The Guildford and Cheshire teams in the United Kingdom will be working hand in hand on a new part of the Need for Speed license, which is expected to be released between October and December next year.
Criterion Games will now bring together both the original Guildford team and Codemasters Cheshire developers (consisting of many veterans of the late Evolution Studios, creators of MotorStorm and Driveclub), who will report to Vice President and General Manager Matt Webster. In the meantime, Codemasters Birmingham continues to work on the Formula 1 franchise. DiRT and DiRT Rally licenses will be retired from next year in favor of WRC games.
“This deal is an important step in the close collaboration that the two studios have developed over the past few months,”said an Electronic Arts spokesperson. “By sharing common values and similar cultures, we firmly believe that combining the vast experience of both teams will help us provide our players with the best racing simulation experience. “