Codemasters today announced Race Driver: GRID, a new racing franchise from the creators of the Colin McRae: DIRT and Race Driver series. The game is said to bring “excitement” back to racing and is set for release sometime in the middle of next year for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

“Race Driver: GRID is all about the race.” said Gavin Raeburn, Executive Producer at Codemasters Studios. “The next iteration of our DiRT engine combined with a decade of experience in developing driving games enables us to put the player at the centre of the action like never before. Damage, packed grids, intelligent opposition and unprecedented race day atmosphere will combine to deliver an experience like no other.

Says Ralph Fulton, Chief Game Designer: “GRID focuses on everything that happens between the start grid and the chequered flag: the drama, the rivalries, the aggression and the crashes. This is not a game about collecting cars or spending all of your time in the front-end tuning suspension settings or designing liveries. We want to make racing exciting again.”

Race tracks will be spread out over three continents and will offer a wide variety of events. It will feature both new and classic race cars, including circuit and drift ones. Cities included in the game include Washington DC, San Fransisco, and Detroit. European and Asian cities will also be present.