Criterion won't rule out returning to Need for Speed

Criterion has not permanently closed the door on Need for Speed, staff said at the Develop conference in Brighton on July 15, about a week after EA rebranded the studio as Criterion: A Battlefield Studio.

The rebrand, announced to mark Criterion's 30th anniversary, makes the Guildford studio one of four supporting EA's Battlefield push. Rock Paper Shotgun, which reported the panel, noted that Criterion created Burnout, has overseen recent Need for Speed entries and worked on the rebooted Star Wars: Battlefront, and has contributed to Battlefield since Battlefield 1.

Asked whether narrowing to a single franchise would constrain the studio, senior producer Danny Isaac said there was room to work inside it, pointing to Portal, user-generated content, multiplayer and the singleplayer campaign, as well as newer additions including RedSEC and battle royale. "Obviously, we're not going to be going off with a game about dinosaurs," he said, before arguing that a tight brief can be productive: "Sometimes that constraint can drive creativity."

Burnout is done; Need for Speed is not

Asked directly whether Criterion had made its last Need for Speed or Burnout game, Isaac drew a distinction between the two. "I think Burnout, we put that one down a while ago," he said. On Need for Speed he said the studio's focus was Battlefield for now, and added: "You've seen the journey that we've been on, I'd never say never. Things change."

Pejic also pushed back on the idea that the four-studio structure would flatten the teams into one another, saying EA had picked studios for distinct skills and that "consistency isn't conformity". She said the arrangement had not muted what makes Criterion "Criterion", and that each studio would still show up as itself within the wider portfolio.

The comments stop short of any commitment to a new Need for Speed game, and the studio's stated focus remains Battlefield. Rock Paper Shotgun, whose reporter asked the questions from the audience, described the answer as a familiar kind of non-denial.