EA abandoning its Project CARS franchise

It’s a sad day for fans of Slightly Mad Studios’ racing series Project CARS as Electronic Arts (EA) has officially confirmed that it’s decided to “stop further development and investment” in the franchise.

The news comes courtesy of GamesIndustry.biz who note that the announcement was one that was made internally, and that employees of Project CARS’ Slightly Mad Studios will be moved into other “suitable roles” elsewhere with EA specifically mentioning its “EA Sports and racing portfolio.”

EA shared an official statement with GamesIndustry.biz in which it remarks that decisions like this are hard, but that the company has to prioritize its focus “in areas where we believe we have the strongest opportunity to create experiences that fans will love.”

Decisions like these are very hard, but allow us to prioritize 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.

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. We are working with everyone impacted by this decision to place them into suitable roles across our EA Sports and racing portfolio, as well as other parts of EA, wherever we can. Our priority now is on providing as much support as possible to our people through this transition.

Back in 2019, Codemasters acquired Project CARS developer Slightly Mad Studios which at the time employed around 150 staff members. GamesIndustry.biz points out that Electronic Arts reportedly came to the decision after it began evaluating the status of Project CARS following the Codemasters acquisition in 2019. EA has since concluded that Project CARS was “unlikely to become a successful game or fit in with the rest of the publisher’s racing portfolio.”

For more on EA’s decision to cease development and investment in Project CARS, be sure to read through the full report from GamesIndustry.biz. Also check out some of our previous EA-related coverage including EA’s Q2 2023 earnings results beating EPS and revenue expectations, and EA announcing a three-game partnership with Marvel including Iron Man.