Given that Codemasters almost exclusively deals in racing games of various types, it is a legitimate surprise that it took this long for this to happen, but yes, they have gone ahead and acquired Slightly Mad Studios. Slightly Mad Studios is most recently known for Project CARS and its follow up. However, they have also gained notoriety in the last few months for their apparently totally unironic announcement of their own high end console, the Mad Box.
The Mad Box is apparently not the reason Codemasters has bought Slightly Mad, however. Speaking in the press release that officially announced the acquisition, Codemasters CEO Frank Sagnier said,“We are delighted to bring such an incredible racing game developer to the Codemasters family, and this unequivocally establishes us as a global powerhouse in the development of racing titles.
“We share the same passion and vision and our new partnership will accelerate our growth. With more streaming services coming to market and the next generation of games consoles due in 2020, this is the perfect time for Codemasters to take its next step.”
They even mention streaming services, but they very carefully do not bring up the new console allegedly in the works at Slightly Mad. Maybe it’s just vaporware now, and will not be happening. Which, I am sure, will be devastating news to… someone, I’m sure.