Officials from veteran British publisher and developer Codemasters have unveiled a new corporate identity and logo for the company, to be used on all new and forthcoming game packaging and marketing materials.

The identity was developed in association with strategic brand consultancy Branded, with the logo and type realized by creative communication specialist Clinic. The first new releases from the company to sport the new logo will be Hospital Tycoon on PC (due for release in the UK on June 7th), Colin McRae: DiRT on Xbox 360 and PC (due for release in the UK on June 22nd) and Overlord on PC and Xbox 360 (due for release in the UK on June 29th).

In its formative years, Codemasters was known in the UK for its wide range of original budget titles for early 8-bit and 16-bit computers such as the Sinclair Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga and Atari ST. In later years, the company became better known for its use of the Micro Machines license and a range of British based sports simulations based on cricket, rugby and various motorsports.

More recently the company has also begun to diversify into publishing PC titles, largely those developed in Eastern Europe, and massively multiplayer online role-playing games, including recent hit The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.

CEO Rod Cousens, commented, "The new Codemasters logo is bold and enigmatic and its introduction is a further milestone in the progress of the company. Much like our in-house talent, the new logo can flex its creative muscles. It doesn't have a set color; it may appear in a wide range of colour or tonal combinations. To that end, it's a logo that always has an element of the maverick about it, which reinforces the creativity and playfulness of Codemasters as a whole."

"The identity can have different moods, depending on whether it is working or playing. When at work, such as corporate literature, it is very sophisticated, confident and businesslike,” said directory of marketing Nicola Hewitt. "However, when it is at play and being creative, on packaging and marketing materials, it's out to have more fun, try new things and to be enjoyed by everyone who comes into contact with it."