After EA ended is licensing partnership with the World Rally Championship (WRC) and stopped all development on rally racing games, a new publisher has swooped in to scoop up the rights.
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown publisher Nacon has secured the rights to publish WRC games for six years, starting 2027.
EA gained WRC rights following its acquisition of license holder Codemasters and released EA Sports WRC in 2023 to a tepid critical and commercial reception. EA then announced it was “pausing development” on future rally games and laid off an unconfirmed number of Codemasters staff.
Nacon, when previously known as Bigben Interactive, had held the WRC license before EA, releasing nine games in as many years between 2013 and 2022.
Nacon said the license agreement “covers the development and publishing of the official WRC games and eSports competitions, granting [the company] exclusive rights for PC and consoles for six seasons, from 2027 through 2032.”
