EA lets Burnout developer Criterion make Need for Speed games again
EA moves Need for Speed game development from Swedish Ghost Games to Criterion in England. Criterion has previously made a number of NFS games and is also the creator of the Burnout series. Ghost Games is shutting down.
According to gamesindustry.biz, EA wants to rename its Swedish studio Ghost Games to EA Gothenburg and turn it into a “developer hub” that will only help other studios develop games. EA wants to transfer the Ghost Games developers who worked on the last four Need for Speed games to Criterion. Thirty jobs would be lost, however, EA confirmed to the site.
Publisher EA says it is struggling to find suitable talent in Sweden for work on the racing games. That’s why the company wants to bring development back to Criterion, which is based in Guildford, England. Many game studios are active in that region.
Criterion is best known for its Burnout racing games. In 2010, the studio already made Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Need for Speed: Most Wanted from 2012 comes from Criterion. In the following year, EA moved many of Criterion’s employees to Ghost Games and has had that Swedish studio make the NFS games ever since.
In recent years, Criterion has mainly assisted in the development of major EA games such as Star Wars: Battlefront, Battlefront II and Battlefield V. The studio is responsible for the battleroyale part of the latter game. EA is now tasking the studio to take Need for Speed to the “next generation.”
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)