Video game publisher EA Sports has announced that it will not be releasing an official F1 game in 2026, instead opting to update its current F1 25 titles with paid content updates.
This isn’t the first time EA subsidiary Codemasters has scaled back an F1 game before moving forward with a follow-up. In 2015, the first title to be released on 8th generation consoles was released earlier than previous titles and had fewer features, such as Career Mode, which returned in 2016, but the title was still released.
Next year will be the first time Codemasters (which was acquired by an American company in 2021) hasn’t produced a full year of games since 2009, when it released F1 2009 on Nintendo Wii and Sony’s PSP.
F1 25, which launched on May 30th of this year for Xbox Series According to EA, the game will be a “deeply authentic and innovative representation of the action and thrills of F1, reimagined into an even more expansive experience with new ways to play for fans around the world.”
The company also said the move is part of a “multi-year strategic investment in the EA Sports F1 franchise, with support from both F1 management and the F1 team.”
“F1 25 has been an incredible success, driven by the passion of our fans and the energy of the sport,” said Lee Mather, Senior Creative Director at Codemasters. “With F1’s momentum building on and off the track, now is the perfect time for us to look ahead and build for the future. We are fully committed to the EA Sports F1 franchise. Our multi-year plan will further extend this year’s excitement with expansion in 2026 and reimagine the F1 experience in 2027.”
The real world of F1 will undergo major changes next year with new engines and aerodynamic regulations, as well as the addition of Cadillacs to the field and the switch of Saubers to Audis.The 2026 expansion will be cheaper than the full game, but will require an F1 25 to play.
This is a similar move to what the publisher has been doing with Formula 2 since F1 2019, with the previous year’s fields appearing in-game at launch and the current fields being added later, albeit in a free update.
EA has long been criticized for its tendency to pad its games with microtransactions and paid features, but the move will be a welcome one for gamers who often criticize sports game publishers for releasing completely new games every year, with little change from the last.
Further details such as release date and pricing for the F1 25 2026 update will be revealed at a later date.
