While the studio (after taking a break from development to help with Battlefield 2042) will soon be showing more of its game, Criterion is not the only one handling the future of Need For Speed.

The last time Need For Speed got a new episode was in 2019. It was Need For Speed: Heat, but not much has happened in terms of new games around the franchise since then. OK, there was Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered, but that was just a re-release, and it didn’t get any updates (just like Heat didn’t get any DLCs), so everything has been on hold since November 2020, which doesn’t bode well for the series, which has seen better days.

Electronic Arts’ new financial year started on April 1st, and it’s now certain that Codemasters Cheshire will be involved in the franchise’s development. Criterion Games is expected to release the new instalment this year (and it should be revealed soon). Pete Johnson, the senior recruiter at Electronic Arts, has posted on LinkedIn that they are looking for a talented producer to help with the future of Need For Speed. According to the post, Codemasters Chesire, now part of EA, is working with Criterion on the future of the series.

From the next episode to future-related initiatives, the two studios will work together on creative, technical and functional execution to align with the vision of the strategy set for the Need For Speed franchise. Codemasters Cheshire has recently worked on DIRT 5, for example, but has also previously created the PlayStation 2 WRC games, the MotorStorm series and Driveclub (all under the Evolution Studios banner).

There is no official word yet on whether the new Need For Speed will be cross-gen, but we can be sure that it will be released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and PC towards the end of the year (as the franchise has often timed its previous instalments around this time).

Source: WCCFTech