EA Sports has silently changed the DiRT Twitter and Instagram handles from @DiRTGame to @EASportsRally which could indicate a rebranding of the Codemasters rally racing game.
With no announcement or fanfare publisher, EA Sports and developer Codemasters changed the social media handles of the DiRT rally series on March 22nd, 2022. This change could indicate a rebranding of the franchise and a change of direction for the rally racer DiRT, and its simulation-based spin-off DiRT 2.0. This would be the second rebranding in the franchise’s history with the previous iterations named Colin McRae Rally after the late legend himself.
If this is the case and a rebranding is indeed inbound, it will come as little surprise to fans of the series that have followed the recent developments at Codemasters. Back in February 2022, EA Sports acquired Codemasters in a $1.2 billion deal that saw the racing devs become part of the EA Sports stable. The deal brought with it the control of Codemasters’ stellar lineup of racing titles including Dirt, Grid, F1, and Project Cars.
With the resources provided by its new parent company, Codemasters is said to be working on an as-yet-unannounced AAA game. Speculation is rife as to what this title could be, with rumors suggesting EA may be considering handing over the reigns of a proposed reboot of Need For Speed to Codemasters. Another route EA may consider is handing over the IP for the Burnout franchise to Codemasters, but handing over the development of Burnout or Need For Speed would conflict with EA’s statement when they made the acquisition, saying that the studio would remain an independent group for the foreseeable future.
However, a rebranding of DiRT suggests this unannounced game could in fact be a new rally game instead of a title based on an existing EA racing franchise. This could come in the form of a new fully licensed WRC game as Codemasters acquired the WRC license back in 2020. Similar to the current F1 series it is possible that EA could release the new title annually under the EA Sports umbrella with the previously planned DiRT Rally 3 reportedly scrapped in late 2021.
After EA acquired Codemasters and coupled with the dramatic finale of the real world F1 championship F1 2021’s sales nearly doubled in EA’s Q3 2022 earnings call for the period ending December 31, 2021. If we are to receive a new EA Sports Rally game then it is understandable that EA and Codemasters would wish to mimic the F1 model as closely as possible within the confines of the sport.
