Develop Conference 2009

Thursday 16th July/... Codemasters, the developer and publisher of acclaimed video games including Colin McRae: DIRT and Race Driver: GRID, was honoured at the 2009 Develop Industry Excellence Awards winning the coveted Grand Prix Award. The ceremony was held last night in Brighton, UK, as part of the Develop Conference 2009.

The Develop Industry Excellence Awards are presented by the respected trade journal Develop ( www.develop-online.net) and are the only peer-voted awards ceremony to recognise the achievements of the UK and European game development industry. The highly prestigious Grand Prix Award is bestowed on the company felt by Develop to have contributed the most to the games medium in recent times.

“We are honoured to receive the Develop Grand Prix Award. It’s a testament to the creativity, technical expertise and hard work from everyone at Codemasters,” said Gavin Cheshire, VP Development, Codemasters.

“We’ve strengthened our business to take advantage of the changing landscape of games development. With DiRT, GRID and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising we’ve turned long-standing IPs in to multi-award winning, reinvigorated and successful franchises. In the EGO Engine, we’ve created award-winning multi-genre, multi format technology. With FORMULA ONE we are creating new gaming benchmarks for the world’s most exciting motor sport. We’ve grown our Studios operation, adding Guildford and Birmingham sites to our long-established Warwickshire facility. We have continued to attract the best people and they’re creating brand new titles - the best is yet to come.”

Develop editor-in-chief Michael French commented “2009 was the biggest and best Develop Awards by far and in bestowing Codemasters with our Grand Prix Award we recognise and celebrate their world-class heritage and long-term success. Titles created by Codemasters Studios consistently demonstrate landmark technical achievements and deliver a guarantee of quality to gamers. That Codemasters’ development operation has grown and added two further studio facilities to its existing base is great news for the development community and industry as a whole.”

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

BHPR

codemasters@bhpr.co.uk

Stu Taylor, 01462 456 780

Richard Eddy, Director, Communication

Rich.eddy@codemasters.com

Codemasters (UK 01926 814 132)

ABOUT CODEMASTERS

Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of best-selling interactive entertainment products for a global audience across multiple gaming platforms and channels. Established in 1986, the company’s dominant brands include Colin McRae DiRT, Race Driver GRID, Overlord and Operation Flashpoint; the company retains the exclusive worldwide video game rights to FORMULA 1. Codemasters is headquartered in Warwickshire UK, with North American operations based in Universal City, Calif. The company also maintains operations in Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Malaysia. Codemasters receives over two million visitors to its web site every month, discover why at www.codemasters.com

ABOUT CODEMASTERS STUDIOS

Codemasters has a heritage of over 20 years as a game development operation; titles created at its multi-site studios are now published and distributed to over 70 countries. Recent years have represented a growth period for Codemasters Studios: 2007 saw the introduction of its development technology – the EGO Engine – to power the award-winning Colin McRae: DiRT. The EGO Engine, which now forms the basis of Codemasters’ entire internal development slate, including the BAFTA Award-winning Race Driver: GRID, is currently being deployed in the creation of Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising and the next generation of FORMULA 1 games.

Codemasters Studios has seen a significant rise in headcount through expansion, acquisition and growth. Codemasters Studios Guildford was established in 2007 and is now a 60-strong team. In 2008 Codemasters reached an agreement to take over Swordfish Studios, the Birmingham-based games development house. The operation, originally founded by Trevor Williams, has been retained and renamed Codemasters Studios Birmingham. Williams is now General Manager of both the Birmingham studio and the studio based at Codemasters’ Warwickshire HQ. Elsewhere, Codemasters maintains an art studio in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, working across the major projects including the new game based on the Formula One licence.

ASK ABOUT GAMES

Codemasters supports askaboutgames.com www.askaboutgames.com - a UK initiative designed to help parents understand the age ratings system for computer and video games so that they can make more informed choices when choosing games for their children.

Codemasters is a registered trademark owned by The Codemasters Software Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. “PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox LIVE are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. NINTENDO DS, Wii AND THE Wii LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS OF NINTENDO.