EA Delays Need for Speed, Place Criterion on Battlefield 6

Electronic Arts will postpone the next Need for Speed ​​game by a year and launch its studio – Criterion Games – to support EA DICE in the Battlefield series, which will debut on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X this fall . In an interview, EA’s top manager for studios stressed that no franchise is in trouble, and that Criterion is also not removing its Need for Speed ​​project.

Laura Miele, chief studio officer of EA, told Polygon that pandemic’s working conditions and the acquisition of Codemasters had already delivered at least one race match for EA later this year, making the Criterion allocation a rational call.

‘[Battlefield] is working well, the team worked incredibly hard, they pushed hard last year, and yes, we worked from home, ”Miele told Polygon. ‘And it’s hard; it’s hard to make games from home, and the [EA DICE] team is a bit tired.

“We have an amazing game and incredible potential in this game,” Miele added. ‘We play to win; we play to put an amazing Battlefield game on the market. ”

Electronic Arts told investors in November that Need for Speed ​​and Battlefield will both get new games on the latest generation of consoles by March 2022. The next Battlefield game, which has not yet had the title, was first mentioned (in a call with investors)) back in 2019. The last battlefield was 2018s Battlefield 5, set in World War II.

A year ago, EA sent the Need for Speed ​​series back to Criterion after three faint entries by Ghost Games, which were reorganized into a studio supporting the development of Frostbite. Last fall, Criterion, the creators of the Burnout series, launched a restored edition of 2010’s reputed launch Need for speed: hot pursuit (of which the original they also developed).

Miele seems to be acknowledging that players and fans can catch up on Monday’s news – especially after last week’s announcement that BioWare would abandon the development of disappointing. National anthem As a sign, the studio system for one of the largest publishers of games has problems with its commissions. Not so, Miele insisted.

‘There is no way we would make a decision like this without including it [Criterion] and first discuss it with them and the impact they may have on [Battlefield], ”Miele said. ‘They worked on it [Star Wars] Battlefront, they worked on Battlefields and they have a very close, close working partnership with DICE. I’m really confident it’s going to be a pretty positive win for them. ”

Criterion supports DICE on Star Wars Battlefront (2015) and Battle Front 2 (2017), and developed the Firestorm battle royal mode for Battlefield 5.

In a sense, Miele said, EA, which closes Codemasters (motor business by the end of spring), has acquired motorsport specialists who need the bandwidth to make this move. Codemasters sent Dirty 5 and F1 2020 last year, and three titles in 2019. It will be at least one more race on Formula One’s annual license this year.

Image: Criterion Games, Stellar Entertainment / Electronic Arts

Instead of pushing the next need for speed out the door, if it disappears or is cannibalized by a Codemasters release, Criterion’s capabilities will be better spent on Battlefield, Miele said. But, she stressed, Criterion Games is going to work for Need for Speed ​​again – the series is not closing, taken from the Guildford, England studio, and also not transferred to Codemasters, which is two hours in Southam is. The next Need for Speed ​​will also launch on current and previous generations of PlayStation and Xbox, Miele said.

‘They own the Need for Speed ​​franchise; that’s why they drove the remaster, ”Miele said. “Everything that happens within the Need for Speed ​​brand, they are responsible for, or things come through them to ensure they are with it.”

A year of homework and the potential that EA’s best buyers see with what DICE is building in Battlefield were more pressing issues that need solutions, Miele said.

“Making games is one of the more sophisticated and complex forms of media that exists, and it requires creative energy and commitment with team members,” she said. ‘I think there was fatigue and a little burnout at home, you know. Many of them even have to do with just the needs people have with their families; some people take care of their children at home [while they work]. So our productivity is not that high, and then the creative connection and creative energy is not as high when they work from home. ”

Miele said DICE Los Angeles, which is now responding to Respawn Entertainment founder Vince Zampella, is also involved in the development at Battlefield, primarily the game’s live service components. “They’ve been working on it for over a year, and they do a lot of extraordinary things in live service.”

Rumors last summer suggested this Battlefield 6 EA has not yet announced the title of the game – would return to a modern environment, with multiplayer maps supporting as many as 128 players. Miele does not want to comment on specific features or innovations that EA expects the next battlefield to deliver, other than to call the game ‘a love letter to our fans’, and one’ we want to be great.

“We are going to use all the resources we have for this,” Miele said.