The announcement marks confirmation that the game will be headlined by Colin McRae, honoring the life of the rally legend. Colin McRae, who consulted on the series for over ten years, tragically died in a helicopter accident in September 2007. The decision to continue the famous series bearing his name was made jointly between the McRae family and Codemasters.

Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will feature a roster of contemporary off-road events, taking players to the most diverse and challenging real-world environments. This World Tour will have players competing in aggressive multi-car and intense solo races at extraordinary new locations, from canyon racing and jungle trails to city stadium-based events.

To be powered by the third generation of the EGO Engine’s award-winning racing game technology, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will benefit from tuned-up car-handling physics system and new damage engine effects. It will also showcase a spectacular new level of visual fidelity, with cars and tracks twice as detailed as those seen in Race Driver: GRID.

Colin McRae: DiRT 2’s garage will house a best-in-class collection of officially licensed rally cars and off-road vehicles, specifically selected to deliver aggressive and fast paced racing. Covering seven vehicle classes, players will be given the keys to powerful vehicles right from the off. In Colin McRae: DiRT 2 the opening drive is the Group N Subaru; essentially making the ultimate car from the original game the starting point in the sequel and the rides just get even more impressive.

In addition to the World Tour, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will come complete with full online functionality that will be core to the overall experience, with head-to-head competitive online play and new social features to engage the racing community.

With DirectX 11 hardware expected to ship in the second half of 2009, and DirectX 11 coming to home computers with the release of Microsoft Windows 7 on October 22, 2009, Codemasters also announced that the Games For Windows LIVE edition of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will benefit from an extended development program to take advantage of DirectX 11 and is now scheduled to be published in December 2009.

“While the console editions of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will retain their September ship date, we believe that the DirectX 11 feature set is too compelling to ignore, especially considering how much more it can add to the visual experience for PC gamers,” said Bryan Marshall, chief technical officer, Codemasters. “As a leader in digital racing entertainment, we are staying ahead of the pack by immediately taking advantage of key new technologies such as hardware tessellation, multi-threading and Shader Model 5.0 to deliver the most realistic, immersive and exhilarating racing experiences in the business. The fusion of DirectX 11 with Codemasters’ EGO™ Engine will raise the technical bar considerably in the racing genre.”

With the introduction of Microsoft Windows 7, DirectX 11 will be made available both as part of the operating system and as a downloadable update to Windows Vista. Codemasters intends to immediately take advantage of DirectX 11 features that add to the realism of the racing environment. Hardware tessellation will further improve the appearance of water and other surfaces as well as crowd animations.

The shader performance of Shader Model 5.0 (SM 5.0) will aid in creating an even richer 3D experience, enhancing key image quality parameters such as depth of field, ambient occlusion and shadows. These DirectX 11 features, and many others, will add the horsepower needed to improve performance.

“We expect Codemasters’ early move to DirectX 11 to place them in a leadership position in developing the next generation of PC games and simulations,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president, AMD Products Group. “To aid in transitioning to DirectX 11, AMD is providing Codemasters with access to our software engineering expertise in DirectX 11 technologies such as tessellation and shader modelling. DirectX 11 has all of the ingredients needed to take PC gaming to a new level of realism by giving developers tools to effectively utilize the multi-CPU, multi-GPU systems now available to players.”

Bringing the series to Wii for the first time, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 takes gamers on an off-road tour of the globe, through nine exotic and vibrant locations. Whether it’s powersliding on the edge of control through the ice of the Finland or soaking up the atmosphere of a huge US arena, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 on Wii offers accessible gameplay for all types of racers, including full career and arcade modes and an array of bite-sized challenges.

With 40 races, three racing disciplines and a full roster of fully-licensed vehicles to choose from, plus intense head-to-head split-screen racing for up to four players, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 brings the hallmark thrills of the legendary series to a new audience.

Colin McRae: DiRT 2, known in North America as DiRT 2, is now in development for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, NDS and PSP, due for simultaneous release in Sept. 2009, while the PC edition is scheduled for Dec. 2009.