Following last week’s tragic loss of World Rally Championship racing legend Colin McRae, videogame publisher and developer Codemasters has decided to cancel a major television advertising campaign that was due to run as support for the PlayStation 3 version of Colin McRae: DiRT.

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz on the matter, Codemasters has confirmed that, as a mark of respect for the grieving McRae family, the televised game ads will not be released to digital satellite service Sky TV, where they were scheduled to appear by way of tie-in for the studio’s latest Colin McRae-branded release.

“All media owners contacted were understanding and cooperative,” offered Codemasters regarding the consideration involved with the removal of the ad campaign.

39-year-old McRae died on September 15 of 2007 when his Squirrel helicopter crashed close to his family home in Lanark, Scotland. McRae, who was piloting the aircraft was killed in the crash, along with his five-year-old son Johnny and two family friends.

“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,” said Codemasters in an official statement.

“Codemasters’ relationship with Colin began through Jim, David and Richard Darling and their condolences, along with ours, are passed to Colin’s family. We are heavy of heart at his passing but we are also brimming with pride at knowing him and to have played a small role in his life.”

The very first Colin McRae Rally videogame appeared in 1998 for the PlayStation and PC and duly launched an extremely successful racing franchise for Codemasters.

Colin McRae: DiRT, for the Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3, is the sixth installment in the series. Realeased for Xbox 360 and PC in June of 2007, the PlayStation 3 version of DiRT was released to retail on the day of McRae’s death.

Coin McRae: DiRT footage provided by GameTrailers.com.