Colin McRae: Dirt - Off-Road Racing

The Codemasters games, named after legendary driver Colin McRae, have focused exclusively on rallies for nine years. When the time came in 2007 to change generations (both console and engine), Codemasters decided to broaden its horizons and introduced Colin McRae: DiRT. It was a game in which, in addition to rally disciplines, you could drive trucks, buggies, etc.

Rallycross, Hillclimb, and rally raid disciplines have been introduced. The game had three modes - career, championship, and Rally World. There was also a multiplayer component that was a kind of battle royale, in the sense that it could be ridden with up to 100 other players, only we didn’t see those other players on the track but measured their time on the track.

DiRT had a solid list of licensed vehicles, but also drivers. In addition to Colin McRae, there were also Travis Pastrana, Mike Ryan, and others. The game then used a new engine called Neon, developed in collaboration with Sony. It was the next-gen title at the time because it didn’t appear on PS2 and Xbox consoles. The game first came out for PC and Xbox 360, and three months later it came on PlayStation 3. It was the last Codemasters game launched before Colin McRae was killed in a tragic accident the same year.

Two later sequels to DiRT paid tribute to McRae, and then came down to a short name - DiRT. In the main series we saw a total of five games, and two games from the DiRT Rally series. Since 2021, the series has been owned by Electronic Arts and its future is uncertain. Codemasters has a license for the World Rally Championship again from 2023, and, likely, DiRT will not be associated with it.