“EA Confirms Future of Need for Speed as Battlefield Team Focuses on Current Project”
Criterion, the studio behind Need for Speed and Burnout, is now completely concentrated on developing EA’s upcoming Battlefield game, as revealed to Eurogamer – yet there are future intentions for the studio to revisit its racing roots eventually.
In September 2023, EA disclosed that the “majority” of Criterion would transition to support production on the next Battlefield title, while a smaller “core team” at the British studio continued efforts on Need for Speed.
At that moment, Battlefield director Vince Zampella indicated that Criterion’s Need for Speed team would keep working to “shape the future of the franchise”.
In the 18 months since, we have now witnessed further progression with 2022’s Need for Speed Unbound – the latest and last release in the series thus far, but no information on what comes next after that.
“Surprise! We’re still operational,” Criterion Games stated in a blog entry in February 2024, when it celebrated the 30th anniversary of Need for Speed with the announcement that Unbound could receive support throughout the rest of the year.
Currently, it appears that the future of Need for Speed is still somewhat uncertain – although there is a commitment to the series for the long term.
“The Need for Speed team at Criterion is collaborating with their colleagues working on Battlefield,” Zampella conveyed in a statement to Eurogamer today. “As a studio, it was crucial for us to spend the past year listening to our Need for Speed community and utilizing their feedback to generate content for Unbound.
“With a deeper understanding of what our players desire from a Need for Speed experience, we intend to revive the franchise in fresh and exciting ways.”
Once a regular feature of EA’s release schedule, the Need for Speed series now seems set for a prolonged hiatus, with no new title currently in active development.
With no new game anticipated for 2025, Need for Speed may go on hold for an indefinite period.