Funnily enough, the 2 games you've mentioned are exactly what I wouldn't want the F1 series to become. Poloyphony's ad-hoc method of updating and fan communication, iracing's hardcore and online focus. Whilst for sure, individually there would be elements from both studios that would be great, PD would make a visual treat (though perhaps still a bit lifeless) and iracing would undoubtedly make a phenomenal simulation physics engine and robust online.
EA and Codemasters have the recipes from previous games to make 2025 the best one yet, whether they will do that is another question. Driver career was a decent step in the right direction for single player, the driving model was in m opinion, the best since 2020, which is the best F1 game done under license with Codemasters/EA.
Realistically, there's very few developers and/or publishers who have the budget for the license and yearly development, the knowhow to get it nailed on straight out the box, and the desire to commit to what will be an intensely annual cycle of game releases. And it's long been rumoured that a contract stipulation for the license is an annual F1 game release.
Another thing that Codemasters/EA budget allows, is there are Multiple F1 development teams within Codemasters, developing the games on a 2 year cycle, very few other developers will be able to do this. Changes and upgrades between games will therefore be even smaller and harder to justify on an annual release game.
The studio with the most racing pedigree and licensed series' game development is Milestone, however, quality fluctuates wildly between their games, i.e. The MotoGP series, and it took their WRC series 3 releases before it came good and then they lost the license after the 4th. There's no doubt they would apply their usual level of passion and the career modes from MotoGP would translate brilliantly into an F1 game. But the quality realistically wouldn't be any better than CM, and likely worse in a lot of areas.
Kunos is a studio people always talk about regarding F1 games, and whilst again there would be a lot of passion and detail in the project, they are a small team with their main Assetto Corsa series as the priority, their console ports are woefully slow and I don't think they'd be able to keep up with the development demand of a yearly F1 release. It would also do a similar thing to iracing and make it inaccessible to lots of people as Kunos games tend to be a bit difficult to play on controller.
Then there's your Ubisofts, 2k games, Rockstar even. None of them will have any real interest in doing it apart from maybe 2k, who would of course love to expand their roster of official sports games, but with no experience of F1 game development or racing studio attached it's unlikely. Plus, for a studio like those ones who might take a punt, they're going to bring in a new team and people with experience in F1 games to make the best go of it, so a lot of Codemasters guys will end up on it anyway.
It is my belief, that to generate better F1 games in the future and keep more people happy across the spectrum, the licensing shouldn't be exclusive. That's the bit that hurts it, there's no competition, no alternatives, F1 games arguably were at their peak when there was 2-3-4 studios making them, think F1 Challenge (EA), Grand Prix 3/4 (Microprose/Geoff Crammond), Formula One (Sony/Studio Liverpool), Grand Prix Challenge (Infogrames), F1 World Grand Prix (Eutechnyx), F1 Racing Championship (Ubisoft), all of these were released between 2000-2002.
Imagine a world where EA/Codemasters made the F1 game for all people, accessible, but scalable, decent online, single player focussed and the one for all. Then iracing/Monster games make a hardcore simulation, bare bones but very detailed physics, laser scanned circuits, the definitive SIM experience, wheel strongly recommended, robust and structured online, new eSports home. Then a Ubisoft or a Milestone make a more arcade, Grid style, OTT F1 title. For example.
In terms of EA/CM simply losing the license and F1 seeking an exclusive deal with someone, I do think it's a case of careful what you wish for. Yeah 2k could make a detailed and entertaining F1 game, borrowing bits from their other games like online clubs, good career modes and so on, but it would also inherit their intense micro transaction culture which would make EAs podium pass look very good. Milestone could make a competent game but it's going to be worse in almost every area, harsh as that may sound, they don't have the budget to do more.
There's no doubt, F1 '25 needs to deliver in a massive way. See my post here where I wrote up about F1 '24 and what I think the future held at the time.
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...d-what-should-codies-do-going-forward.427058/
2025 if I recall is the last year of the license deal until the extensions become options. So there is a real risk of '25 being the last if it performs poorly and/or is poorly received. But that might not be the best thing for us as consumers, as detailed above but also, it could simply be that no one will want to take it on, and we'll have a dead period of no F1 games like we had in the late 2000s.
