Electronic Arts Hands The Keys Back To Criterion Games For Need For Speed

The foundation of the Need for Speed franchise on the surface might not be any different to most seeing that the same elements are mainly prevalent with each installment being bound to driving a car. But beyond the pixels you will see that the beloved series have been handed around quite a bit since the inaugural debut back in the 1990s.

Most notably, the series has taken a reflecting route for the franchise’s fundamental properties as ghost Games have created refreshing yet nostalgic entries with reboot Need for Speed (2015) and the latest Need for Speed: Heat. However, publisher Electronic Arts looks to be interested in returning the property to the hands of a former developer, Criterion Games.

In an announcement made earlier this week, word broke out from Gameindustry.biz that current Need for Speed developer Ghost Games would revert back to EA Gothenburg as the property will be handed back over to Criterion Games. The British game studio has not been active with the racing series since 2013 as a co-developer for Need for Speed: Rivals in 2013.

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 issues to the gaming industry outlet that in the motion of returning the studio’s name to EA Gothenburg, the Swedish developer will refocus its ambitions towards ‘engineering hub’ to support other projects under the publisher’s belt. “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.”

Additionally, it is also reported that Ghost Games plans to pursue migrating the creative team to Criterion Games in the midst of this announcement. But the decision would also potentially compromise 30 positions which has yet to properly be dealt with, EA tells. The publisher looks to perhaps infuse the remaining staff with other internal teams to resolve the issue.

Seeing the anticipated return of the Need for Speed franchise with Heat this past fall surely gives the player base more to be excited for – and hopefully the same can be said regarding a new different developer now in control of the series leading on. Electronic Arts shares their support for the decision after Criterion Games’ continued support as an additional developer for other EA-published projects. “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.”

In other studio pivotal changes under electronic Arts, it was announced last month that Respawn Entertainment founder Vince Zampella will now be leading DICE Los Angeles. You can read the full report by heading here.

Do you think this change of hands will be better or worse for the Need for Speed series?

Source: Gamesindustry.biz