Mon, Jun 13, 2011 | 11:29 BST

Gibeau: Criterion making a game every year would “burn them out”

EA Games boss Frank Gibeau has said that Criterion Games won’t be forced to make a game every year, saying such a thing would be “the worst possible idea.”

“The worst possible idea would be to make Criterion build a game every year,” Gibeau told Eurogamer. “That would limit their creativity and hurt quality.

He admitted that there is now a strategy in place to alternate between developers for Need for Speed games every November. Gibeau didn’t openly admit that Criterion was fully dedicated to NFS from here on out following the success of Hot Pursuit last year, though.

“We’ve designed an alternating strategy in driving for us to continue to build on the high quality we’ve established with Hot Pursuit and try new things.

“But at the same time we can share certain technologies and features. The new Need for Speed is on the Frostbite 2 technology, which allows us to do a lot of things we’ve never been able to do before. We’re using the animation system from EA Sports.”

Gibeau added: “We’ve tried to get a team to do it every year. You burn them out. You can’t do it at the level of quality the market wants now.”

Need for Speed: The Run, being made by Black Box in Vancouver, is the first EA game to include Frostbite 2 that isn’t Battlefield-related. It launches this November.

Criterion is thought to be working on something Burnout-related, known as Burnout Crash.

15 comment-trail-alt Posted in: E3 2011, EA, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
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15 comments

#1

aleph31
13/06/11, 11:47 am

I have BurnOut: Paradise City and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. The former is still being played from time to time (2 years since I purchased a copy), whereas the latter is merely collecting dust. To sum up:

Need for Speed -> boooooring as hell

BurnOut -> lots of fun

But of course, NFS is the one grabbing all the attention…

#2

Avatar226
13/06/11, 11:50 am

have to say im hoping for a hot pursuit 2 major with explosions of like a burnout effect or something who knows lol but man would that be epic…the racing style of NFS and the destruction of the burnout series…..

#3

onlineatron
13/06/11, 11:55 am

Best quote ever.

#4

tenthousandgothsonacid
13/06/11, 12:00 pm

Agree with 1. Let Criterion make more Burnout. NFS:HP was 30Hz of tedium.

#5

The_Red
13/06/11, 12:06 pm

Wow, this was actually a decent comment and one that made sense BUT we have to take it with a grain of salt. Sometimes a new game every 2 years also burns people out.

#6

Fin
13/06/11, 12:12 pm

I preferred Hot Pursuit to Paradise.

Where’s me Burnout XBLA??

#7

Maximum Payne
13/06/11, 12:35 pm

So…new Burnout on FrostByte 2 engine ? Tech destruction!

#8

DSB
13/06/11, 1:54 pm

Whoever made Need for Speed Underground needs to make more Need for Speed Underground.

Best arcade racer I ever played.

#9

Prof.Dr.Moertel
13/06/11, 1:59 pm

Burnout 3: Takedown 2004
Burnout Revenge 2005
Burnout Legends 2005
Burnout Revenge (360) 2006
Black 2006
Burnout Dominator 2007
Burnout Paradise 2008
BP: The Ultimate Box 2009
Nfs: Hot Pursuit 2010

Shit, Criterion is burnt out already! :P

#10

lindblum_resident
13/06/11, 2:21 pm

Actually, Legends and Dominator were not developed by Criterion.

Can’t remember about the 360 version of Revenge and the Ultimate Box but I don’t believe that they were behind those, either.

#11

Maximum Payne
13/06/11, 2:22 pm

@9 LOL But thats ”old” times now its completely different :)

#12

Dralen
13/06/11, 4:09 pm

I agree with #1. I want more Burnout.

#13

ManuOtaku
13/06/11, 4:13 pm

Activision will like to have a few words with you, by words i mean buy you and then milk your franchise to death to prove your point and then cancell the burnout series, that kotick “burning” desire.

#14

Prof.Dr.Moertel
13/06/11, 5:56 pm

@10 yeah, that´s true. Stupid German wiki :D

Ultimate Box was just the normal game including all the DLC wasn´t it?

#15

Lounds
13/06/11, 11:38 pm

burnout 3 is still the best burnout imo

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