Codemasters today announced that Ken Block, the multi-medal-winning Subaru Rally Team USA driver and co-founder of DC Shoes, has been signed on as one of the key motorsport athletes who will be featured in Colin McRae: DIRT 2.

X Games team-mate of the late Colin McRae, Block is at the forefront of a new breed of pro drivers, competing as Subaru Rally Team USA Driver #43 in the Rally America National Championship and the world-famous X Games. He has also gained notoriety for his mind-blowing stunts in his Subaru WRX STI. For Colin McRae: DiRT 2, Block is working with the development team at Codemasters Studios as technical consultant, lending his wealth of knowledge to the game and advising on car handling.

“Colin McRae is one of the main reasons that I am a rally driver. He is a big inspiration to me and the way I drive my rally car,” said Ken Block. “It’s really an honour to be a contributor to the creation of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 and to be able to continue the passion that Colin had for rally and for these videogames.”

They have released a video where Block discusses his relationship with the legendary driver and how he was inspired by McRae to pursue his own career.

Question: what do showering women and ladies in underwear have to do with off-road racing action? I, for one, do not know, and will most probably never figure it out. But if you want to try, check out this video for DIRT 2, Codemasters’ upcoming driving game.

The following trailer has creative director Lennart Sas discussing the difference between Overlord 2’s destruction and domination choices, which are a direct result of the original not having enough evil choices.

Oh, and harems are important as well.

A couple of screenshots from Overlord 2 have been released, showing off the gameplay with new minions and monsters.

Codemasters sent out some screenshots showing off FUEL’s weather effects, which include snowstorms, thunderstorms and tornados. A video showing off these effects can be found on the game’s website.

The off-road racer is due out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

VG247 carries word from Codemasters that Operation Flashpoint 2 can be expected this summer. The site spoke with a representative who said that they cannot be “any more precise than that right now.”

The sequel to the military-themed shooter is being internally developed.

Following word yesterday that Monumental had acquired a stake in 50 Cent game developer Swordfish Studios, Codemasters today announced that it has reached an agreement with Activision Blizzard to take over the aforementioned Birmingham-based games development house.

Under the terms of the agreement, the studio’s development team will be integrated and managed as part of Codemasters’ network of studios. Their job will be to create original content using Codemasters’ proprietary EGO engine, which currently powers Race Driver: GRID and Colin McRae: DIRT, among others.

“We are committed to growing our studio operations across multiple facilities and increasing the internal capability of Codemasters’ creative resource,” said Gavin Cheshire, VP, Codemasters Studios. “There is a strong heritage and a compatible skill set, which has enabled us to fast track growth plans and allows for ease of management. Codemasters has ramped up as a UK games development powerhouse with a scalable support infrastructure that allows for rapid deployment of the highly versatile EGO Engine.”

Beta signups for upcoming elite space combat MMO Jumpgate Evolution has been going well for Codemasters and NetDevil, who jointly announced that over 150,000 testers have signed up for the game. If you are interested, signups are still open.

The full game is set to go live sometime in 2009, with a closed beta due to go live soon.

Codemasters Online sends word that their popular subscription-free MMORPG ArchLord has opened a new hardcore PvP server to cope with increasing demand for the game.

The server will exclusively focus on PvP combat for both new and existing players alike. To celebrate the launch of “Cyripus”, the company is running a number of in-game events to challenge players. This includes various in-game leveling contests to being the actual ArchLord. Prizes will be given away, too.

Ed Relf, Director, Marketing, Codemasters Online commented, “This is a hugely significant development for ArchLord. The new server has been brought online to cope with the massively increasing demand for the game. We are still attracting tens of thousands of new players each week and with almost ¾ million players now registered, there’s never been a better time to play this great free-to-play MMO.”

The recently released Race Driver: Grid playable demo has been downloaded over one million times, says Codemasters. The demo was launched on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 8.

They are currently having a competition using the demo to give players the chance to win a brand new BMW 3 Series car. All one has to do is beat the Fastest Final Lap Challenge for a shot at the car. The final date for playing is May 23.

The city is falling apart, and it is up to you to put it back together! Codemasters has announced Emergency Mayhem, a disaster game that puts the player at the helm of the three emergency services in a race against time to hold together Crisis City. Exclusive to the Wii, the game will feature driving sequences with arcade mini-games, letting players control police, fire service or the paramedics as they dash around the city from one emergency to another.

There will be over 30 missions in the game, having the player rescuing people from burning buildings, defusing bombs and more. Interestingly, emergencies will be of a slapstick nature, as crazy situations will have banana-hurling monkeys, using a trampoline to bounce escaping prisoners back into custody and even more.

In Emergency Mayhem time is your enemy, relentlessly counting down as you take charge of a fire truck, ambulance, or police car to speed through the city’s eight different districts to the next emergency. Have you got the nerves necessary to beat the clock and save the city? Find shortcuts, such as making use of the city’s underground railways lines and even sewers, to get there on time and save the day.

When you reach the scene of the emergency play switches to one of over 30 mini-games which take unique advantage of the Wii Remote to solve crazy crises. Using the Wii Remote, you’ll have to pump the to practice CPR, point it to direct water from a powerful hose, mimic a wrench to bring bursting water-hydrants under control and aim it to fire tranquiliser darts into on-the-rampage monkeys!

Emergency Mayhem is due out during Q2 2008. More information and media can be found on the game’s website.

European gaming publication Develop reports that Codemasters Guildford is working on an original “character-driven action title” dubbed Project Strike Team.

Apparently, the game is still in its early stages and so the studio is still working out on how to transfer its concepts into gameplay. The title will use an advanced version of the company’s NEON technology, which was recently used to power DiRT.

Though no platforms were specifically mentioned, one can look forward to the game only on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

The latest trailer for Turning Point: Fall of Liberty is now available, showing off the upcoming alternate history shooter set up in Nazi-occupied USA. The game is due out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 early next year.

The latest publisher to join the Steam bandwagon is Codemasters, who have made sure to release Clive Barker’s Jericho on almost every digital download service… ever. Their participation in Valve’s service will also see the release of Overlord and DIRT later this month.

Future games from the publisher will be on Steam day and date with their retail release. However, their agreement does not extend to past games, so do not expect to see older Codemasters games on the service anytime soon.

Another squad member video from Clive Barker’s Jericho has been released. This time it focuses on Cole, who is described as a “reality hacker”.