Codemasters has announced that it has secured a license to create Formula One racing games, after Sony recently opted not to renew its deal. With the new license, Codemasters plans to develop a new F1 game franchise for multiple platforms including PC, with the first title expected in 2009. The deal is a multi-year one, Codemasters confirmed to Shacknews.

News that Codemasters has picked up the license does not come as much of a surprise, considering the company's considerable racing game expertise (Colin McRae Rally series, TOCA Touring Car series, the upcoming Race Driver: GRID), its recent acquisition of Sega Racing Studio, and the fact that the company's headquarters are in Europe, where the sport is much more popular than in North America.

"Codemasters' success and recent innovations in the racing game space makes the company more than appropriately tuned for the challenge," said Codemasters chairman Chris Deering, adding, "The combination of Formula 1's new momentum of expansion and Codemasters' contemporary technology and past experience is the breaking of a new dawn for the sport, on the track and on the HD game screen."

Console maker Sony is rumored to be abandoning the license for Formula 1-branded racing video games, with increased license costs blamed as the culprit.

Citing "industry sources," TG Daily claims that there is apparently a wide gap between what Formula 1 wants for the license and what Sony is actually willing to pay.

Sony's hold on the F1 license has long kept the sport from appearing on any non-PlayStation platforms. With Sony supposedly out of the picture, an F1 game could find its way to multiple platforms.

The report named EA, Ubisoft, and Codemasters as possible licensees, though it could go to any of the countless other publishers in the industry. EA and Codemasters are both established developers in the racing genre, while Ubisoft has yet to produce a major racing title.