Good-bye Criterion

[Stoney Mason]

Co-founders of Criterion Games, creators of Burnout, leave studio
By Brian Crecente on Jan 03, 2014 at 10:42a @crecenteb

Alex Ward, vice president and creative director of Criterion Games, and Fiona Sperry, studio director, are both no longer working at the studio, Electronic Arts has confirmed to Polygon.

"Alex Ward and Fiona Sperry have decided to leave EA," a spokesperson told Polygon this morning. "We appreciate their many contributions through the years and wish them well in their future endeavours.


"The incredibly creative and talented team at Criterion are hard at work on a new project for next-gen consoles as new IP continues to be a major priority across EA.  Matt Webster is leading development of the new game and the Criterion studio moving forward. Matt has been part of Criterion for years and has an exciting vision for this new game."

The departure comes at a time of uncertainty in the studio, following several years of changing focus for what the studio was working on. Ward's most recent LinkedIn profile shows that he's working on "unannounced project zero." Sperry's LinkedIn profile shows her working on the "Team Zero" project, which is described as "the next thing from Criterion Games." We've reached out to both Ward and Sperry for comment and will update this story when they respond.

The two formed Criterion Games in 2000 out of Criterion Software, a technology company that developed RenderWare. In the years since, the studio created and nurtured the over-the-top Burnout racing games. Following the 2010 release of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and 2011's Burnout Crash, Criterion was given stewardship of the Need for Speed franchise with Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

In a 2012 interview with Polygon, Most Wanted executive producer Matt Webster told Polygon that while all future Need for Speed games may not be developed by Criterion, but that the studio would have creative oversight of the franchise moving forward.

"We are always going to have a handle in it," Webster said at the time. "We're not really talking about where we go next, but we definitely have a creative hand on the tiller."

But just one year later that was no longer the case. During a Gamescom interview in August of last year, Need for Speed Rivals executive producer Marcus Nilsson told Polygon that the newly created Ghost Games studio was now in charge of the franchise.

"Ghost is now leading Need for Speed and there will certainly be some announcements about how that will evolve and work in the near future," Marcus Nilsson, executive producer on the game, told Polygon. "Criterion is doing something else, but that doesn't mean they can't help us on this."

Nilsson said that about 80 percent of Criterion was working on Rivals with the remaining group working on a mysterious "new project." A month later, Alex Ward tweeted that 60 to 65 people moved from Criterion over to Ghost Games, seemingly permanently, to work on the game and the franchise, leaving about 20 at Criterion.

That same month, Andrew Wilson was made CEO of Electronic Arts and shifted EVP of EA Labels Patrick Soderlund to become the EVP of EA Studios. With that shift, the Need for Speed franchise was moved over to reporting to Matt Bilbey, a senior vice president of EA who oversees sports.

"We think that could benefit from from fresh eyes, could benefit from some different thinking, and we think that Matt is the right guy to do that," Solderlund told Polygon at the time. "He's got a very different viewpoint about how to make games and what great games."

http://www.polygon.com/2014/1/3/5269474/co-founders-of-criterion-games-leave-studio

[brob]

Isn't Criterion EA's best car-game maker? Did racing games stop selling well?

[Stoney Mason]

Isn't Criterion EA's best car-game maker? Did racing games stop selling well?

Ghost games is essentially the new Criterion or the need for speed guys depending on how you want to look at it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Games

[thisismyusername]

No Burnout 3: Takedown sequel.  :'(

(Revenge sucked, suck it haters.)

[Beezy]

But... no...

[Joe Molotov]

Now where will I get my French New Wave Blu-Rays?? Oh wait...

[Rufus]

And EA sucks another dev dry.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Well, Criterion kind of shriveled up on its own, but still...

[close]

[Shaka Khan]

Another amazing studio gutted by EA. And for what? resuscitating failing franchises and dying trends. Nobody wins.

[Mr. Gundam]

No Burnout 3: Takedown sequel.  :'(

(Revenge sucked, suck it haters.)

Truth truth truth.

I'd be happy with an HD port of Burnout 3.

[Great Rumbler]

Another amazing studio gutted by EA. And for what? resuscitating failing franchises and dying trends. Nobody wins.

EA really is the worst.

[Great Rumbler]

Tiburon is still around, though only by virtue of having an annual cash cow that requires very little investment. Black Box was shuttered midway through last year.

[Eel O'Brian]

In one of my rare twitter outings I saw that he asked what people would like to see in the next burnout, and I replied David Lee Roth, so it could be just like livin' in...

[benjipwns]

But what about my RenderWare license?

[Bebpo]

After Rivals, I was going to make a thread asking if Criterion were next on the EA destruction list as their quality and originality has been on a major decline thanks to forced yearly releases.

saves me a thread!

oh well

[thisismyusername]

But what about my RenderWare license?

People haven't used Renderware since 2007, dude. Why are you still licensing it!?

[chronovore]

But what about my RenderWare license?

You got me. That was good.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

This thread is depressing.  After poking around, I found out that Black Box, the people who made the 2005 Most Wanted game (aka the good NFS Most Wanted) closed up shop last year.  Now Criterion who made the shittier 2012 Most Wanted game is closing up shop.

Basically the only developer left making good racing games is Codemasters and it seems like a matter of when not if they will be closing up.

[Great Rumbler]

Now Criterion who made the shittier 2012 Most Wanted game is closing up shop.

It's worth nothing that Criterion hasn't closed up shop yet, just that the two co-founders have left the studio.

[AdmiralViscen]

They've already been gutted out and turned into Ghost

I liked Rivals but I don't know the franchise

[ferrarimanf355]

Probably a good time as any to point out this article that isamu talked about on GAF.

http://www.gamesradar.com/where-have-all-arcade-racers-gone/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

[Great Rumbler]

Probably a good time as any to point out this article that isamu talked about on GAF.

http://www.gamesradar.com/where-have-all-arcade-racers-gone/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

[ferrarimanf355]

Probably a good time as any to point out this article that isamu talked about on GAF.

http://www.gamesradar.com/where-have-all-arcade-racers-gone/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

I backed that on Kickstarter! Can't wait for that.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Shit that looks hot. Pc only?

[ferrarimanf355]

Shit that looks hot. Pc only?

There's going to be a Wii U version and a PC version.

[Cerveza mas fina]

After that thread on GAF i bought Motorstorm Pacific Rift today for 6 euro second hand, but it doesnt work

Really feel like some old school ar arcade racing now.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

After that thread on GAF i bought Motorstorm Pacific Rift today for 6 euro second hand, but it doesnt work

Really feel like some old school ar arcade racing now.

Is Daytona still up on PSN?

[thisismyusername]

After that thread on GAF i bought Motorstorm Pacific Rift today for 6 euro second hand, but it doesnt work

Really feel like some old school ar arcade racing now.

Is Daytona still up on PSN?

Yes, for now.

[tiesto]

Every time I think us RPG fans have it bad, I remember that fans of arcade racing, rhythm, or extreme sports games have it much worse.

[Great Rumbler]

Every time I think us RPG fans have it bad, I remember that fans of arcade racing, rhythm, or extreme sports games have it much worse.

And RPGs [Western RPGs especially] have been making a big comeback recently.

[Raban]

Neversoft's reign in the late 90s and the Tony Hawk series are still so fucking awesome and legendary to me, it's too bad most people are gonna remember it as something Activision drove into the ground

[headwalk]

play trackmania 2, dummies.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Neversoft's reign in the late 90s and the Tony Hawk series are still so fucking awesome and legendary to me, it's too bad most people are gonna remember it as something Activision drove into the ground

I've only played THPS2 on my PS1 and GBA so all my memories are from the series zenith.

[brob]

THPS1 was a game about combo lines (kickflip onto this rail, grind, 360 flip off into a melon grab before landing, etc) THPS2 let the player combo predefined lines together by the manual. THPS3 adds the revert which lets the player combo both street and vert lines together.

THPS3 is the culmination of the early Tony Hawk design. So much in fact that THPS4~ had to make substantial changes to the design in order to not be seen as limp-dicked retreads, but the changes were mostly for the worse.

[Raban]

THPS3

[benjipwns]

It was such a disappointment in 4 when you got into that first level and it was so empty and you had to complete all those stupid tasks just to get crap put in the stage you could do stuff with.

Especially after how amazing the revert made everything in 3.

I think the maps actually got worse though from 1 to 2 to 3.

THPS HD is one of the stupider disasters this gen.