FUEL

Friday 22nd May/...It covers the approximate area of Trinidad & Tobago, it’s larger than Hong Kong, Singapore, St Lucia and the Isle of Man put together. Innovative open-world racer FUEL™ – launching on June 5th for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and a Games For Windows® edition to follow - boasts 5,560 square miles of accessible in-game terrain, making it officially the largest playable environment in a console game ever.

The accolade, presented to FUEL developers Asobo Studio, was confirmed by Guinness World Records, who have verified the record for inclusion in the next Guinness World Records Gamers Edition of the best-selling guide.

Guinness World Records presented Codemasters and Asobo Studio with a certificate that officially documents:

“Largest playable area in a console game: The largest playable environment in a console game is 5,560 square miles (14,400 km²), and is featured in FUEL (Codemasters, 2009). The area features rivers, deserts, forests and mountains and was demonstrated at the offices of Guinness World Records, London, UK, on 20 May 2009.”

“We’ve been very impressed with the technology powering FUEL, and I’m pleased to welcome Asobo and Codemasters into the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition,” said Gaz Deaves, Video Games Records Manager for Guinness World Records, “What we’ve seen from FUEL places it right at the cutting edge of the open-world racing genre and really raises the bar for games developers in the future.”

“We knew FUEL was going to be big,” said Phil Wright, Producer, Codemasters, “but to have this confirmed officially by Guinness World Records justifies our faith in this ground-breaking title. No other game comes close to offering the variety of environments, the range of vehicles or the sheer size of FUEL. It’s one of the most innovative racers ever, and we’re thrilled it’s been recognised as the biggest console game of all time.”

To celebrate the award, today Codemasters has released a new video featuring David Dedeine and Sebastian Wloch, two of the co-founders of Asobo Studio, who explain gameplay features and the technical challenge in creating the record-setting FUEL. The video is available from www.fuel-game.com (in the Downloads section).

FUEL’s world is one of staggering size and beauty. To put it into perspective, if players choose to drive from one side of the map to the other, it will take over 3 hours straight. This unprecedented virtual playground offers 19 environmental regions and features some of the most dramatic weather effects ever seen in a racing game. FUEL’s free-roaming nature allows players to pick and choose their route, races and career progression, offering almost limitless ways to play.

FUEL is set to become the ultimate racing sandbox when it launches Friday June 5th localise per territory for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® with a Games For Windows® LIVE edition to follow. Gain an insight into the creation of the game that sets the new standard in open-world racing by downloading the video at www.fuel-game.com.

PRESS RESOURCE WEB SITE

Download game artwork, screens and essential Codemasters’ press materials direct to your desktop from: http://www.codemasters.com/mediabank

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 recently secured 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

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, Xbox LIVE and Games for Windows are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries and 25 languages and is one of the highest-selling books under copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually across the globe. Guinness World Records celebrated its 50th anniversary edition in 2004, a year after the sale of its 100 millionth copy. Guinness World Records also annually publishes the Gamer’s Edition; a records book devoted solely to the world of computer gaming and high score record achievements. The Guinness World Records website ( www.guinnessworldrecords.com) receives more than 11 million visitors a year. Guinness World Records is part of the Jim Pattison Group, one of Canada’s largest privately owned companies which is a conglomerate of interests, including advertising, broadcasting, grocery stores and automotive retailing.