Online game writer EA Sports activities has introduced that it’s going to not be releasing an official F1 recreation in 2026, as an alternative opting to replace its present F1 25 titles with paid content material updates.
This is not the primary time EA subsidiary Codemasters has scaled again an F1 recreation earlier than transferring ahead with a follow-up. In 2015, the primary title to be launched on eighth technology consoles was launched sooner than earlier titles and had fewer options, corresponding to Profession Mode, which returned in 2016, however the title was nonetheless launched.
Subsequent 12 months would be the first time Codemasters (which was acquired by an American firm in 2021) hasn’t produced a full 12 months of video games since 2009, when it launched F1 2009 on Nintendo Wii and Sony’s PSP.
F1 25, which launched on Might thirtieth of this 12 months for Xbox Sequence In keeping with EA, the sport can be a “deeply genuine and progressive illustration of the motion and thrills of F1, reimagined into an much more expansive expertise with new methods to play for followers around the globe.”
The corporate additionally mentioned the transfer is a part of a “multi-year strategic funding within the EA Sports activities F1 franchise, with help from each F1 administration and the F1 crew.”
“F1 25 has been an unbelievable success, pushed by the fervour of our followers and the power of the game,” mentioned Lee Mather, Senior Artistic Director at Codemasters. “With F1’s momentum constructing on and off the monitor, now could be the right time for us to look forward and construct for the long run. We’re absolutely dedicated to the EA Sports activities F1 franchise. Our multi-year plan will additional lengthen this 12 months’s pleasure with enlargement in 2026 and reimagine the F1 expertise in 2027.”
The actual world of F1 will bear main modifications subsequent 12 months with new engines and aerodynamic laws, in addition to the addition of Cadillacs to the sphere and the change of Saubers to Audis.The 2026 enlargement can be cheaper than the total recreation, however would require an F1 25 to play.
This can be a related transfer to what the writer has been doing with Method 2 since F1 2019, with the earlier 12 months’s fields showing in-game at launch and the present fields being added later, albeit in a free replace.
EA has lengthy been criticized for its tendency to pad its video games with microtransactions and paid options, however the transfer can be a welcome one for players who usually criticize sports activities recreation publishers for releasing utterly new video games yearly, with little change from the final.
Additional particulars on the F1 25 2026 replace, together with its launch date and value, can be revealed at a later date.
