Born of Criterion Software in the late 90s, Criterion Games quickly made a name for itself with the Burnout series of over-the-top, explosive racing action games.In 2004, Electronic Arts acquired the Guildford, UK studio which went on to develop five more Burnout games. In 2012, the studio was shifted over to handle the Need for Speed franchise, but that lasted less than a year. In 2013, much of the staff, and Need for Speed, left for newly formed studio Ghost Games. Criterion Games was left with a small staff and a new focus on an unnamed game.
Follow along with metamorphosis of Criterion Games in this StoryStream as we track where they’ve been and where they’re going.
Layoffs hit Ghost Games’ UK office, unannounced NFS title mothballed
The Guildford, Surrey offices of Ghost Games, a branch of the relatively recently rebranded EA Gothenburg studio responsible for Need for Speed: Rivals, was hit by layoffs this week and development on a new, unannounced Need for Speed title put on hold, multiple sources tell Polygon.
Electronic Arts earlier this week let go of their contractors at the office and told full-time staffers they could either take compensation and leave or continue working in the office to support work on Visceral’s rumored police-themed Battlefield title, code-named Havana. Sources say Havana is due out later this year.
Read Article >Co-founders of Criterion Games, creators of Burnout, leave studio (update)
Alex Ward, vice president and creative director of Criterion Games, and Fiona Sperry, studio director, are both no longer working at the studio, Electronic Arts has confirmed to Polygon.
“The incredibly creative and talented team at Criterion are hard at work on a new project for next-gen consoles as new IP continues to be a major priority across EA. Matt Webster is leading development of the new game and the Criterion studio moving forward. Matt has been part of Criterion for years and has an exciting vision for this new game.”
Read Article >How Need for Speed and EA’s sports leadership are collaborating for the future
From the Burnout games to NASCAR titles to the mobile Real Racing series and more, Electronic Arts has a long history of developing racing games, and there’s no indication that the company plans to downshift.
Just this week, the PS4 release date for EA’s next racing game, Need for Speed Rivals, was bumped up to Nov. 15, 2013. It will now coincide with the console’s release and fill the void on Sony’s next-gen system that DriveClub left when it was delayed to 2014.
Read Article >How Patrick Soderlund hopes to transform EA and its game engines
Patrick Soderlund has only been on the job for about six weeks, and he’s already making big changes.
As Electronic Arts’ executive vice president of EA Studios, his responsibilities are global. Soderlund oversees studios from California to Calgary to Sweden that produce games like the Dead Space series and EA Sports titles and the Mass Effect games.
Read Article >Majority of Criterion staff now Ghost Games UK, core team down to 16 people
Criterion Games, the creators of the Burnout franchise and developers of last year’s Need for Speed Most Wanted, now only hosts just 16 employees — the rest have been reformed into a studio called Ghost Games U.K., Criterion’s Alexander Ward explained in a string of tweets today.
In August, Need for Speed Rivals producer Marcus Nilsson confirmed that Ghost Games would be in charge of the Need for Speed franchise from here on out.
Read Article >How the creators of Burnout became the stewards of Need for Speed
nfs most wanted While all future Need for Speed games may not be developed by Criterion Games, the developer tells Polygon that they will have creative oversight of all games in Electronic Art’s 17-year-old racing franchise moving forward. They also confirmed that despite their new role overseeing Need For Speed, Burnout remains an important franchise to the developer, one that won’t lose its distinct identity.
While all future Need for Speed games may not be developed by Criterion Games, the developer tells Polygon that it will have creative oversight of all games in Electronic Arts’ 17-year-old racing franchise moving forward. It also confirmed that despite its new role overseeing Need For Speed, Burnout remains an important franchise to the developer, one that won’t lose its distinct identity.
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