| Colin McRae Rally and Dirt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Developer(s) | Codemasters |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Platform(s) | |
| First release | Colin McRae Rally July 1998 |
| Latest release | Dirt 5 November 2020 |
Dirt and Dirt Rally (stylized as DiRT and DiRT Rally, formerly known as Colin McRae Rally), is a rally racing video game series developed and published by Codemasters. Codemasters had acquired the exclusive license to the World Rally Championship series in June 2020, which will begin as a five-year deal in 2023.
Started in 1998, the franchise has been a critical and commercial success and is generally acknowledged as a pioneer of realistic rally sports racing games. The series is named after the World Rally Championship driver Colin McRae, who provided extensive technical advice during development.
After McRae's death in September 2007, Codemasters used his name one more time in Colin McRae: Dirt 2, dropping the moniker in Dirt 3. The McRae name was then used once again in 2013 in the mobile release of Colin McRae Rally.
In 2021, Codemasters has announced entry into the 2021 Junior WRC season as "Codemasters Dirt Rally Team", which was later rebranded in the 2022 Junior WRC season as "EA Sports Rally Team" on behalf of EA Sports, as a result to Electronic Arts' acquisition of Codemasters.