The Want for Velocity sequence has a protracted historical past and, inside it, there are wonderful highs alongside the lows. For me the best period for the video games was when EA put Criterion on it, then best-known for the Burnout sequence, who produced a number of standout entires together with Want for Velocity: Scorching Pursuit—a top-notch motion racer, and arguably the very best within the sequence.
Nonetheless good the video games had been, Want for Velocity has all the time shifted items, though in recent times it actually felt like they’ve simply been spinning their wheels. The final instalment, 2019’s Want for Velocity Warmth, was fully wonderful however did not really feel like something particular and, in a world the place Playground’s now raced via 5 Forza Horizons, simply did not have that pleasure issue. Clearly writer EA thinks one thing wants altering, too, as a result of now it has moved the sequence from earlier developer Ghost Video games over to 2 of its inside studios that, for racing followers, can solely be known as a dream crew: Codemasters and Criterion.
We will verify Criterion Video games and the event crew at Codemasters Cheshire are formally coming collectively to create the way forward for @NeedforSpeed, forming one Criterion studio with two location hubs. [1/3]May 12, 2022
“We will verify Criterion Video games and the event crew at Codemasters Cheshire are formally coming collectively to create the way forward for Want for Velocity,” reads the assertion. Codies Cheshire is being folded-in to type “one Criterion studio with two location hubs. This integration builds off the shut partnership the 2 studios have developed over the previous few months.
“Sharing widespread values and related cultures, we strongly imagine unifying the large wealth of experience throughout each groups will assist us to ship the very best racing experiences we are able to for our gamers.”
Criterion actually wants no introduction for followers of motion racing, with Burnout Paradise nonetheless the very best instance of this type of sport ever made. It is made many good racing video games through the years, although just lately it has appeared to be performing as extra of a assist studio for different massive EA titles like Star Wars Battlefront 2 and couple of Battlefields.
Codemasters Cheshire is a studio that rose from the ashes of Evolution Studios, a specialist racing developer best-known for the Motorstorm sequence, which was assembled by Codemasters after Sony reasonably unceremoniously closed Evolution in 2016. EA acquired it final 12 months as a part of its Codemasters acquisition, which cost $1.2 billion. The broader context is that Codemasters itself has turn into a specialist racing studio, with each the Grid and F1 sequence delivering persistently glorious video games.
So… the subsequent Want for Velocity is likely to be the nice shit. You might not mix two growth studios that will excite me extra about an motion racing sport, and Want for Velocity is all about that sheer abandon to the joys of the highway. Ridiculously attractive and ridiculously quick automobiles doing ridiculous issues to an superior licensed soundtrack—if this sport lives as much as the expertise behind it, we could possibly be in for one thing particular.
