The "majority" of Need for Speed dev Criterion are shifting to Battlefield

Leaving a small “core group” to work on racing games

As reported byEurogamer, Criterion will shift to being part of EA Entertainment rather than EA Sports, and there are apparently no layoffs resulting from this act of franchise musical chairs.

A small “core group” of Criterion devs will continue to work on Need for Speed, which saw an outing only last November in the shape ofNeed for Speed: Unbound- unreviewed by RPS, because we all despise and fear the open road here, but widely deemed to be a solid piece of automotive malarkey, though sadlyfar from a best-seller. An EA Sports spokesperson told Eurogamer that “racing continues to be a critical part of the EA Sports portfolio as we grow sports fandom around the world.”

Zampella is personally looking forward to working on NFS. “Many of you might be familiar with my history in games, having worked with extremely talented teams onApex Legends,Titanfall, and Star Wars Jedi here at Electronic Arts,” he said. “But you might not know I have a passion for cars, which also makes Criterion a perfect match for me to explore another genre in gaming that I love. I’m really looking forward to working with a core group as we shape what’s next for the franchise.”