Criterion Takes the Wheel of the Need for Speed Franchise

UK developer Criterion knows how to make a quality racing game, so it’s fitting that the studio has been handed the keys to the Need for Speed franchise. Following last year’s disappointing Need for Speed: The Run, the team has revealed that its “stamp’s going to be in everything you see in Need for Speed and Burnout going forward in the future”.

Speaking with Game Informer magazine, Criterion’s Alex Ward explained:

[Need for Speed's] not going to be spread anymore across different companies. Different studios have had a crack at it - it's definitely a Criterion gig now.

Going forward now, with Need for Speed: Most Wanted and what we'll do in the future [will have], shall we say, a strong Criterion involvement.

I'm personally involved in how the cars drive, how the game will play out, how connected they are and what the features are.

It’s unclear from Ward’s comments whether Criterion will be responsible for developing every Need for Speed title in the future, or simply act as an overlord for the franchise’s philosophy. Either way, we reckon the series is in safe hands.