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Criterion's Alex Ward (CD)/Fiona Sperry (SD) resign, start new studio, Crit on new IP

Angelcurio

Angelcurio

Member
There goes my dreams for a Burnout Paradise 2. I hope they find a good company willing to fund their endeavors. Must have sucked to be permanently tied to the NFS IP, and to finally break free from it, they split the studio and left them with just 17 employees.

Another good developer shot in the head by EA. At least the studio is still running. The cycle continues.

ib2nD8Ndcm2Ci9.jpg
 
B

Boy Wander

Member
Ward just tweeted: "The news breaks. Along with @FionaSperry I have left @CriterionGames. Welcome to the REAL #tothefuture."

Edit: Godammit iMax....
 
R

RadarScope1

Member
The consistency with which big publishers like EA grind down and then drive away talent is amazing. They have a real ... talent for doing so.
 
S

Staal

Member
Really curious what Alex Ward will do.

Too bad for the studio, Criterion now seems more dead than alive.
 
I

iMax

Member
Boy Wander said:
Ward just tweeted: "The news breaks. Along with @FionaSperry I have left @CriterionGames. Welcome to the REAL #tothefuture."

Edit: Godammit iMax....
Click to expand...

;)

I wonder if this has happened recently. Seem so, judging by their tweets this past week.
 
C

Crawl

Member
What non-mobile studios does ea have left?

Ghost Games - NFS
DICE - The BF Machine
Visceral - Star Wars games?
Bioware - DA / ME
Sports Studios - various sports games ?

Is that's all that's left of EA's big internal studios?
 
D

DashReindeer

Lead Community Manager, Outpost Games
This was only a matter of time. Criterion was never meant to be churning out games for the EA publishing machine. I hope they can go do something that they want after this without having to compromise too much to business people.
 
M

magnificent83

Member
I still don't understand why a new company (Ghosts) had to be spun out of Criterion. Its like they weren't interested in using the name brand recognition of a Criterion + NFS racer. Makes you wonder if it wasn't a royalties/creative differences situation
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Crawl said:
What non-mobile studios does ea have left?

Ghost Games - NFS
DICE - The BF Machine
Visceral - Star Wars games?
Bioware - DA / ME
Sports Studios - various sports games ?

Is that's all that's left of EA's big internal studios?
Click to expand...

If we keep the "big" qualifier, you've named them all.
 
I

iMax

Member
Crawl said:
What non-mobile studios does ea have left?

Ghost Games - NFS
DICE - The BF Machine
Visceral - Star Wars games?
Bioware - DA / ME
Sports Studios - various sports games ?

Is that's all that's left of EA's big internal studios?
Click to expand...

I think Ghost Games, Criterion Games, EA Canada, Popcap, Maxis, and The Sims, plus some other localisation teams.

Although, after today's news, I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of Criterion was spun off into Ghost.
 
Agent X

Agent X

Member
Nirolak said:
Yeah at this point I think what was Criterion is basically gone.
Click to expand...

It sure seems like it, sad to say. As others have pointed out, a lot of former Criterion people are at Ghost, so perhaps they can grab the torch for the future of Burnout (along with Need for Speed, of course).

I look forward to hearing what Ward and Sperry are up to, and hope for the best for them.
 
C

CriterionDog

Member
I really love Criterion. I hope they can still pump out awesome games even with Alex and Fiona gone. I bet Criterion's new IP will be something sweet. Honestly, it is kinda nice that they are trying to stray away from the Need For Speed franchise. Best of luck to Alex and Fiona and their new projects, and best of luck to Criterion on their new project. : D <3 Criterion.
 
H

Hanmik

Member
I think he is hinting about something on his twitter account..

he kept tweeting tothefuture..
and his profile says. "Digital Adventurer and Designer of the Future"

something about future.. tada.. I´m a superrubberduckdetective..
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
magnificent83 said:
I still don't understand why a new company (Ghosts) had to be spun out of Criterion. Its like they weren't interested in using the name brand recognition of a Criterion + NFS racer. Makes you wonder if it wasn't a royalties/creative differences situation
Click to expand...

Ghost was supposed to alternate with Criterion and was founded by DICE racing veterans, but then it became apparent that Criterion wasn't going to make more NFS and just integrated in.
 
T

Theecliff

Banned
I wish they could have made another Burnout game instead of NFS. Loved Paradise but couldn't even play an hour or Most Wanted before I got bored. Now it looks like that dream is dead :'(

SmokyDave said:
There is so much talent floating around at the moment. I want a UK based racing superstudio to emerge from the rubble.
Click to expand...
That would actually be pretty amazing.

-

Nice to hear they've formed a new studio as well.
 
Nabs

Nabs

Member
Here's hoping they find a good studio/team and come up with something neat.

RIP Burnout/Criterion.
 
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