Codemasters Senior Designer Steven Embling Talks New F1 Regulations, DLC Strategy, 2027 Plans, More

Formula One has received its most drastic regulation change in years for 2026, and the video game will need to follow suit. Rather than going with a full release for 2026, the team at EA SPORTS and Codemasters elected to go with a DLC that brings these regulations into F1 25.

One may think that there are fears involved, especially with a new way to race and some mixed reactions from not only the fanbase, but the drivers as well. In speaking with Steven Embling, the Senior Games Designer at Codemasters, he mentioned the changes created excitement for the development team to instill these new regulations. The racing is certainly more engaging in the game than it ever has been before, as you can check out our thoughts on it here.

[Hardcore Gamer] Is the current form of Formula One reaching your expectations, in general?

[Steve Embling] New regulations always provide an exciting reset to the competitive order and bring a fresh dynamic to the racing. It's been impressive to see how quickly the teams have adapted to what are significant engineering and sporting challenges, and particularly encouraging to see the level of performance remain so close to that of the previous generation of cars.

From a racecraft perspective, we've already seen some fantastic wheel-to-wheel battles throughout the season, including Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in Shanghai, and George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in Montreal. What has stood out is how these battles can develop over multiple corners and laps, rather than being decided in a single moment. There is now a greater strategic element to both attacking and defending, with drivers needing to think carefully about energy deployment, positioning and timing to make an overtake stick.

That's something we're especially excited about, because those same considerations translate directly into the player experience. The additional strategic choices created by the new regulations can lead to more engaging racing and give players more opportunities to influence the outcome through their decision-making and racecraft.

Did you have any concerns about translating the new product into an intuitive form in the game?

Whenever the sport introduces significant regulation changes, it gives us an exciting opportunity to evolve the game and bring players closer to the latest era of Formula 1. The 2026 regulations are among the most substantial changes we've seen in recent years, so they gave us a lot of new areas to explore and faithfully represent. To name some of the considerations, we had to interpret the performance and handling characteristics of this year's cars, as well as the Power Unit deployment curves. Then there was the communication side. Of course, Overtake Mode is a term many will be familiar with, but its function is notably different this year.

One conscious decision we made was to limit the amount of Superclipping to avoid unintuitive situations where cars lose significant speed despite being at full throttle. While we simulate the regulations faithfully, real-world teams will often push these systems to their absolute limits in pursuit of those final hundredths of performance. We were mindful that players looking to replicate that behaviour could still do so by manually managing their ERS settings while on track. By taking a more conservative approach to Superclipping by default, in addition to offering an optional assist to manage it on the player’s behalf, we ensure the core driving experience remains intuitive and accessible for everyone to pick up and enjoy.

At what point was a decision made and why was the decision made to go with DLC for 2026?

The decision to offer a premium content update for F1 25 is part of a strategic reset for the F1 Franchise. We are very happy to bring players even more value to F1 25, a title that was well received, as we look towards what is next for the franchise.

The overall consensus on the new racing in F1 has been mixed. Do you feel that showcasing this in the game can sway the minds of some that are not a fan of the current F1 product?

The sport of Formula 1 has reinvented itself several times since its inception in the 50s. The sports’ openness to change and evolve ensures it stays as the world's most exciting and revered race series with the best drivers racing at some of the worlds greatest race tracks.

This season we’re seeing more teams racing closely at the front, a tightly packed midfield, Audi joining the grid and the newly formed Cadillac team. There’s never been a more exciting time to be an F1 fan and us being able to deliver this to our players will only serve to deepen fans engagement and passion for the sport.

Our goal with the game is to create the most authentic F1 experience possible for our players. This has been a year of significant rules and regulations changes in the sport that we are looking forward to bring to players to experience for themselves.

With taking a year off from a full release title, what is the plan going forward with the series? New engine, focus on next gen?

In 2027, a new game will be released that looks, feels and plays differently, delivering more gameplay choices. Read more in our previous announcement here. We have nothing additional to share at this time.

Has any thought been considered in regards to reintroducing classic cars and drivers in some sort of "Eras" mode?

New ways for players to enjoy our games are always under consideration, but we have nothing further to share at this time.

Do you feel the coasting into corners aspect will have an impact on multiplayer racing?

The new regulations introduce an additional layer of strategy to multiplayer racing and create more opportunities for players to differentiate themselves through their driving style and racecraft. Techniques such as lifting and coasting into corners can be used to recover energy, which can then be deployed later in the lap or race when it may have a greater impact on defending or challenging for position.

As with many aspects of motorsport, there is often a trade-off between short-term lap time and longer-term race management, and the 2026 regulations bring more of those decisions into the hands of the player. I'm looking forward to seeing how the community adapts to these new systems and develops different approaches to extracting the most from the car over the course of a race.

Will there be driver ratings updates for this year that reflect in the modes for DLC?

We are planning to make a driver ratings update to reflect some of the most significant developments from the season. As always, we want the ratings to feel representative of what fans are seeing on track, while also ensuring changes are based on a meaningful sample of performances rather than short-term fluctuations. Our current plan is to release an update in the weeks following launch based on the early season performances.