It appears that Need for Speed: Heat was the last game that Ghost Games developed for Electronic Arts. According to the publisher, the franchise will return to Criterion Games. Thus, the Burnout studio will develop the next Need for Speed title.

Criterion was responsible for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. It also helped on Need for Speed: Rivals.

As EA stated:

“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.”

But what about Ghost Games? According to the publisher, this studio will refocus as an engineering hub. Thus, the studio will support development across EA’s portfolio.

Electronic Arts continued:

“The engineering expertise in our Gothenburg team, some of whom are architects of the Frostbite engine, is vital to a number of our ongoing projects, and they would remain in that location.”

EA concluded that despite its efforts, it’s become clear that it cannot sustain a triple-A studio in Gothenburg. EA has been trying to achieve this these several years, which is why it’s pulling the plug on Ghost Games. On the other hand, EA believes that Criterion can deliver new Need for Speed experiences for a long time to come.

John Papadopoulos

John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved - and still does - the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the "The Evolution of PC graphics cards." Contact: Email