EA is under fire again, and this time it’s the subject of angry tweets from the retired boss of one of the publisher’s biggest racing games.
Citing “poor long-term growth potential”, announced EA (opens in a new tab) that Project CARS will immediately cease development. Teams assigned to the project are to be redistributed to more profitable ventures within the company. This potentially focuses their skills on EA’s more powerful counterparts like Need For Speed.
Ian Bell, former CEO of Project CARS developer Slightly Mad Studios, got on Twitter (opens in a new tab) express your disappointment – and offer your old team members a whole new job.
A real bellter
Bell’s sarcastic words (opens in a new tab) stem from EA’s promise to relocate Project CARS employees to appropriate alternatives “where possible”.
The original founder and CEO of Slightly Mad, Bell, left the company in October 2021. Two years after the successful acquisition by British racing monolith Codemasters, the company was acquired by EA Sports. Bell retired in strong view (opens in a new tab) that “the future of the studio is now confirmed.”
However, on November 8, 2022, Bell expressed dissatisfaction with the situation as well as concern for his former teammates. “What do the numbers look like (sorry, I mean people with hopes, dreams and families) at the bottom of these spreadsheets?” he asks on Twitter.
this tweet indicates two others (opens in a new tab) published on November 9, in which Bell states that he has contacted developers Slightly Mad Studios to offer them a new position at his new company, Mildly Annoyed Games, as they begin work on the sequel to GTR 2.
While the fate of Project CARS has been sealed, there’s still hope that EA Sports will impress viewers in 2022. With the Origin client removed from PC platforms and EA Sports FC taking over the mantle towards the end FIFA license for 30 yearsclosing some doors may open others.