According to GamesIndustry.biz, Electronic Arts is dropping Project CARS, Slightly Mad Studios’ racing sim franchise. Despite Project CARS 4 seemingly being in development, the publisher confirmed that it is stopping “further development and investment” for the series.
The decision was made after acquiring Codemasters and evaluating the series’ status. It was reportedly noted as “unlikely” to become successful or fit with the rest of EA’s racing games portfolio. As such, employees working on the series will move to “suitable” roles wherever possible.
An Electronic Arts spokesperson stated, “Today, we announced internally an update to our racing portfolio. Following an evaluation of the next Project CARS title and its longer-term growth potential, we have decided to stop further development and investment in the franchise.
“Decisions like these are very hard, but allow us to prioritize our focus in areas where we believe we have the strongest opportunity to create experiences that fans will love. We are focusing on our strengths in our racing portfolio, particularly licensed IP and open-world experiences, and expanding our franchises to be more socially led with long-term live services that will engage global communities.
“Games are at the heart of sports and racing entertainment and with shifting fan expectations, we recognize the need to evolve our games beyond pure play, providing experiences for fans to also watch, create and connect with their friends.
“We are working with everyone impacted by this decision to place them into suitable roles across our EA Sports and racing portfolio, as well as other parts of EA, wherever we can. Our priority now is on providing as much support as possible to our people through this transition.”
Project CARS 4 is unlikely to see the light of day, joining the long list of cancelled projects under Electronic Arts, but there are other racing games to look forward to. Criterion Games is releasing Need for Speed Unbound on December 2nd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Codemasters also reportedly has F1 23 and the next WRC game in development, with annual releases planned up to 2027. Stay tuned for further details and updates in the meantime.