Xboxist

Codemasters Hiring for Secret First Person Shooter

Hot off their successful run with recent arcade racers DiRT 2 and FUEL, Codemasters is turning its considerable talent toward other genres. The company has announced that a number of programming development positions are opening as the developer expands in new directions. Rumor has it that a first person shooter is next on the plate for the UK based studio, which explains the recent hiring push at the Guilford location.

While other companies are scaling back and laying off staff, Codemasters is enjoying a relatively successful year. 2010 has seen key positions open across the Guilford studio's Design, Programming and Art teams. This studio is responsible for creating an original IP in the action genre. The studio has prototyped several concepts over the past 18 months with one (secret, unnamed) project entering full production some 12 months ago.

The project, is an original action FPS for leading console platforms, from designer Stuart Black, previously co-creator and designer of Black (2006). Black was an action-packed FPS based on real-world events and military hardware. The game drew accolades for its destructible environment technology and attention to detail, although it failed to draw a massive mainstream audience. It is likely that this new project will be set in a modern day, military environment, probably influenced by the success of Activision's Modern Warfare series.

This new project will be Codemasters' first original IP developed with the EGO game engine. EGO is a multi-platform, cross-genre development engine, meaning that we can expect this new FPS to make an appearance on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles.

However, since the project has only been in development for 12 months and the company is aggressively recruiting new talent, we don't expect to see this game released before late 2011.

When Black was released back in 2006, is was a great looking game for last generation consoles.