirmed the end of the series, while also indicating that the publisher would try to move staff "into suitable roles across our EA Sports and racing portfolio." As of this writing, it's unclear exactly how many staffers will be impacted as a result of the decision. 

"Decisions like these are very hard, but allow us to prioritise our focus in areas where we believe we have the strongest opportunity to create experiences that fans will love. We are focusing on our strengths in our racing portfolio, particularly licensed IP and open-world experiences, and expanding our franchises to be more socially-led with long-term live services that will engage global communities," the statement reads. "Games are at the heart of sports and racing entertainment, and with shifting fan expectations, we recognise the need to evolve our games beyond pure play, providing experiences for fans to also watch, create and connect with their friends."

From the statement, it sounds like EA simply had too many racing franchises to manage. While the death of Project CARS is sure to disappoint some fans, it makes much more sense for EA to consolidate its racing releases to make sure that the quality does not suffer. Hopefully, EA will make good on its word and move these employees into roles that make sense.

It's worth noting that no entries in the Project CARS franchise were actually published by EA. Four games were released in total, with three numbered entries released between 2015 and 2020 on PC, as well as PlayStation and Xbox platforms. All three of those games were published by Bandai Namco. Last year also saw the release of Project CARS GO on mobile devices.

Were you a fan of the Project CARS franchise? Are you disappointed to hear that the series is ending? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

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