He was the racing star who lived life in the fast lane, his tragic and untimely death shrouded in controversy. But now Colin McRae is to make a posthumous comeback in a poignant tribute as part of a new video game.

The driver's name and images will be included in Colin McRae: Dirt 2, released this September, say game company Codemasters.

A spokesman for the company said: "Colin doesn't feature as a character in the game but will make an appearance. I can't really go into detail. But I can say there will be a tribute to him at the culmination."

Previous versions of the game sold millions of copies around the world but makers defended their lucrative tribute to the racing legend, which they say has the blessing of the McRae family.

Adrian Lewton, of Codemasters, said: "Colin may be gone but he'll never be forgotten. His death was a huge loss to us and we worked closely with him for 10 years and regarded him as a personal friend rather than just a face on the box."

And a spokesperson for the McRae family confirmed they would resume using his name for commercial products "in a different format".

McRae and his three passengers were killed when his helicopter crashed in 2007.

A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch could not positively determine the cause of the accident but was critical of McRae saying: "The pilot placed his helicopter in a situation in which there was greatly reduced margin for error or opportunity to deal with an unexpected event."