Codemasters bosses exit developer following EA buyout
Quick drop-off.
Codemasters CEO Frank Sagnier and CFO Rashid Varachia have left the developer following its acquisition by EA.
EA told GamesIndustry.biz the pair's departure has "always been part of the plan", but was brought forward due to the speed of Codies' integration into EA.
F1 developer Codemasters and Project Cars developer Slight Mad, which Codies bought in November 2019, are being made a part of EA Sports, which is publishing F1 2021 next week.
SVP of product development Clive Moody and SVP of publishing Jonathan Bunney now lead Codies. Slightly Mad boss Ian Bell remains in charge of the London studio.
Sagnier joined Codemasters in 2014 after a two-year stint as boss of French social and mobile game developer IsCool Entertainment. Varachia, who played a key role in Codemasters' listing on the stock market in 2018 and its integration with EA, exits after nine years at the company.
Last year EA swooped in to buy British developer Codemasters for a hefty $1.2bn (£851m). EA boss Andrew Wilson subsequently explained he wants to give Codemasters the Respawn treatment: in other words, let the studio retain its identity without too much outside interference.
Codemasters, of course, is known for racing franchises such as Grid, F1 and Dirt, and it seems EA plans to keep the developer busy. EA has said it aims to release a racing game every year, drawing from both the Codemasters portfolio and its own franchises such as Need for Speed, Burnout and Real Racing.