EA pulls the plug on official F1 game as hiatus announced for 2026
EA Sports and Codemasters will not release a standalone F1 2026 game, as a hiatus has been announced for next season.
There will be no official standalone F1 game for the 2026 season, EA Sports and Codemasters have confirmed, ending an almost two-decade run of annual products.
Fans of the multi-platform Formula 1 games, released annually, will have to hold on to their copies of F1 2025 just a little bit longer…
EA Sports confirms no standalone official F1 2026 game
F1 2025 will serve as the base software for a two-year representation of Formula 1’s official computer game offering, created by software company Codemasters and published and promoted by EA Sports.
This week, EA Sports has confirmed that there will be no official F1 2026 standalone product, with the series taking a hiatus next season before a full return in ’27.
The F1 series, in its current form, is available on Sony’s PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X and S, as well as PC. The Codemasters series of F1 games has been produced on an annual basis, without interruption, since 2009.
What is going to happen in 2026 is that existing players of F1 2025 will be able to purchase a premium content update for their existing game, in what EA Sports says is a “strategic reset” for the franchise.
The intent is to create an all-new game for 2027 that “looks, feels, and plays differently”.
“F1 25 has been an incredible success, fueled by the passion of fans and the energy of the sport,” said Lee Mather, Codemasters’ senior creative director.
How F1 2026 is shaping up
👉 F1 2026: Confirmed teams and power unit suppliers for F1’s huge regulation changes
👉 F1 2026 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2026 grid?
“With Formula 1’s momentum on and off the track, now is the perfect time for us to look ahead and build for the future.
“We’re fully committed to the EA Sports F1 franchise. Our multi-year plan extends this year’s excitement with the 2026 expansion and reimagines the F1 experience for 2027 to deliver even more for players at every level around the world.”
But this hiatus doesn’t mean that avid players of the F1 game will not be able to race with the all-new active aerodynamics cars, complete with revolutionary new hybrid power units, until the second year of the new regulations.
The 2026 premium content update will include the new cars, teams, and drivers, as well as the updated sporting regulations. The pricing plan for this premium content pack has not yet been issued. It will require players to own the F1 2025 base game already, as well as an EA account, an internet connection, and all the game updates installed.
F1 2025 is the fifth game offered by Codemasters since EA Sports acquired the computer game developers in 2021.
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