Codemasters, creators of the beloved Colin McRae Rally series and the critically acclaimed Dirt Rally games, has secured the official WRC licence from 2023 (as reported by GI.biz), with a deal that currently runs through to 2027.
It does mean there'll be quite some time until we see the fruits of the deal, with a new game from the Dirt Rally team due before the deal commences, and with Dirt 5 also on the slate after its reveal earlier this year. Bigben Interactive continues to hold the licence and will carry on producing games in the meantime, with this year's WRC 9 set to continue developer Kylotonn's impressive run on the series.
The last Codemasters' game to carry the official WRC licence was Colin McRae Rally 3 back in 2002, whereupon it was picked up by Evolution Studios for a run of PS2-exclusive titles before Milestone stepped in.