The Future of Need for Speed - Is Criterion Taking Over Good or Bad?!
I’m sure you’ve all heard the news by now; future Need for Speed games will now be developed by Criterion Games, and Ghost Games as we knew it is dead.
The news comes as a shock, but also as something many probably saw coming. After six years and four Need for Speed titles mostly ranging from average to poor, it was inevitable that EA would step in and do something about it. If I’m honest, after the mixed reception of NFS 2015 and the incredibly polarizing Payback, I’m surprised Need for Speed Heat even exists and was good as it was.
Undoubtedly the biggest question on everyone’s mind right now is: What does this mean for the future of the franchise? Ultimately, it’s too early to tell and we’re not too sure ourselves, but if we’re totally honest it probably won’t be as bad as everyone thinks.
The silver lining to the news is that most of Ghost’s creative team will transition over to Criterion while the studio scales down back into EA Gothenburg and becomes an engineering hub for supporting EA studios – which could be very telling of EA’s plans for a new development engine to replace Frostbite next-gen (something that Need for Speed and various other EA titles such as ANTHEM and Mass Effect Andromeda have suffered from being mandated to use for development).
Ghost was formed in 2013 to become the home of Need for Speed and begin a new era with the 2015 reboot, in which roughly 80% of the staff at the time was made up of former Criterion staff. Since then new talent has come in from across the gaming medium, including former Blackbox developers who worked on the best titles in the series including Underground, Most Wanted and Carbon, as well as talent from studios such as Rockstar, Turn 10/Playground Games and Rocksteady.
During this time, a much smaller Criterion was working on a new extreme sports IP which was revealed during E3 2014 then later cancelled in 2016. The studio downscaled into a support studio, making content for DICE such as the driving physics of vehicles in Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefield titles, while also developing standalone experiences including a Star Wars PlayStation VR experience and the battle royale mode Firestorm for Battlefield V.
Several months ago, I had heard rumblings that EA were planning to have Criterion return to developing Need for Speed titles, with Ghost and Criterion working in similar fashion to how Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward and Treyarch output titles in turns, however it seemed too far-fetched with Criterion being the size that it is and was something I completely disregarded. Now that idea seems to be scrapped and decided to merge the two together instead to create a much larger development studio.
With Criterion growing in size again after the release of Firestorm and now merging with the creative team at Ghost (presumably from both the main studio in Gothenburg and Ghost UK also located in Guildford), my hopes are that all the progress Ghost made with the franchise from 2015 to Heat – bringing back customization and performance upgrades, diversifying the car list, focusing on street culture etc. – are not lost, and continue to be built upon while having the Criterion level of polish and arcade pedigree.
Before Need for Speed Heat was officially announced, EA Global Community Lead Ben Walke took to Reddit to assure people that EA understands what Need for Speed means to both players and it’s developers, stating “Moving forward we have an idea of what NFS "is". 2015 is a good example of a game that captures the essence of NFS if you will.”
With the franchise recently celebrating its 25th anniversary in August last year, and with Ghost working so hard these last few years to try define the series into what it is, it would seem like a very backwards decision to go back on all the progress they’ve made.
Additionally, Criterion also published a tweet (which has since been deleted) about the GamesIndustry.biz article, saying that their talented friends from Ghost Games “set us up beautifully with NFS Heat” and that they look forward to working with them again. What I gather from this is that Ghost’s rebooted vision will continue under the umbrella of Criterion, and if so, then I’m excited to see what Criterion can cook up with a next-generation Need for Speed game for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, now with a much larger development team and in a location easier for them to attract talent.
The biggest concern I have is that the Criterion today is a completely different studio, and that could be a good or bad thing for the series. Most veteran developers who worked on Burnout and Need for Speed have left the studio, so just because Criterion’s in charge doesn’t mean we’ll get a game in the similar vein of Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted.
Saying that, what has fans excited about Criterion regaining development of Need for Speed again was the fact they worked on Burnout, Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted which were all critically well-received and enjoyable games. What’s to say with the new leadership of Criterion and merging with Ghost will change how Need for Speed games are now, especially if potentially still being developed on Frostbite? I guess only time will tell.
Another big concern this new change brings is the fate of Need for Speed Heat. Both 2015 and Payback had post-launch support for at least six months after release, adding new cars, events, features and more. Heat is reaching 4 months and has yet to get anything more substantial than a chat wheel and wheel support – features found in their previous games. Funnily enough, there’s been features fans have been begging for since 2015 that started with the Criterion games, such as free-roam challenges.
The January Under The Hood post detailing the most recent update for Heat teased new cars coming with their next update (which may be new Khyzyl Saleem cars), but with Ghost seemingly now in a transition period with most staff moving to Criterion at some point to begin work on a next-gen Need for Speed, to other studios across EA and sadly possibly unemployment, its likely this next update COULD be Heat’s last...
However, its worth waiting until we hear something more official from Need for Speed themselves before we start coming to any conclusions. There are many questions left unanswered about this transition with the news being so fresh; how long will Ghost still function until they’re downsized? Could Criterion’s now-deleted tweet suggest the studio will continue to support Heat before developing an all-new title?
It’s sad really, none of Ghost’s NFS titles got the support they deserved, and in a time where live-service titles are the standard, with new frequent content releases almost each month with games like Forza Horizon 4, Gran Turismo Sport and The Crew 2 — Ghost have simply been unable to keep up which ultimately has disappointed the player base. Heat is looking to be supported even less than Need for Speed 2015 did at this stage.
These last few months fans have been extremely vocal about the series, after positive acclaim and success of Need for Speed Heat, with the title setting a record of the highest launch players of an NFS game this generation, it all went down the drain with the lack of communication that had left us all pondering internal struggles behind the scenes. It’s sad to see fans and other Need for Speed creators celebrating the demise of Ghost, but after 2 poorly mixed releases and being left in the dark with the current title, it’s hard not to see why.
Need for Speed 2015 was the reboot the franchise needed, being the starting point of what EA would have hoped would become a resurgence of the at-the-time 20-year old franchise. Despite both 2015 and Payback’s shortcomings, both titles sold incredibly well and resonated with hardcore fans, with Need for Speed Heat being regarded as the studio’s best work which makes the news all the more sad and worrisome for fans.
The one word I’ll always think of when I remember Ghost’s Need for Speed games is ‘Potential’ - something I hope with Criterion and Ghost merging can finally realize the potential of their Need for Speed games.