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Codemasters

United Kingdom Founded 1986 Website

Codemasters is a British video game developer and publisher founded by David Darling and his brother Richard in 1986. Headquartered in Southam, Warwickshire, Codemasters is one of the oldest British game studios, and in 2005 was named the top independent games developer by Develop magazine.

Codemasters at a Glance

Codemasters has been a constant presence in the video game industry since its founding in 1986. Based in Southam, Warwickshire, the studio released 40 titles during the 1980s and saw its output grow to 57 games in the 1990s. The company reached its peak productivity in the 2000s with 76 releases, before activity slowed to 40 games in the 2010s and just 18 in the 2020s so far. Over their active career spanning from 1985 to 2025, they have published 214 games and developed 100 titles on PlayPile, totaling 239 entries. The studio focuses heavily on specific genres that reflect its long history. Sport games make up the largest category with 101 releases, followed closely by racing titles at 97 games. They have also produced 68 simulator games and smaller numbers of platformers, adventure games, and arcade entries. Their platform reach is vast, with PC being the most common home for their work at 101 titles. However, they were equally active on older hardware like the ZX Spectrum with 59 games and the Commodore C64/128/MAX with 58 releases. They have also maintained a presence on modern consoles including the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, each hosting 35 of their games. Quality varies significantly across their catalog. The average rating for their 107 rated titles sits at 71 out of 100. While they have 27 great-rated games with scores above 80, they also have 63 good titles and a handful of mixed or poor entries. Their highest-rated work includes Cosmic Spacehead from 1993 with a score of 91.4 and Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis from 2001 at 89.4. More recent output shows a decline in critical scores. F1 25 released in May 2025 holds a rating of 76.9, while F1 24 from the previous year scored only 69.4. EA Sports WRC, released in October 2023, received a similar score of 69.8. This suggests that while their legacy titles remain highly regarded, their recent sports simulations have struggled to match the critical acclaim of their earlier years.

239
Total Games
71
Avg Rating
1985
First Release
2025
Latest Release

Genre Breakdown

Sport
23%
Racing
23%
Simulator
16%
Platform
8%
Adventure
8%

Platform Spread

PC (Microsoft Windows)
101
ZX Spectrum
59
Commodore C64/128/MAX
58
Amstrad CPC
48
PlayStation 4
35

Release Timeline

1980s
40
1990s
57
2000s
76
2010s
40
2020s
18

Rating Distribution

27
80-100
63
60-79
14
40-59
3
0-39
Heroes of the Pacific game cover
Rating 8.2

Heroes of the Pacific

2005·PC, XBOX, PS2
Brian Lara International Cricket 2005 game cover
Rating 7.0

Brian Lara International Cricket 2005

2005·PC, XBOX, PS2
England International Football game cover

England International Football

2004·XBOX, PS2
FC Barcelona Club Football 2005 game cover

FC Barcelona Club Football 2005

2004·XBOX, PS2
AC Milan Club Football 2005 game cover

AC Milan Club Football 2005

2004·XBOX, PS2
Colin McRae Rally 2005 game cover
Rating 7.9

Colin McRae Rally 2005

2004·PC, Mac, XBOX +2
Second Sight game cover
Rating 7.6

Second Sight

2004·PC, XBOX, PS2 +1
Soldiers: Heroes of World War II game cover
Rating 77

Soldiers: Heroes of World War II

2004·PC
MTV Music Generator 3: This is the Remix game cover
Rating 8.1

MTV Music Generator 3: This is the Remix

2004·XBOX, PS2
Perimeter game cover
Rating 6.9

Perimeter

2004·PC
TOCA Race Driver 2 game cover
Rating 7.8

TOCA Race Driver 2

2004·PC, XBOX, PS2 +1
American Idol game cover
Rating 8.0

American Idol

2003·PC, PS2
Borussia Dortmund Club Football game cover

Borussia Dortmund Club Football

2003·XBOX, PS2
AC Milan Club Football game cover

AC Milan Club Football

2003·XBOX, PS2
Real Madrid Club Football game cover

Real Madrid Club Football

2003·XBOX, PS2
Colin McRae Rally 04 game cover
Rating 7.8

Colin McRae Rally 04

2003·PC, XBOX, PS2
Downhill Domination game cover
Rating 7.5

Downhill Domination

2003·PS2
Pop Idol: The Official Video Game game cover

Pop Idol: The Official Video Game

2003·PC, PS2
World Championship Snooker 2003 game cover
Rating 7.0

World Championship Snooker 2003

2003·XBOX, PS2, PS1
IndyCar Series game cover
Rating 6.5

IndyCar Series

2003·PC, XBOX, PS2
DTM Race Driver: Director's Cut game cover

DTM Race Driver: Director's Cut

2003·PC, XBOX
I.G.I.-2: Covert Strike game cover
Rating 7.2

I.G.I.-2: Covert Strike

2003·PC
Prisoner of War game cover
Rating 5.5

Prisoner of War

2002·PC, XBOX, PS2
Colin McRae Rally 3 game cover
Rating 8.2

Colin McRae Rally 3

2002·PC, XBOX, PS2
Pro Race Driver game cover
Rating 7.0

Pro Race Driver

2002·PC, XBOX, PS2 +1
Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing game cover

Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing

2002·XBOX, PS2
World Championship Snooker 2002 game cover

World Championship Snooker 2002

2001·PS2
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis game cover
Rating 8.9

Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis

2001·PC, XBOX
MTV Music Generator 2 game cover

MTV Music Generator 2

2001·PS2
Severance: Blade of Darkness game cover
Rating 8.9

Severance: Blade of Darkness

2001·PC
1nsane game cover
Rating 8.4

1nsane

2000·PC
Mike Tyson Boxing game cover
Rating 3.3

Mike Tyson Boxing

2000·PS1
Pro Pool game cover

Pro Pool

2000·GBC
Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force game cover
Rating 7.8

Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force

2000·PC, Mac, PS2
TOCA World Touring Cars game cover
Rating 8.7

TOCA World Touring Cars

2000·PS1, GBA
Colin McRae Rally 2.0 game cover
Rating 8.2

Colin McRae Rally 2.0

2000·PC, PS1
World Championship Snooker game cover

World Championship Snooker

2000·PC, PS1
Micro Maniacs Racing game cover

Micro Maniacs Racing

2000·PS1, GBC
No Fear Downhill Mountain Biking game cover
Rating 7.1

No Fear Downhill Mountain Biking

1999·PS1
MTV Music Generator game cover

MTV Music Generator

1999·PC, PS1
TOCA 2: Touring Car Challenge game cover
Rating 8.1

TOCA 2: Touring Car Challenge

1998·PC, PS1
Brian Lara Cricket game cover
Rating 6.0

Brian Lara Cricket

1998·PC, PS1
Music: Music Creation for the PlayStation game cover

Music: Music Creation for the PlayStation

1998·PS1
Colin McRae Rally game cover
Rating 6.6

Colin McRae Rally

1998·PC, PS1
Pete Sampras Tennis 97 game cover

Pete Sampras Tennis 97

1997·PC, DOS
TOCA Championship Racing game cover
Rating 7.2

TOCA Championship Racing

1997·PC, PS1
Jonah Lomu Rugby game cover
Rating 7.7

Jonah Lomu Rugby

1997·PS1, DOS, Saturn
Micro Machines V3 game cover
Rating 8.8

Micro Machines V3

1997·PC, PS1