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​Electronic Arts has delayed the development and eventual release of a new Need for Speed title until 2022. This is due to them moving the developers at Criterion Games over to supporting DICE on the next entry in the Battlefield series, Battlefield 6. Battlefield 6 is expected to be released this Fall for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
EA says that neither franchise is in trouble. They also stressed that Criterion is not being taken off of its Need for Speed project. It's just a temporary setback while they help out DICE.
The recent Codemasters acquisition by EA actually made the decision to reassign Criterion a bit easier. With the Codemasters acquisition, EA is already going to have one racing game coming out later this year.
Criterion previously assisted DICE with development on Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefront 2. They also developed the Firestorm game mode for Battlefield V. EA's chief studios officer Laura Miele shared the following words about this move with Polygon.
"[Battlefield] is shaping up great, the team has been working incredibly hard, they pushed hard last year, and yes, we have been working from home. And it’s hard; it’s hard to make games from home, and the [EA DICE] team is fatigued a bit.
"We have a great game and some incredible potential with this game,†Miele added. “We’re playing to win; we’re playing to put a great Battlefield game out in the market.
"There’s no way we would have made a decision like this without including [Criterion] and discussing this with them first, and the impact that they could have on [Battlefield],†Miele said. “They’ve worked on [Star Wars] Battlefront, they’ve worked on Battlefields, and they have a really tight, close collaborative partnership with DICE. I’m really confident that this is going to be a pretty positive win for them."
"We have a great game and some incredible potential with this game,†Miele added. “We’re playing to win; we’re playing to put a great Battlefield game out in the market.
"There’s no way we would have made a decision like this without including [Criterion] and discussing this with them first, and the impact that they could have on [Battlefield],†Miele said. “They’ve worked on [Star Wars] Battlefront, they’ve worked on Battlefields, and they have a really tight, close collaborative partnership with DICE. I’m really confident that this is going to be a pretty positive win for them."
