Electronic Arts has not yet finished shuffling its studios and projects for 2021. EA has now announced that it is delaying the next Need For Speed game so that Criterion can help Dice in the next Battlefield game. The NFS series is not ending and the reassignment is only temporary, says EA, in part to alleviate the pressure created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The next Battlefield game has yet to have an appropriate title announced and we also don’t know its configuration. It seemed possible that we would see a word about it last summer during EA’s video demo event, but the little glimpse we had was disappointing.
Despite the lack of information, EA says it is doing well. “[Battlefield] it’s forming very well, the team has been working incredibly hard, they’ve been working really hard over the past year, and yes, we’ve been working at home, “EA studio director Laura Miele told Polygon.” And it is difficult; home games are difficult, and the [EA Dice] team is a little tired. ”
EA decided to call Criterion for assistance, a decision that Miele guarantees was made with the studio’s contribution. They are probably better known for Burnout and now Need For Speed, but EA says their experience has made them the right people to get involved.
“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. ”
While Criterion is off the battlefield, EA will still have racing games in progress thanks to the recent acquisition of Codemasters. Need For Speed is not being canceled or delivered to the Codies, says EA. Instead, getting the developers of Dirt and F1 to continue making their racing game leaves room for Criterion to get stuck in Battlefield and return later.
In EA’s own announcement, Miele says that Codemasters will have several releases next year. Criterion is now set to release its next Need For Speed game in EA’s 2023 fiscal year.
“Recently, we saw the first version of the Battlefield reveal trailer and it is becoming a truly incredible first look at this groundbreaking game,” said Miele. “I think the fans will love it!”
During the past week, we received news from EA making some adjustments to development priorities. BioWare announced that it would cancel the ongoing work at Anthem to focus on the upcoming Mass Effect and Dragon Age games. EA also canceled the Gaia project, an unannounced open-world action game that Motive Studios had been working on for years.