Development of rally games is paused and Codemasters undergoes cuts

After announcing the pause in the development of rally titles, such as the DiRT franchise and the recently released EA Sports WRC, Electronic Arts (EA) confirmed that the Codemasters team was also affected by the recent wave of layoffs that impacted the publisher globally. The information was revealed in a statement sent to the VGC website.

"We are constantly evolving to meet the growing needs of players and focusing more on our portfolio. This has led us to reduce some positions while reallocating as much as possible based on our strategic priorities."
(Free translation of EA's statement)

In the last week of March 2025, EA announced the dismissal of approximately 300 to 400 employees, as part of an organizational restructuring. It is now confirmed that part of these layoffs directly affected the British studio Codemasters, known for franchises like GRID, F1, DiRT, and more recently, WRC, released in 2023 with the Unreal Engine 5.

The decision to halt rally projects raises questions about the future of the genre within the EA Sports portfolio, especially after recent investments in licensing and development. It is worth noting that since the acquisition of Codemasters in 2021 for about US$ 1.2 billion, EA sought to strengthen its presence in the racing segment with multiple fronts.

So far, the exact number of professionals laid off at Codemasters has not been disclosed, but the studio joins a growing list of teams impacted by restructuring within EA, which already includes divisions related to mobile game development and live services.

This movement reinforces a trend in the industry: major publishers reevaluating their investments in niche genres to prioritize established franchises with greater financial return and commercial predictability.