Blimey! Games was established in May 2005 by the developers who had created GTR – FIA GT Racing Game, released in 2004. That title, a simulation of the FIA GT Championship, attracted a dedicated following among PC sim-racing enthusiasts for its physics model and authentic presentation of GT-class motorsport. The founding team brought the technical and creative experience from that project directly into the new studio. Ian Bell, formerly managing director and founder of the SimBin development team, served as CEO of Blimey! Games. At its peak the company comprised a specialist development team of around 60 people distributed across locations worldwide.
Following its founding, Blimey! Games formed the core development team for GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game, the sequel to the title that had inspired the studio's creation. The team also developed GT Legends, a sports car racing simulation focused on classic touring and GT cars from the 1960s, published in 2005. Both titles were distributed through 10tacle Studios AG, a German publisher with whom Blimey! maintained a close working relationship.
In 2006, Blimey! Games and 10tacle Studios AG signed a licence agreement with Ferrari, securing the rights to develop video games featuring the Italian manufacturer's vehicles. The agreement represented a significant commercial and prestige opportunity for the studio, placing it in the same category of developers with direct access to Ferrari's brand and car data.
The collapse of publisher 10tacle Studios AG in 2008 severely disrupted Blimey! Games' operations. With the insolvency of its principal publishing partner, Blimey! was left without the financial support necessary to continue independently. On 8 January 2009, the studio entered administration.
Following the administration, the business and assets of Blimey! Games were sold to Slightly Mad Studios Limited, a company that had been established by Ian Bell himself. The staff were hired into the new entity, preserving much of the institutional expertise that had been built at Blimey!. Slightly Mad Studios subsequently went on to develop the Need for Speed: Shift series for Electronic Arts and later the Project CARS franchise, both of which drew on the simulation philosophy and personnel of its predecessor.
Although short-lived, Blimey! Games occupied a formative role in the early-to-mid 2000s PC sim-racing scene. GTR – FIA GT Racing Game and GTR 2 are regarded as benchmarks of their era for GT-class simulation, and GT Legends retains a cult following among historic racing enthusiasts. The continuity of personnel from Blimey! into Slightly Mad Studios meant that the design principles and technical approaches developed at the studio survived its closure, influencing titles that reached a far larger audience.