EA is set to "stop further development and investment" in the Project CARS franchise, moving staff to to other EA roles where possible.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the decision came after "an evaluation of the next Project CARS title and its longer-term growth potential." The evaluation, following EA's acquisition of Codemasters, resulted in "the decision to stop further development and investment for the franchise."

EA has said that employees working on Project CARS will be moved into "suitable" roles where possible.

In a statement, as sent to GamesIndustry.biz, an EA spokesperson said, "Decisions like these are very hard, but allow us to prioritise our focus in areas where we believe we have the strongest opportunity to create experiences that fans will love. We are focusing on our strengths in our racing portfolio, particularly licensed IP and open-world experiences, and expanding our franchises to be more socially-led with long-term live services that will engage global communities.

"Games are at the heart of sports and racing entertainment, and with shifting fan expectations, we recognise the need to evolve our games beyond pure play, providing experiences for fans to also watch, create and connect with their friends."

Despite EA owning the franchise, the studio had never published a main entry. The last Project CARS main title, Project CARS 3, was released in 2020 prior to EA's acquisition of Codemasters, parent company of developer Slightly Mad Studios. A mobile title, Project CARS Go, released in 2021.

"We are working with everyone impacted by this decision to place them into suitable roles across our EA Sports and racing portfolio, as well as other parts of EA, wherever we can. Our priority now is on providing as much support as possible to our people through this transition."

This article was originally published on dbltap as EA Canceling Project CARS Franchise.