Codemasters CEO Frank Sagnier and CFO Rashid Varachia are departing the company, just months after the studio was acquired by EA. Codemasters is also a week away from releasing its first game with the giant publisher, F1 2021, but reps are stating there is no juicy story behind the two leaders leaving the company despite the interesting timing.
Codemasters was in talks with several companies last year for a buyout, but EA scooped the team up as Take-Two was about to close a deal. EA seems to have acquired the studio in an attempt to wrangle up a proper racing team alongside Criterion, likely to balance arcade racers with simulation-based racers. EA also tends to use Criterion to do lots of support work, so having another racing team that can also help out on larger franchises is a massive benefit. However, two of the leaders of Codemasters will not be seeing out the developer's future under EA.
Codemasters CEO Frank Sagnier and CFO Rashid Varachia will be leaving the company at the end of July. EA's acquisition of Codemasters was huge and the publisher has seemingly indicated it largely wants the developer to remain intact and not become a run-of-the-mill EA studio, so it's unlikely there was any bad blood in the short months the two worked directly with EA. The publisher spoke highly of the two in a statement to GamesIndustry.biz and noted that this was something that had been part of the plan for a while.
"We are incredibly thankful to Frank and Rashid for everything they have done for Codemasters and Electronic Arts, and we all wish them the very best. We know the culture they have created and their innovative spirit will very much live on at the studio through their outstanding leadership team."
It's unclear who will replace these two leaders, but it's likely there's a lot of top industry talent that could fill the spots. Codemasters is gearing up to release F1 2021 later this month, which largely seems in line with its previous entries. Although the game was surely in development prior to the acquisition, it doesn't seem like EA has interfered in any noteworthy way and the developer seems to be operating smoothly.
Codemasters' future largely remains to be seen under EA. The company has a shaky history with many well-respected developers, leading to projects being canceled and studios being closed down. EA has been radically reshaping its image in recent years, so it's entirely possible that there are no issues with the Codemasters acquisition. Nonetheless, Codemasters seems to be in good hands for now and the changing of the guard situation isn't reflective of turmoil.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz