EA Games has announced that Ghost Games is to hand back the Need for Speed franchise to Criterion Games. The move comes as part of a restructuring of Ghost Games, which is now set to work in support of other EA projects and will return to its old name: EA Gothenburg.
EA emphasises that they are looking to put Ghost Games’ extensive engineering knowledge, notably of the Frostbite engine, to use in the development of their current titles. The expertise they bring, EA has said: “is vital to a number of our ongoing projects”.
30 jobs are reported to be at risk as a result of the reshuffle. This from a reported 85 employees back in 2012. It would seem that the majority of these roles form part of Ghost Games creative team. EA have said they intend to transfer some Ghost Games employees to Criterion.
Criterion have worked upon several offerings in the Need for Speed franchise and were the creators of the Burnout series. Since losing the Need for Speed franchise in 2013, they have supported releases from EA’s other studios, including Star Wars Battlefront II and Battlefield V.
The Need for Speed franchise will now be developed again by Criterion Games, with previous developers Ghost Games to downsize and take on a supporting role in the EA empire.
