Codemasters' Darlings honoured by Computer and Video Games Industry with ELSPA Hall of Fame Award
Richard, David and Jim Darling, the founders of Codemasters, have been honoured by the UK computer and video games industry.
The brothers and father Jim, who launched Codemasters in 1986, were presented with the ELSPA Hall of Fame award at the InDin, the computer and video games industry's annual dinner, last night.
The Hall of Fame, created by ELSPA, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, celebrates the achievement of the UK games industry's pioneers and honours those who have helped put the UK games industry on the global map. The Darlings are only the second recipients of the award.
"The Darlings have been a constant success story for the computer and video games industry," says ELSPA Director General Roger Bennett, "Richard and David took a teenage hobby and transformed it into Codemasters, a hugely successful business that has won many awards and works with the best development and games publishing talent and has an impressive portfolio of massively popular video games."
Says David Darling, CEO of Codemasters: "We're honoured to receive the award. We've always been passionate about creating games and to be recognised in the ELSPA Hall of Fame is immensely pleasing. The games business is a great industry to be involved in; it's fast-paced, creative and rewarding to produce games that really entertain players all over the world."
Richard and David were teenagers when they launched Codemasters, with Jim as Chairman, developing and publishing games for early home computers. The brothers had already been creating games for some years, firstly selling their own titles via mail order before working as developers for publishing companies, which provided the funds to form Codemasters.
Now 36 and 37 respectively, Richard's vision for game design and David's entrepreneurial spirit have steered Codemasters to become a major force in the international games business.
Since the first Codemasters game "BMX Simulator", Codemasters has had over 60 number one best-sellers, and published some of the games industry's most popular titles including "Colin McRae Rally", "TOCA Race Driver", "Operation Flashpoint", and "LMA Manager". It is currently enjoying success with its range of "Club Football" titles, a series of games each headlined by a major football club including Manchester United, Liverpool FC and Real Madrid, and "Pop Idol – The Official Video Game", based on the hit TV show.
Codemasters remains headquartered in Warwickshire, UK, and employs over 400 people; it has established offices in the US and throughout Europe. Find out more about Codemasters and its games online at www.codemasters.com
The Hall of Fame, created by ELSPA, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, celebrates the achievement of the UK games industry's pioneers and honours those who have helped put the UK games industry on the global map. The Darlings are only the second recipients of the award.
"The Darlings have been a constant success story for the computer and video games industry," says ELSPA Director General Roger Bennett, "Richard and David took a teenage hobby and transformed it into Codemasters, a hugely successful business that has won many awards and works with the best development and games publishing talent and has an impressive portfolio of massively popular video games."
Says David Darling, CEO of Codemasters: "We're honoured to receive the award. We've always been passionate about creating games and to be recognised in the ELSPA Hall of Fame is immensely pleasing. The games business is a great industry to be involved in; it's fast-paced, creative and rewarding to produce games that really entertain players all over the world."
Richard and David were teenagers when they launched Codemasters, with Jim as Chairman, developing and publishing games for early home computers. The brothers had already been creating games for some years, firstly selling their own titles via mail order before working as developers for publishing companies, which provided the funds to form Codemasters.
Now 36 and 37 respectively, Richard's vision for game design and David's entrepreneurial spirit have steered Codemasters to become a major force in the international games business.
Since the first Codemasters game "BMX Simulator", Codemasters has had over 60 number one best-sellers, and published some of the games industry's most popular titles including "Colin McRae Rally", "TOCA Race Driver", "Operation Flashpoint", and "LMA Manager". It is currently enjoying success with its range of "Club Football" titles, a series of games each headlined by a major football club including Manchester United, Liverpool FC and Real Madrid, and "Pop Idol – The Official Video Game", based on the hit TV show.
Codemasters remains headquartered in Warwickshire, UK, and employs over 400 people; it has established offices in the US and throughout Europe. Find out more about Codemasters and its games online at www.codemasters.com