Electronic Arts is not yet finished with their studios and projects for 2021. EA has now announced that they are delaying the next Need For Speed game so Criterion Dice can help with the next Battlefield game. The NFS series is not being discontinued and the redistribution is only temporary, says EA, in part to ease the pressure created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A proper title has not yet been announced in the next Battlefield game and we also do not know the setting of it. It may have seemed like we were going to see a word about it this past summer during the EA video show, but the little peek we got about it was disappointing.
Despite the lack of information, EA says it can work well together. “[Battlefield] it started to form well, the team worked incredibly hard, they pushed hard last year, and yes, we worked from home, “Laura Miele, the studio’s chief executive, told Polygon. And it’s hard; it’s hard to make games from home, and the [EA Dice] team is a bit tired. ‘
EA decided to call in Criterion for help, a decision Miele assured with the input of the studio. 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 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 very positive win for them. ‘
While Criterion leaves the battlefield, EA will still have racing games underway thanks to their recent acquisition of Codemasters. Need For Speed is not turned off or transferred to the Codies, EA says. If the Dirt and F1 developers continue to do their racing, rather leave room for Criterion to get stuck on Battlefield and return later.
In EA’s own announcement, Miele says that Codemasters will have several launches in the coming year. Criterion will now be expected to launch their next Need For Speed game in EA’s 2023 financial year.
“We recently saw the first version of the revealing trailer for Battlefield and it’s a great first look at this groundbreaking game,” says Miele. “I think fans are going to love it!”
This past week we received news that EA is adjusting quite a few development priorities. BioWare has announced that it will cancel continued work on Anthem to focus on the upcoming Mass Effect and Dragon Age games. EA also reportedly canceled Gaia, an unannounced open-world action game that Motive Studios had been working on for years.