Studio treats Need For Speed as past and says future is Battlefield

The future of Need For Speed seemed uncertain, but now the signs that it has been abandoned have become even stronger. IGN participated in the celebration of 30 years of the Criterion studio, which was responsible for the racing game franchise.

When asked about Need Ford Speed and Burnout, Battlefield Studios Europe manager and vice president Rebecka Coutaz said “we’re not here to talk about the past.” The Criterion studio started working exclusively with the Battlefield shooter franchise in August 2025.

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After this change, the studio’s name changed to “Criterion: a Battlefield Studio”, making clear the focus of EA Games. During the event, Rebecka Coutaz said that the shooting game is the only focus currently.

The last Need For Speed release was Unbound, in December 2022. Criterion followed up with periodic content updates until the end of support in August 2025.

EA Games’ abandonment of Need For Speed came just 1 year after the franchise’s 30th anniversary celebration. In total there were 25 games in the main series and a few more spin-offs.

The Criterion studio is famous for the Burnout game series, which is also a racing game but with a lot of destruction. He worked with Need For Speed on 2010’s Hot Pursuit and the remake of Most Wanted in 2012, in 2020 he became the main person responsible for the franchise.

Now in the new phase it has become another studio that works with Battlefield 6, along with three others. The only EA Games subsidiary that still works with racing games is Codemasters, which works only with F1 and was forced to abandon WRC and Dirt.

For those who like racing games in the style of Need For Speed, hope is placed in Cluth, which was recently revealed. There’s also Forza Horizon 6, with a focus on the open world.