EA Gives the Need for Speed Franchise Back to Criterion Games

Very interesting, indeed. I felt like Ghost was really struggling for the titles they put out. Hopefully, EA’s reasoning for moving things back to Criterion (namely, more talent in the UK vs. in Sweden) will translate to improvments in the next NFS game, which I assume will be released in Fall 2021.

Meanwhile, I hope we see some neat improvements and DLC for Heat throughout this year. I could foresee the return of the drag and speedcross modes that were present in Payback, for one.
 
sumbrownkid
Reddit seems to be freaking out about it, then again reddit seems to freak out about anything.
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It's been blown way out of proportion there. This news is basically EA relocating the majority of staff who were working in Gothenburg back to the UK (Since ~80% were from Criterion originally), because Guildford is a far better place to be when it comes to finding new talent.

Criterion in 2020 is Ghost 2.0. Or Criterion 3.0. ;)
 
I couldn't be more happier with this news. The fact that Criterion Games will be taking over NFS again gives me hope that we will see finished, polished, and fun NFS games once again!

Ahhh. 2020 has been brilliant so far. :D Ghost Games tried their best (I guess), but they just weren't cut out to make any NFS game IMO. Passing the franchise back to Criterion will hopefully do it justice, just like back in 2010.

Good luck Criterion Games! 👍
 
This makes me sad. Ghost Games did a good job with NFS Heat and the fact Criterion is getting the rights again after Most Wanted 2012 didn't even live up to MW2005 as it's basically Burnout Paradise but with branded cars, EA ****ed with them again.

NFS is dead to me. Rip in peace.
 
This seems like good news to me. Between the Burnout series and the Need For Speed entries Criterion made it felt like they made some great games. I am somewhat biased however, as Need For Speed Hot Pursuit(2010) that Criterion produced is my favorite NFS game of semi-recent memory. Hopefully fans of the NFS series can keep an open mind and realize that both Ghost and Criterion have made some good and bad NFS games. It might be good after 5+ years of Ghost produced NFS games to give Criterion the chance to execute their vision/ideas for the next NFS game.
 
Reposting here because there is some possible proof that Criterion can continue where Ghost left off rather than restarting the whole development:

Keep in mind that Criterion used to develop this canceled actual Most Wanted Sequel before it was canned due to time constraints and releases the cookie cutter/discount version instead.

Noted that this build didn't actually have brake to drift before changing in mind and putting it back for the final version.

Its quite good. Actually fitting with Ghost development direction if you ask me.



And perhaps my favourite hands down. Just listen to the final quote!
 
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"EA kills Need For Speed to revive Burnout at the hands of Criterion" would've been better news, but hey, I'm happy with this still. Hopefully they learned what made NFS be so **** for this generation.
 
I'm glad to hear that Criterion is getting the development back. I much preferred their titles to the ones Ghost developed.
 
Crazy Taylor
I feel NFS should just be killed off and EA produce a new racing game series instead. Preferably one that isn't terrible and doesn't suck your wallet dry.
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What recent NFS titles "suck your wallet dry"?

Edit; Payback did. Never played that one. Rest assured NFS;Heat was free of pay to win mechanics, or microtransactions at all.
 
Meh. Ghost was already being led by an ex-Criterion guy for Heat and that game came out fine. Don’t expect too much to change from a direction standpoint.
 
It's such a shame Black Box is gone... They made Underground 1 and 2, MW2005, Carbon, Prostreet... If there's a list of players' favourite NFS titles, those games would without a doubt fill the top 5 spots.

Well, as far as Criterion is concerned, at least their car sounds are great. Just looked back at a video comparing the car sounds in MW2012 to their real-life counterparts, and they basically sound spot-on. The only game I know that has done the Lexus LFA's sound right.
 
Eh, Criterion Games is not the same as it was. Lots of new people. But then again they turned into a good developer when EA gave them alot of support. Burnout 3 and Revenge had a huge team. Maybe having full EA support will make them big players again
 
“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.

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.”
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Can't help but think to EA, "AAA" means shove more monetization into their games. But I'd really like to be proven wrong for once from them.

I think Ghost Games did pretty well all things considered, sans the big misstep that was Payback that Heat later rectified, though I haven't played heat yet. I think this could be an improvement overall, I just don't like the fact that EA has any influence over this IP.
 
RaceFuchs
So they will never be able to do another Burnout. Instead, they are forced to do Need for Speed for the rest of their lives. Great.
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Ea owns Burnout, but the crew that made the games are no longer there. We dont want a disappointing Burnout game along with NFS games
 
xlDevontelx
What recent NFS titles "suck your wallet dry"?

Edit; Payback did. Never played that one. Rest assured NFS;Heat was free of pay to win mechanics, or microtransactions at all.
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EA in general do. Mostly FIFA and the like.
 
It seems Criterion will also be handling the rest of Heat's post-launch support.

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Probably explains why K.S. Edition cars haven't been released.
 
sumbrownkid
Reddit seems to be freaking out about it, then again reddit seems to freak out about anything.
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Yeah. They're scared of another "MW2012." I hate how they write Most Wanted 2012 off simply because it has 'Most Wanted' on the title and that it had different physics. That said, I may sound biased because I actually like Most Wanted 2012 and -gasp- prefer it over Most Wanted 2005!
 
No, please, they finally did somewhat decent physics.

I wish they just make 2 projects, one for trending, Most Wanted wannabe and full arcade stuff and Need For Speed Classic long time supporting online game. Why choose, why do not have both.
 
I guess I've been wrong for past five years, because I always thought Ghost Games is more or less Criterion with different branding.

Anyway, if I'm reading the article correctly, most of the Ghost Games staff will go to Criterion to continue their work on the game? I've gotta say I'm not really seeing the Need For Drama here.
 
It seemed like most of the old Criterion staff went on to make the series that culminated in Dangerous Driving but then Burnout Paradise Remastered released with Criterion listed as one of the developers so I guess Criterion was never really dead but given that there seems to be no signs of a Dangerous Driving 2, hopefully EA can hire back some of those people.
 
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Mr Fahrenheit
I guess I've been wrong for past five years, because I always thought Ghost Games is more or less Criterion with different branding.

Anyway, if I'm reading the article correctly, most of the Ghost Games staff will go to Criterion to continue their work on the game? I've gotta say I'm not really seeing the Need For Drama here.
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I can't say "most" because I'm not sure about staffing numbers, however the rough upshot is that when EA gave NFS to Ghost, Ghost was EA Gothenburg and took on a load of Criterion staff in Gothenburg and established a team inside Criterion called Ghost Games UK - there's also a studio in Romania.

Now EA is giving it back to Criterion, Ghost UK gets folded back into Criterion, and some Ghost staff will move back from Gothenburg to Guildford, while leaving an engineering team in Gothenburg - now called EA Gothenburg again - for work on the Frostbite game engine and other things. Around 30 staff aren't accounted for either staying at EA Gothenburg or moving to Criterion, and EA's looking to move them elsewhere within EA.

So pretty much the guys who made NFS from 2010-2013 also made NFS from 2013-2019, and will make NFS from 2020 on, they just worked for Criterion, Ghost, and Criterion again.
 
Mr Fahrenheit
If I'm reading the article correctly, most of the Ghost Games staff will go to Criterion to continue their work on the game? I've gotta say I'm not really seeing the Need For Drama here.
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Yeah that's what I took from the article. This seems to be more about moving the Ghost staff members to a more convenient location with greater potential for hiring even more people in the future rather than a creative direction shift with a new developer.
 

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