Slightly Mad Studios

Slightly Mad Studios was a British development studio founded in 2009 in London. It was formed by former developers from Blimey! Games and SimBin, who had extensive experience in creating realistic racing simulators. The studio quickly established itself as one of the leading developers of racing games and simulators.

Its first major success was the racing game Need for Speed: Shift, which introduced a more realistic driving model, a cockpit view and an authentic driving experience. This was followed by the sequel Shift 2: Unleashed, which offered even more sophisticated physics, night-time races, dynamic cameras and an extensive career mode.

However, the studio achieved its greatest fame thanks to the Project CARS series, funded through the World of Mass Development (WMD) community programme. The titles Project CARS, Project CARS 2 and Project CARS 3 featured hundreds of licensed cars, dozens of world-class circuits, realistic weather, day-night cycles, advanced physics and support for racing wheels. The series ranks among the most acclaimed racing simulations of its generation.

Even before founding Slightly Mad Studios, members of the team were also involved in the development of games such as GTR, GT Legends and Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends, which further honed their expertise in racing simulations.

In 2019, the studio was acquired by Codemasters and subsequently became part of EA following Codemasters’ takeover by Electronic Arts in 2021. The Project CARS brand was later discontinued, yet the studio’s games remain highly regarded amongst fans of racing simulations.

Thanks to games such as Project CARS, Need for Speed: Shift, Shift 2: Unleashed and other racing titles, Slightly Mad Studios ranks among the leading developers of motoring games. Their titles have been released for PlayStation, Xbox and PC and remain popular racing simulators to this day.