The Need for Speed franchise will once again be developed be Criterion Games as EA has confirmed that Ghost Games will effectively be shut down.
EA confirmed the changes with GamesIndustry.biz, advising that as many as 30 Ghost Games positions were impacted. Some Ghost Games staff will be moved to a new studio called EA Gothenburg and will support development across EA’s studios alongside the Frostbite engine itself. Other Ghost Games staffers will be absorbed into Criterion or other EA studios.
Ghost Games has developed the last four games in the Need for Speed franchise: Need for Speed: Rivals (2013), Need for Speed (2015), Need for Speed: Payback (2017) and Need for Speed: Heat (2019).
Criterion is best known for its Burnout franchise and also developed Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) and Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012). The studio has also supported development of Star Wars: Battlefront (2015), Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2017) and Battlefield 5‘s Firestorm battle royale mode in 2019.
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