Scottish rally driver Colin McRae, along with his five-year-old son and two family friends, passed away suddenly and tragically at the weekend, while piloting a helicopter in Scotland. His son, Johnny, was five years old. Two family friends, Graeme Duncan and six-year-old Ben Porcelli, were also killed in the crash. "For over ten years, Colin was part of the Codemasters family and it was a privilege to have a man recognised as a true legend on the team," said Codemasters through a statement. "He always took a keen interest in the game experience, wanting to make sure it was without equal in its portrayal of the sport.

"His contribution was inspirational and brought his technical expertise and passion for rally driving to each and every McRae game. Through the popularity of those games, he brought a whole new audience to the sport itself... He will never be forgotten by all at Codemasters." Developed and published by Codemasters in partnership with Colin McRae, the McRae games now form a 9 million+ selling series. The first game, Colin McRae Rally, was published in the summer of 1998 for the PlayStation and PC. It became an international best-seller and set a benchmark for rally video games. Colin McRae Rally 2.0, for the PlayStation and PC, followed in 2000, with Colin McRae Rally 3, for the PlayStation 2 and PC, in 2002.

With McRae's input, the series continued to evolve with an ever growing variety of car makes and classes, stages and countries featured through the games of 2003 and 2004, Colin McRae Rally 04 and Colin McRae Rally 2005 respectively (PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC).

Most recently, the series diversified further, mirroring Colin’s own participation in a broader range of motor sports, with year’s title: Colin McRae: Dirt. Published for the Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3, Colin McRae: Dirt has players competing in off-road races on gravel, mud and dirt tracks all over the world.

McRae’s website is now hosting messages of condolence at colinmcrae.com/condolences.asp.