At last night's UK computer and video game industry's annual dinner, the InDin, the founders of Codemasters were honored with an ELSPA Hall of Fame award. Brothers Richard and David Darling and their father Jim launched the company in 1986 with the Commodore 64 game BMX Simulator, and they have since enjoyed success with such popular franchises as Colin McRae Rally, Operation Flashpoint, and TOCA Race Driver.

　　"The Darlings have been a constant success story for the computer and video games industry," said ELSPA director general Roger Bennett. "Richard and David took a teenage hobby and transformed it into Codemasters, a hugely successful business that has won many awards and works with the best development and games publishing talent and has an impressive portfolio of massively popular video games."

　　"We're honored to receive the award," said David Darling, CEO of Codemasters. "We've always been passionate about creating games, and to be recognized in the ELSPA Hall of Fame is immensely pleasing. The games business is a great industry to be involved in; it's fast-paced, creative, and rewarding to produce games that really entertain players all over the world."

　　Codemasters still has its headquarters in Warwickshire, UK, and has also established offices in the US and throughout Europe. The company currently employs more than 400 people and has a number of games scheduled for release in 2004, including Wartime Command: Battle for Europe 1939-1945, Race Driver 2, Dragon Empires, and the recently announced Perimeter.