Slightly Mad Studios
Dormant UK racing game studio, absorbed into EA via Codemasters, no longer operating.
On the record
Checkpoint: Straight4 Studios' Year 1 season-pass DLC delivery deadline after layoffs and licensing loss
The call
Slightly Mad Studios has ceased to exist as an operating company; its IP sits idle inside EA while founder Ian Bell's new venture, Straight4, fights its own survival battle.
Slightly Mad Studios made racing simulation games (Project CARS series) but was bought by Codemasters in 2019 and absorbed into EA in 2021, leaving the brand inactive with no team or products. The new studio started by a former founder, Straight4 Studios, relaunched the game in 2025 to poor reviews, cut staff in December 2025, and lost racing licenses by March 2026, which signals the team cannot execute or hold onto what makes a racing game valuable. The real competitors, iRacing (for hardcore online racing), Gran Turismo (backed by Sony), and Codemasters itself (now part of EA), all have stronger physics reputations, exclusive licenses, or deep pockets, and AI opponents that learn on their own are starting to replace hand-built ones, which means even physics tuning (historically SMS's strength) may stop being a selling point. The one thing that could shift this: if Straight4 ships promised DLC on time in late 2026 and fixes the handling complaints that buried the reviews, player sentiment could recover enough to attract a patient publisher.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. SMS has no staff or product left to threaten; AI-tuned physics and coaching tools mainly pressure successor studio Straight4, not SMS itself. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Electronic Arts (via Codemasters). EA absorbed SMS in 2021, discontinued Project CARS in November 2022, and now holds the dormant brand and engine with no plans to revive them. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. None left: SMS has zero employees, revenue, or active product, only a dormant IP sitting inside EA's library.
What would change this call
Steam user review tag for Project Motor Racing changes from 'Mostly Negative' by end of 2026. Would show Straight4's post-launch fixes are winning back sim-racing players.
GIANTS Software announces continued publishing support or a new title with Straight4 in 2026. Would show the publisher still backs Straight4 despite layoffs.
Any further loss of licensed racing content (following the March 2026 GT500 rights loss). Would confirm ongoing licensing fragility versus rivals with secured IP.
GIANTS Software announces continued publishing support or a new title with Straight4 in 2026. Would show the publisher still backs Straight4 despite layoffs.
Any further loss of licensed racing content (following the March 2026 GT500 rights loss). Would confirm ongoing licensing fragility versus rivals with secured IP.
Key numbers
- Codemasters paid ~$30M for SMS
- EA wound down SMS as distinct unit
- Successor Straight4 laid off staff post-launch
Named risks
- Straight4 Studios may fail to deliver Year 1 season-pass DLC after December 2025 layoffs.
- Recurring licensing fragility, as shown by loss of GT500 naming rights around March 2026.
- Continued negative Steam sentiment could cause publisher GIANTS Software to withdraw funding.
- AI-driven NPC and coaching tools erode hand-tuned differentiation once associated with SMS lineage.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Kunos Simulazioni | losing to | Assetto Corsa Competizione ~91-92% positive Steam reviews vs Project Motor Racing Mostly Negative, Nov 2025 |
| iRacing | losing to | Described as owning competitive online racing 'without question' per third-party ranking, Dec 2025 |
| Electronic Arts (Codemasters) | losing to | EA owns dormant Project CARS IP and Madness engine after discontinuing franchise Nov 2022 |
| Polyphony Digital (Gran Turismo) | losing to | Console incumbent running live Gran Turismo World Series esports in 2026 |
| Studio 397/Motorsport Games | contesting | Le Mans Ultimate WEC-licensed sim active with 2026 season updates |
Questions people ask
- Is Slightly Mad Studios still operating in 2026?
- No. Slightly Mad Studios is dormant: EA discontinued its Project CARS franchise on 8 November 2022 and wound the unit down after Codemasters (2019) and EA (2021) acquisitions. Its domain slightlymadstudios.com showed no content as of 27 June 2026.
- Who owns Slightly Mad Studios now?
- Electronic Arts owns Slightly Mad Studios indirectly, via its 2021 acquisition of Codemasters, which itself bought Slightly Mad Studios for about $30 million in November 2019. The brand and Project CARS IP now sit dormant inside EA.
- Is Ian Bell's new studio Straight4 succeeding after Slightly Mad Studios?
- Not clearly. Straight4 Studios, founded by ex-SMS founder Ian Bell, launched Project Motor Racing on 25 November 2025 to a Metacritic score around 60 and 'Mostly Negative' Steam reviews, followed by staff layoffs on 8 December 2025.
- Could AI replace what Slightly Mad Studios or its successor Straight4 does?
- AI is nibbling at edges: reinforcement-learning NPC behavior research and $15-20/month AI coaching apps (Trophi.ai, TrackPro, as of April 2026) automate parts of driving coaching, but licensed content and physics engines remain harder to replace, and Project Motor Racing's own AI opponent behavior was criticized at launch.
- Did Straight4 Studios lay off staff after Project Motor Racing launched?
- Yes. Straight4 Studios confirmed layoffs on 8 December 2025, about two weeks after Project Motor Racing's 25 November 2025 launch, citing a need to 'reduce the size of our team' after 'exploring every possible alternative'.
- Who is Slightly Mad Studios' biggest competitor in sim racing?
- Kunos Simulazioni is the top-rated rival, with Assetto Corsa Competizione holding roughly 91-92% positive Steam reviews across about 46,000-47,000 reviews as of 22 July 2026, versus Project Motor Racing's negative reception since its November 2025 launch.
Timeline
- 2026-05-18Straight4 hires Aristotelis Vasilakos, ex-Kunos physics developer, as Chief Creative Officer
- 2026-03-25Project Motor Racing 2.0 relaunch; GT500 DLC briefly delisted after licensing rights loss
- 2025-12-08Straight4 Studios confirms layoffs weeks after Project Motor Racing launch
- 2025-11-25Project Motor Racing launches to Metacritic ~60 and Mostly Negative Steam reviews
- 2022-11-08EA discontinues Project CARS franchise, winds down Slightly Mad Studios as distinct unit
- 2021-02Codemasters, and thus Slightly Mad Studios, acquired by Electronic Arts
- 2019-11-28Codemasters acquires Slightly Mad Studios for about $30 million
- 2009-01-12Ian Bell founds Slightly Mad Studios from bankrupt Blimey! Games assets
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Codemasters buys Slightly Mad Studios for $30m (2019-11-28)
- Slightly Mad Studios (2026-06-15)
- Codemasters buys Project CARS developer Slightly Mad Studios for $30M (2019-11-28)
- slightlymadstudios.com (2026-06-27)
- Project Motor Racing (2026-07-20)
- Products, Competitors, Financials, Employees, Headquarters Locations (2025-11-25)
- More Industry Layoffs, as Project Motor Racing and Wreckreation Devs Put Staff on Ice (2025-12-09)
- Assetto Corsa Competizione Price history (2026-07-22)
- Best Sim Racing Games in 2026 Ranked (2025-12-11)
- Reinforcement Learning and Adaptive NPCs in Modern Games (2025-12-28)
- Best AI Sim Racing Coaches in 2026 (2026-04-02)
- Modeling and Verification of Autonomous-Racing Systems with Scenic, VerifAI, and dSPACE (2026-05-14)