As confirmed by Electronic Arts, the new Need for Speed that is currently being developed at Criterion Games will be delayed to 2022. Criterion Games is currently supporting DICE with the work on Battlefield 6.
Last year Electronic Arts announced that Need for Speed Heat from 2019 is the last title of the racing game series that was developed at Ghost Games in Gothenburg, Sweden.
From now on, the series is being developed under the direction of the Burnout makers from Criterion Games, who were already responsible for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and Need for Speed Rivals.
As Electronic Arts admitted in a recent statement, the new Need for Speed will not appear before 2022, as Criterion Games is currently working on the shooter Battlefield 6.
As Laura Miele, Chief Studios Officer at Electronic Arts, explained, this decision is due, among other things, to the effects of the corona pandemic and the delays caused by the move to the home office. In order to ensure that Battlefield 6 can be completed on time, Criterion Games supports DICE with the work on the shooter. In addition, Electronic Arts’ takeover of Codemasters will enable it to release a racing game in 2021 despite everything.
“[Battlefield] is shaping up great, the team has been working incredibly hard, they pushed hard last year, and yes, we have been working from home. And it’s hard; it’s hard to make games from home, and the [EA DICE] team is fatigued a bit. We have a great game and some incredible potential with this game. We’re playing to win; we’re playing to put a great Battlefield game out in the market,” Miele told Polygon.
As Miele finally assured, the decision to let Criterion Games participate in Battlefield 6 was made in close consultation with the studio itself. However, the shooter has not yet received a specific release date. Instead, there is the only talk of a release in the current financial year 2021/2022 (April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022).
