EA has merged Criterion Games and Codemasters' Cheshire team to create the future installments of the Need for Speed franchise.
Electronic Arts has merged Codemasters’ Cheshire studio with Criterion Games to create a larger team to work on the future installments of the Need for Speed franchise, GamesIndustry.biz reports. The news was also confirmed on Codemasters' Twitter account.
According to the outlet, Criterion will now include both its original team in Guildford and the developers from Codemasters Cheshire. The two teams will be reporting to the vice president and general manager Matt Webster. Meanwhile, another branch of the Codemasters, which is located in Birmingham, will continue to work on the Formula 1 franchise.
Codemaster's Twitter account reads that the two studios are not combining offices and will work together from two separate location hubs. EA representatives also confirmed that the merger did not entail any redundancies.
"This integration builds off the close partnership the two studios have developed over the past few months," an EA spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz. "Sharing common values and similar cultures, we strongly believe unifying the huge wealth of experience across both teams will help us to deliver the best racing experiences we can for our players."
Codemasters became part of EA in early 2021 when the company purchased it for $1.2 billion. With the new acquisition, EA intended to strengthen the EA Sports brand as well as help the creators of the next Need for Speed. The release of the racing game will take place at the end of 2022.
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