It has been confirmed that Take-Two Interactive is on the verge of acquiring Codemasters. The British game development company is responsible for prominent racing games like DiRT and Project Cars. It also produces the officially licensed games for the Formula 1 Racing Championship, including F1 2020. The company's most recent project, DiRT 5, has already been received well by critics, including Screen Rant's own.

The video game world is already reeling from a different high-profile developer sale. Back in September, Xbox bought ZeniMax Media, acquiring Bethesda, id, and Arkane for a cool 7.5 billion dollars. This gave Microsoft the rights to several very prominent video game franchises, like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Doom. The move caused turmoil and alarm as fans considered the implications. On one hand, by bringing Bethesda back together with one-time partner Obsidian Entertainment, Microsoft ignited hopes that a sequel to Fallout: New Vegas, widely considered the best game in the franchise, could be released. On the other hand, Xbox's ownership might prevent Bethesda games from appearing on PlayStation consoles, a fear that was only stoked by recent comments from Xbox head Phil Spencer.

As fans contemplate Bethesda's future, another prominent sale has appeared on the horizon. Market reporter Tom Howard (via Nibel) has announced on Twitter that Codemasters is in talks with Take-Two over a potential sale for $972 million. Howard points out that the developer's stock shares have been steadily increasing recently, and that it is prepared to accept the deal if Take-Two goes through it. On the other hand, Howard cites analysts who believe that the cash and share offer is too low. Theories abound about other companies taking an interest in Codemasters if Take-Two doesn't follow through.

Take-Two is already a rather illustrious company, with some big plans for the future of video gaming. Major Take-Two owned titles like Borderlands 3 and Grand Theft Auto V have already been confirmed to make the leap to next-gen systems. Borderlands 3 is doing so in an especially flamboyant way, by offering a single Xbox Series X based on Claptrap the robot to one lucky fan. Bolstering an already impressive roster like this with the likes of DiRT and F1 is a solid move, and a good way to break into the comparatively niche market of racing game fans.

Fans are already worried about this sale, and it's easy to see why. Major corporate transactions always tend to have messy implications for the players, and Take-Two's reputation is far from flawless. The company has, for instance, championed the controversial $10 price hike in new next-gen games. Still, there's a long list of high-quality titles under Take-Two's umbrella, and Codemasters could do a lot worse than fitting in with the rest of that list.