Operation Flashpoint studio to close, Codemasters to focus on racing titles

Codemaster's official statement says that the publisher will be concentrating on growing the teams based at their Warwickshire and Birmingham studios, responsible for racing titles like DiRT, GRID, F1 Online and F1 2011.

News arrives from GamesIndustry.bizthat Codemasters is closing down its Guildford studio, which has previously worked on the recent Operation Flashpoint games, and the poorly received console shooter, Bodycount.

Codemaster's official statement says that the publisher will be concentrating on growing the teams based at their Warwickshire and Birmingham studios, responsible for racing titles like DiRT, GRID, F1 Online and F1 2011. The closure of the Guildford studio means we're not likely to see any more shooters from Codemasters in the foreseeable future.

The studio closure has affected 66 members of staff, who "are now involved in a consultation period." The Codemasters statement says that employees at Guildford "will be encouraged to apply for suitable positions on campus and in the Birmingham studio," where Codemasters plan to form another team to start work on a new racing title.

"As Codemasters looks to take greater leadership in the racing category, the company is proposing a studio structure that adds resource and strengthens our best-in-class racing teams." reads the statement. "The output from the studios on the Warwickshire campus and in Birmingham is on the increase."

Dirt 3 was the last racer Codemasters released on PC. We gave it a score of 88 in our Dirt 3 review. F1 2011 is out later this month.