Slightly Mad founder hits out at EA after it axes Project Cars
Slightly Mad Studios founder and former CEO Ian Bell has criticised Electronic Arts following the publisher’s decision to cancel the Project Cars series.
Bell founded London-based racing game studio Slightly Mad in 2009 and led the company through its $30 million sale to Codemasters a decade later, as well as EA’s $1.2 billion acquisition of Codemasters in February 2021.
He left Slightly Mad last October, stating that the time was right to step aside “with the studio’s future now assured”.
But earlier on Tuesday, EA announced that it had decided to end development of Slightly Mad’s Project Cars series in a move that will have a significant impact on the company’s 160-plus strong workforce.
Bell tweeted on Tuesday evening: “EA, keeping on being awesome… I said my bit and I stand by every word as they continue to prove them.
“How are those numbers (sorry I mean people, with hopes, dreams and families) looking, at the bottom of those the spreadsheets?”
In a statement provided to GamesIndustry.biz, EA had earlier confirmed that Slightly Mad employees would be moved to other EA Sports and racing games where possible.
“Following an evaluation of the next Project Cars title and its longer-term growth potential, we have made the decision to stop further development and investment for the franchise,” the company said.
“Decisions like these are very hard, but allow us to prioritise our focus in areas where we believe we have the strongest opportunity to create experiences that fans will love.”
Bell has a history of bad blood with EA, which he previously accused of trying to destroy Slightly Mad after it published the studio’s first two games, 2009’s Need for Speed: Shift and 2011 sequel Shift 2: Unleashed.
In an interview with YouTube
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