Gaming

Criterion making next gen Need For Speed confirms EA


Need For Speed Heat – not the last in the series (pic: EA)

Despite three flops in a row the Need For Speed franchise is not dead, but Hot Pursuit developer Criterion are making the next one.

Gamers often talk about beloved franchises that never get the sequels they seem to deserve, but sometimes the opposite happens and games that don’t deserve any more keep on getting them anyway.

The 2015 reboot of Need For Speed, by Swedish studio Ghost Games, wasn’t very successful either critically or commercially and neither was 2017 follow-up Payback or last year’s Heat (although it was certainly the best of the trio).

You really would’ve thought it would be three strikes and you’re out but apparently EA are giving it all another go, but this time at Burnout developer Criterion.

Criterion made the much more warmly received Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, Most Wanted, and (in conjunction with Ghost Games) Rivals from the early 2010s but were downsized shortly after and haven’t worked on a full game since then.

Instead they’ve been helping out on other EA games, most notably creating the Starfighter Assault mode in Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and the excellent X-Wing VR Mission.

Why things never worked out with Ghost Games is something of a mystery, as they have many ex-Criterion staff amongst their number, but EA blames difficulty in attracting new talent to its Gothenburg headquarters.

The studio is now being turned into an ‘engineering hub’ for other game and will be renamed simply as EA Gothenburg. The change in status puts 30 jobs at risk, although a number of staff will be moved over to Criterion.

‘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 told GamesIndustry.biz.

‘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’.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter

MORE: Need For Speed Heat review – cold comfort

MORE: New Need For Speed is called NFS Heat, out this November – watch the trailer here

MORE: Need For Speed Payback review – taking you for a ride





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.