CDM.L Share News (CDM)

(Sharecast News) - Videogame developer Codemasters on Wednesday signed Former F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso as a race consultant and confirmed the driver will appear in the latest instalment of its GRID franchise.The veteran of F1, endurance and stock racing is advising the developer on realism of in-game vehicle handling and performance, as well as appearing as an in game race opponent in his title winning Renault R26 F1 car.Chris Smith, GRID game director at Codemasters, said: "We are delighted to work alongside Fernando Alonso who is arguably one of the world's greatest ever drivers. His experience and knowledge has enabled us to make improvements to both the performance and handling of our cars. We could not be more proud to have signed him both in-game and as a Race Consultant. We can't wait for our players to experience the final version."The news comes in the week that Codemasters offered its first glimpses of the latest entries in its F1 and GRID franchises with brand new trailers and screenshots."GRID as a racing franchise is revered by our community and we are delighted to bring it to the current generation of consoles. The game offers so much variety and depth, from the number of modern and classic cars through to the locations and race options," said Smith.GRID will come to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox One X and Windows PC when released on 13 September 2019.Reacting to the new trailers, analysts from Liberum said: "The visual uplift, earlier release date and the Legends Edition could deliver record revenue for the F1 franchise, while the first new release of GRID for 5 years is backed by expected innovative game-play and a helpful launch window. We expect these games to provide a significant contribution to FY20 revenues and to underline the quality and value of CDM's IP with platform and license partners."Codemasters Group Holdings' share price was up 4.14% at 223.90p at 1207 BST.