Summary
- EA has established Battlefield Studios, a collective of four EA developers, including Criterion, brought together to work on the shooter.
- As a result, the Need for Speed franchise, which Criterion worked on, is effectively being put on ice.
- Previously, a “core group” of developers were allowed to continue working on the racing series. However, they have all since been moved to Battlefield alongside their colleagues who were moved in 2023.
On Monday, Electronic Arts finally broke its silence by revealing a first look at the next Battlefield game — a combined effort from four EA studios, including DICE, Criterion, Motive and Ripple Effect, collectively coming together as Battlefield Studios. As gamers may know, Criterion has largely been responsible for the Need for Speed franchise. However, it appears that, for the time being, the racing series will be put on ice until its Battlefield commitments are fulfilled.
In speaking to Eurogamer, the head of the Battlefield franchise, Vince Zampella, revealed that Criterion is all-in on Battlefield.
“The Need for Speed team at Criterion are joining their colleagues working on Battlefield,” Zampella said. “As a company, it was important to us to take the last year to listen to our Need for Speed community and use their feedback to create content for Unbound.”
Fortunately, the franchise isn’t dead, with Zampella adding that, “With an increased understanding of what our players want in a Need for Speed experience, we plan to bring the franchise back in new and interesting ways.”
Need For Speed Has A Murky Future
As it stands, Need for Speed Unbound is the last game to be released in the series, having been released back in 2022. By the time 2023 came around, EA had announced that a “majority” of the Criterion team responsible for the title had been moved to work on Battlefield. At the time, a “core group” of devs were allowed to continue to push forward on the franchise.
Flash forward to today, and it appears that the smaller team has now been fully integrated into work on Battlefield. Specifically, Criterion is being charged with the single-player experience as a “fully-fledged partner” for the game.
Prior to Monday’s announcement, Unbound continued to receive support via a Year 2 roadmap. However, future support is no longer in the books, with Criterion writing in a blog post, “Thank you for being part of the Unbound journey. It’s been quite a ride!”
Currently, Battlefield doesn’t have a set release date, meaning the Need for Speed layoff could be even longer than what it already is. Once an annualized franchise, it would be the longest period of time between titles should Need for Speed return in the future.
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