It was discovered a few days back that Take-Two Interactive was in talks to acquire Codemasters, hoping to add it to a stable of major publishers that include 2K and Rockstar Games. It looks like those talks have worked out for Take-Two, as it announced today that it has reached an agreement with Codemasters’ executive board to acquire the British publisher/developer for approximately £759 million ($994 million).
In a statement sent out to investors, it revealed that the buyout should be completed in the first quarter of 2021. The short turnaround suggests that both companies are on board with the acquisition, and this was backed up by a statement from Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick expressing how Codemasters’ slate of titles will be “highly complementary” to its own sport portfolio. Similarly, Codemasters chairman Gerhard Florin stated that the company believes it will see long-term success and benefits from “Take-Two’s broad capabilities.”
With the acquisition, Codemasters’ sizeable library of games, which includes major racing franchises like Dirt, Grid, and F1, will be brought under the same umbrella as such IPs as Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands, NBA 2K, and plenty more. It also brings in the other notable racing game studios that Codemasters itself has acquired in recent years, which include Evolution Studios (DriveClub) and Slightly Mad Studios (Project CARS).
Take-Two’s acquisition comes right as Codemasters’ first next-gen title, Dirt 5, launches alongside the Xbox Series X. As for future titles, it’s unknown how this will affect the publisher’s output from here on out, but given that Codemasters seems just as enthusiastic about it as Take-Two, it looks like any potential changes that come from the buyout should be for the better.
