Codemasters, the team responsible for producing the collectible card combat game Battle Decks, is shutting down its Malta Studio and is now centering its attention on racing games.
Codemasters opened its Malta Studio in 2014 and eventually rolled out its very first title this year, Battle Decks. It also launched fantasy-action RPG Overlord: Fellowship of Evil, which many critics found fault with. The games' failure to meet expectations and other setbacks have then led Codemasters to concentrate on where it feels most at home — racing.
"While it's been great to explore projects outside of racing, we know that our hearts belong to racing in all its many glorious forms," Codemasters tells Eurogamer. "The success of Dirt Rally's Early Access program has been incredible, F1 2015 was very successful reaching number one in many territories."
Codemasters says its next title, Micro Machines, will soon hit mobile. It says it is currently busy developing its Dirt Rally video game. Codemasters is also planning for an 11-member Malta team, saying the staff will be absorbed into the U.K. office.
Sales for the company's financial year which ended in March 2015 slipped from £51.9 million ($78 million) the previous year to £25.5 million ($38 million). The company put the blame on just rolling out two major games, F1 2014 and Grid Autosport.
Codemasters confessed it experienced trouble in improving its technology to work on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Previously, the developer launched Dirt Rally on PC and F1 2015 on Xbox One and PS4.
Codemasters also has studios in India, Malaysia, Birmingham and Southam that are handled by Reliance Big Entertainment (owned by the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group).
Rod Cousens, the firm's ex-boss, left his position in March this year. Citing an insider source, Eurogamer says that over the last few months, 30 of the firm's staff have left, including some of those who were working in its Malta studio. The F1 team based in Birmingham, however, remains intact.
