EA Puts NEED FOR SPEED Franchise Back Criterion's Hands

For a while, Ghost Games has been working on the Need for Speed franchise. However, it looks like that era has come to a close. According to Gamesindustry.biz, EA is turning Ghost Games into an engineering hub and the NFS franchise is being returned to Criterion! Criterion’s team is the one responsible for the amazingly fun Burnout franchise as well as Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. EA released the following statement:

“With a strong history and passion for racing games and vision for what we can create, the Criterion team is going to take Need for Speed into the next-generation.

Ghost Games have helped to bring some great Need for Speed experiences to our players. Consistently delivering that at AAA levels means we need teams with diverse skills in locations where we can continually support them and bring in new team members to join. Despite our best efforts to establish an independent development group in Gothenburg over several years, it’s become clear that the breadth of talent we need to maintain a full AAA studio is just not available to us there. Criterion can also provide the consistent leadership that we need to continue creating and delivering new Need for Speed experiences for a long time to come.

Criterion is a fantastic studio, and we’re looking forward to adding to their talented team and building a great future for Need for Speed. The engineering teams in Gothenburg are also vital to our ongoing plans across EA.”

I’m really excited to see Criterion at the helm of these racing games again. Is this a smart move or a bad move in your book?