Need for Speed game news: After Unbound, historic Criterion devs make a big decision
Published on 19/12/2022 at 10:12
While the Need for Speed series is once again revving its engines, part of the team in charge of the very correct Unbound has decided to leave for new horizons. For a long time, the saga got lost on the way before recovering its compass. If it has not found the aura that was its own, the NFS franchise can nevertheless see the future with a better eye. But it will do without some veteran Criterion developers.
A new page in the history of Criterion will open. Five developers from the studio, who worked on Unbound, decided to leave the company to “explore new options outside of EA. We can imagine that they will now seek to regain the creative freedom that was theirs during the first episodes of their mythical car series Burnout. These departures, which could have an echo among other of their colleagues, are in any case far from trivial. Because we are talking about sizes…
Matt Webster, former vice-president and general manager of EA’s English studio, has decided to leave after more than thirty years of career with the American giant. In his wake, he is accompanied by producer Pete Lake and technical director Andrei Shires, also long-time employees at EA. Same story for Alan McDairmant, head of development, and Steve Uphill, head of content. These are very important people who are leaving and there is no doubt that they will find a place quickly according to their CV. And who knows, maybe it’s to recreate a studio together? EA, for its part, has its back.
A delicate transition for Criterion?
With the departure of these five developers, a defector from Codemasters arrives! Geoff Smith, one of the members of the development team of the DiRT and GRID series, will thus take the reins of Need for Speed within Criterion. He is joined by Charity Joy, franchise manager at EA, who becomes producer of the saga. Steve Cuss, meanwhile, is still in charge of studio operations. While Need for Speed Unbound receives rather positive reviews, sales would be hard to convince, the fault in particular of a very light communication campaign, and several key members of Criterion have already left their posts.
For those who want to get it and who have a Series X, know that it is currently reduced on the Xbox Store (47.99 instead of 79.99).
