Codemasters is announcing that it has acquired Sega's UK-based Racing Studio, confirming a rumor that was in circulation not too long ago. Codemaster's CEO also had some words to share regarding this matter, which you can view in the full article.

In an interview with Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens, he declared that his company is attractive for companies outside the gaming market. He was able to say so because the company had a good 2007.

The successful titles they were  by able able to produce the past year include Colin McRae: DIRT (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), Overlord (PC, Xbox 360) and Clive Barker's Jericho (PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3). Details of the interview are in the full article.

Long-running British developing and publishing company Codemasters have a lot of goodies already lined-up for everyone in the coming year.

Rod Cousens, CEO of Codemasters announced that the new titles reflect the driving grown in the North American market and will focus on content geared for the American consumer

Check out the line-up right after the jump!

After its first week out on the market, Colin McRae: DiRT by Codemasters has hit the half-million mark in global sales. The game's demo has been downloaded more than 500,000 times and the actual sales figures are just a shade behind.

Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens comments "This success with DiRT is a text-book case of our product development, marketing and distribution efforts all working together to ignite consumer interest and drive sales."

Cousens also revealed that almost half of the game's first-week sales were from the United States, and said that the distribution is a sign that the DiRT franchise is catching on internationally.

DiRT is available now for the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the PC. A Sony PlayStation 3 version will be released later this year and is also expected to sell well in the platform.

It's been said that Codemasters is a company that doesn't get much attention. Most people know the games they produce such as Heatseeker, Clive Barker's Jericho, and others but don't really have an idea of the company behind it.

To rectify that situation, they've been working with brand consultant Branded and creative communication specialist Clinic to come up with a brand-spankin' new logo.

The brand logo is very important to a company. People buying stuff are known to be influenced by the brand name behind the product. How many times have you heard a person say "I'm buying it because it's a (insert a popular brand-name here)"? That said, The CEO of Codemasters Rod Cousens gave a few words on the new logo and its design.

The new Codemasters logo is bold and enigmatic and its introduction is a further milestone in the progress of the company. Much like our in-house talent, the new logo can flex its creative muscles.

It doesn't have a set colour; it may appear in a wide range of colour or tonal combinations. To that end, it's a logo that always has an element of the maverick about it, which reinforces the creativity and playfulness of Codemasters as a whole.

The new design will already be used for Codemasters games that are slated for release this June, including Hospital Tycoon, Colin McRae: DIRT, and Overlord. Be sure to keep checking back here for more industry news.

   

Developer Codemasters is probably one of the better known publishers around today. Still, the videogaming industry is one of the most competitive around, so every company needs further exposure. So it's not a surprise that Codemasters, creators of popular MMO Dungeons and Dragons Online and highly anticipated Warhammer Online, is looking for some "backup."

The thing now is that the company isn't only involved with MMORPGs. During the last cycle, Codemasters released a couple of titles including Operation Flashpoint: Elite for the Xbox and Sensible Soccer 06 for the PS2.

Anyway, it seems that the company has noticed the same as they just entered into a big distribution agreement with the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens, on the other hand, is more than happy with the new contract. He exclaimed:

Codemasters continues to strengthen its content and distribution. And as the reach of our product portfolio broadens to a global audience, there can be no more effective alliance than to have the world's largest entertainment corporation handling the line in the single largest market.

Also, the agreement only involves the North American market. It would take effect beginning April of next year for titles DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road, Overlord, Clive Barker's Jericho and Fall of Liberty among others.