Codemasters Gains “Substantial” New Funding

Officials from UK publisher Codemasters have announced that the company has obtained a significant new investment from venture capital firm Benchmark Capital Europe, which in return acquired a 40% stake in the publisher. The exact amount has not been revealed but is described as “substantial”. The money will be used to speed up the company’s development program, including plans to develop more proprietary game content for next generation console – with an emphasis on online gaming. Thus far the company has had little success in this arena, famously canceling the release of PC massively multiplayer online role-playing game Dragon Empires. The company also intends to use the money to enter the mobile applications business, as well as found sales and marketing activities and the acquisition of third party products. The company’s ambitious plans are topped by a promise to continue expansion into new territories, and in developing international publishing operations - Codemasters, perhaps best known in Europe for the Colin McRae Rally series, has never had a major U.S. presence. "Codemasters has grown organically to become the largest privately owned video games publisher in Europe. Benchmark's investment, and also importantly the involvement of Benchmark's highly talented team, will now provide the perfect opportunity for Codemasters' next growth phase”, commented co-founder David Darling. "Codemasters has consistently demonstrated for over 18 years that it has the skill and capacity to produce very high quality interactive entertainment, and successfully operate as an independent player in a very competitive and dynamic landscape", added Benchmark Capital’s Ynon Kreiz.