Electronic Arts is canning the Project CARS series of racing games.

That's according to GamesIndustry.biz, which reports that this follows EA evaluating the franchise's status in the wake of its acquisition of Codemasters last year. After this, it concluded that it is unlikely that Project CARS will be successful in the future, or fit with its racing portfolio on a whole.

"Today we announced internally an update to our racing portfolio. Following an evaluation of the next Project CARS title and its longer-term growth potential, we have made the decision to stop further development and investment for the franchise," an EA spokesperson said.

"Decisions like these are very hard, but allow us to prioritise our focus in areas where we believe we have the strongest opportunity to create experiences that fans will love. We are focusing on our strengths in our racing portfolio, particularly licensed IP and open-world experiences, and expanding our franchises to be more socially-led with long-term live services that will engage global communities. Games are at the heart of sports and racing entertainment, and with shifting fan expectations, we recognise the need to evolve our games beyond pure play, providing experiences for fans to also watch, create and connect with their friends.

"We are working with everyone impacted by this decision to place them into suitable roles across our EA Sports and racing portfolio, as well as other parts of EA, wherever we can. Our priority now is on providing as much support as possible to our people through this transition."

Project CARS made its debut back in 2015 from Slightly Mad Studios. A sequel was released two years later, ahead of a third entry in the franchise in 2020. The developer was then acquired by Codemasters, who in turn was bought by EA.

This comes in the wake of the first two Project CARS being delisted from digital storefronts due to licensing expiring.