After an eight-year break and experimenting with Ghost Games, Electronic Arts has announced that the development of Need for Speed games is coming back to British developer Criterion.
Criterion was behind the development of 2010's Hot Pursuit and 2012's Most Wanted, two of the most acclaimed Need for Speed games. Consider this, the decision should turn out to be a great move for fans of the racing genre. During the break from Need for Speed, Criterion has been working with EA on other projects like Battlefront II and Battlefield V.
The previous four Need for Speed games were developed by Ghost Games, which will soon be renamed to EA Gothenburg and will focus on "supporting development across EA's portfolio."
According to GamesIndustry.biz, EA stated that "the engineering expertise in our Gothenburg team, some of whom are architects of the Frostbite engine, is vital to a number of our ongoing projects, and they would remain in that location".
As a result of this major move, it seems that not everything is flowing smoothly for Ghost Games. Although EA is looking at moving as many staff positions as possible to Criterion, it does seem that many roles are at risk.
EA is hopeful for the franchise's future and also praised the work that Ghost Games has done. "With a strong history and passion for racing games and vision for what we can create, the Criterion team is going to take Need for Speed into the next-generation," EA said to gamesindustry.biz.
"Ghost Games have helped to bring some great Need for Speed experiences to our players. Consistently delivering that at AAA levels means we need teams with diverse skills in locations where we can continually support them and bring in new team members to join," EA said. "Despite our best efforts to establish an independent development group in Gothenburg over several years, it's become clear that the breadth of talent we need to maintain a full AAA studio is just not available to us there. Criterion can also provide the consistent leadership that we need to continue creating and delivering new Need for Speed experiences for a long time to come.
Criterion is a well-known studio that has developed the Burnout series and two of the most acclaimed Need for Speed games. In 2013 the studio was downsized, resulting in many employees moving to Ghost Games. During that time, Criterion was planning to work on new projects, including an extreme sports game.
