Criterion Games, a British game development studio owned by EA, has been producing racing games for decades, the most famous of which are Burnout and Need for Speed games. The studio's Need for Speed Unbound is the latest entry in EA's popular arcade racing series.
While the game's life has been extended thanks to the studio's continued updates, it looks like new titles aren't on the way as EA appears to be putting Need for Speed on hold for the time being.
In a statement to IGN, Respawn head and EA Studios Group general manager Vince Zampella revealed that all members of Criterion are now working on the next Battlefield game. He confirmed that Need for Speed will return at some point, but it's unclear how long fans will have to wait.
"Criterion's Need for Speed team will be joining their colleagues on Battlefield," said Zampella. "As a company, we've had to use the last year to listen to the Need for Speed community and use their feedback to create content for Unbound. By further understanding what players want from the Need for Speed experience, we plan to reinvigorate the series in new and exciting ways."
In early 2024, EA and Criterion announced post-launch updates for the second year of Need for Speed Unbound. Although most of the studio's resources have been diverted to the next Battlefield in 2023, Criterion has retained a core team to continue focusing on the racing game. According to Zampella's comments, even this team is completely focused on Battlefield right now.
The next Battlefield experience doesn't have a name or release date yet, but EA just launched a new community testing program earlier today. Battlefield Labs will allow community players to test pre-alpha versions of the game to guide game development before its official release. So far, EA's DICE, Motive, Criterion and Ripple Effect studios are developing the game, with Vince Zampella directing the entire development process.