IGN UK has an interview up in which Codemasters provides some, well, dirt on Colin McRae: DiRT 2, due next year. Yes, the game is in development (for PC, PS3, and 360), and yes, the Colin McRae branding is being retained despite the legendary rally driver's untimely death last year.

So, what's new for the off-road racing series that caused Ludwig bodily injury? Not the engine – it's running on the EGO tech that drove the original DiRT and GRID, albeit an enhanced version of it. "More physical modeling of the environment, improving lighting and shadowing, and broadening the use of our streaming system to allow much higher texture detail," are to be expected, according to executive producer Gaven Raeburn.

It's not just retaining McRae's name, either. "His ventures into events such as the X-Games, Dakar Rally and the Race of Champions have inspired us to look at events covering the extremes of off-road motorsport," said Raeburn. "DiRT 2 will be a great tribute, and we'll be revealing more about this over the coming months."

Hopefully, Ludwig will still be playing Far Cry 2 when DiRT 2 hits, so we won't have to insitute a Joystiq Injury Watch program.

[Via Shacknews]