EA delays Need for Speed ​​and places Criterion on Battlefield 6

Electronic Arts will postpone the next Need for Speed ​​game for a year and put its studio – Criterion Games – to work on EA DICE support in the Battlefield series, which will debut on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X this fall. In an interview, EA’s chief studio executive emphasized that neither franchise is in trouble, nor is Criterion being pulled out of its Need for Speed ​​project.

Laura Miele, director of studios at EA, told Polygon that the pandemic working conditions and the acquisition of Codemasters already delivering at least one racing game to EA later this year, made the reassignment of the Criterion a rational decision.

“[Battlefield] it is forming very well, the team has been working very hard, they have worked very hard in the past year and yes, we have been working at home, ”Miele told Polygon. “And it is difficult; home games are difficult, and the [EA DICE] the team is a little tired.

“We have a great game and incredible potential with this game,” added Miele. “We are playing to win; we are playing to launch a great Battlefield game on the market. “

Electronic Arts told investors in November that Need for Speed ​​and Battlefield would receive new games on the newest generation of consoles in March 2022. The next Battlefield game, which has yet to be titled, was mentioned for the first time ( in a call with investors) in 2019. The most recent battlefield was 2018 Battlefield 5, set in World War II.

A year ago, EA sent the Need for Speed ​​series back to Criterion after three lackluster entries from Ghost Games, which was reorganized into a Frostbite development support studio. Last fall, Criterion, the creators of the Burnout series, launched a remastered edition of the prestigious I need for high speed chase (whose original they also developed).

Miele seemed to recognize that players and fans can receive Monday’s news – especially after last week’s announcement that BioWare would abandon the development of the disappointing Hymn – as a sign that the studio system of one of the biggest game publishers is having problems with their assignments. It is not so, Miele insisted.

“We would not have made a decision like that without including [Criterion] and discuss this with them first, and the impact that they could have on [Battlefield], ”Said Miele. “They worked on [Star Wars] Battlefront, they worked on Battlefields and have a very close and collaborative partnership with DICE. I am very confident that this will be a very positive victory for them. “

Criterion compatible with DICE in Star Wars Battlefront (2015) and Battlefront 2 (2017), and developed the Firestorm battle royale mode to Battlefield 5.

In a sense, said Miele, EA buying Codemasters’ motorsport specialists (the deal will close in late spring) has given the company the bandwidth needed to make this change. Codemasters sent Dirt 5 and F1 2020 last year, and three titles in 2019. There must be at least one other game on the annual Formula One license this year.

Image: Criterion Games, Stellar Entertainment / Electronic Arts

Rather than rushing to push the next Need for Speed ​​out the door, when it could be lost or cannibalized by a Codemasters launch around the same time, Criterion’s capabilities would be better spent on Battlefield, said Miele. But, she emphasized, Criterion Games will return to work on Need for Speed ​​- the series is not ending, taken from Guildford’s studio in England, nor delivered to Codemasters, which is two hours away in Southam. The next Need for Speed ​​will also be released on current and previous PlayStation and Xbox generations, said Miele.

“They have the Need for Speed ​​franchise; that’s why they got the remastering, ”said Miele. “Whatever is going on within the Need for Speed ​​brand, they are responsible, or things go through them to make sure they are on board.”

A year working from home, however, and the potential that top EA see with what DICE is building in Battlefield, were more pressing issues that needed solutions, said Miele.

“Making games is one of the most sophisticated and complicated forms of media out there and requires creative energy and connection with team members,” she said. “I think there has been, you know, fatigue and some exhaustion, working from home. Much of this has to do with the needs that people have with their families; some people are taking care of their children at home [while they work]. Therefore, our productivity is not so high, and the creative connection and creative energy is not so high when working at home ”.

Miele said that DICE Los Angeles, which now reports to Respawn Entertainment founder Vince Zampella, is also involved in the development of Battlefield, mainly in the game’s live service components. “They have been in this for over a year and are doing really exceptional things in the live service.”

Rumors last summer suggested that Battlefield 6 – EA has not yet announced the game title – it would return to a modern setting, with multiplayer maps supporting up to 128 players. Miele would not comment on specific features or innovations that EA expects the next Battlefield to deliver, except to call the game “a love letter to our fans” and “we want to be great.

“We are going to put all the resources we have into it,” said Miele.