Criterion Games is currently hard at work on its upcoming arcade racer, Need for Speed Unbound, but it’s also known for another flagship EA racing franchise: Burnout. The series peaked in popularity during the PS2 era through releases such as Takedown and Revenge. Sadly, the studio has no plans to make a new Burnout game at the moment, but stated that it’d love to return to it at some point.
Speaking to Eurogamer in a recent interview, Need for Speed Unbound creative director Kieran Crimmins talked a bit about the Burnout series and how it might be quite “unique” in today’s market. The series is built on high-octane racing, destruction and crashing your vehicle, making it a special case in the racing genre since most racers actively avoid that kind of gameplay.
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When pressed about the Burnout series, Crimmins said:
“It’s not something we’re looking at doing now…But if you’re talking about the two games that the studio has the most passion for, they’re obviously Need For Speed and Burnout. So I guess what I’m saying is, I would love to do that. And I hope that if everything goes well with these games, and we can expand the team, then maybe we can make one of those as well. It’s not in the immediate future plans or anything like that but man, it’d be really fun.”
Several key members responsible for the Burnout series split from Criterion Games and formed their own studio, Three Fields Entertainment, which has since developed similarly destructive games like Danger Zone and Dangerous Golf. It’s unclear if Three Fields would ever be involved in a new Burnout should it get made, or if EA would greenlight a new entry after all this time.
Need for Speed Unbound releases on 2 December 2022 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Source: Eurogamer
