Need For Speed Series is on Hold at EA But Will Return in New and Interesting Ways

EA has confirmed that Criterion Games is currently fully engaged in Battlefield development and that the studio isn’t working on a new Need for Speed game. In fact, the company claims the Need for Speed series is on hold for the time being with no plans to bring it back until Battlefield development has wrapped up.

The news follows the launch of the new Battlefield Labs community testing program. Sign-ups when live last night for EA’s Battlefield portal where users could register for a chance to test out various features in the next Battlefield game.

The platform announcement was shared alongside a full developer deep dive video where EA showcased that four of its studios were working on Battlefield. Criterion Games is one of them. However, this is not the first time we have heard that Criterion Games shifted development to Battlefield. Back in 2023, EA announced that many of the staff at the studio were moving to the Battlefield series.

At the time, EA also released a full roadmap for Need for Speed Unbound with an additional year of content. The game was originally released back in 2022. However, the new information here is that Need for Speed is currently on hold. In a statement following the Battlefield reveal, Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella says:

“The Need for Speed team at Criterion are joining their colleagues working on Battlefield. As a company, it was important to us to take the last year to listen to our Need for Speed community and use their feedback to create content for Unbound. With an increased understanding of what our players want in a Need for Speed experience, we plan to bring the franchise back in new and interesting ways.”

Up to now, Criterion Games has been all over the place, helping other EA projects thrive. The studio was also responsible for the popular Burnout series. However, it also worked on Star Wars Battlefront II, Battlefield V, and Battlefield 2042.

Marco is the owner and founder of GLITCHED. South Africa’s largest gaming and pop culture website. GLITCHED quickly established itself with tech and gaming enthusiasts with on-point opinions, quick coverage of breaking events and unbiased reviews across its website, social platforms, and YouTube channel.

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