Laura Miele, EA's chief studios officer, told Polygon that Criterion Games, the developer working on the next Need for Speed game, will now be prioritizing the new Battlefield game alongside EA DICE instead. Criterion has already supported DICE in the past by developing the Firestorm battle royale mode for Battlefield 5. In addition to that, DICE LA is working on creating the game's live service components.
“[Battlefield] is shaping up great, the team has been working incredibly hard, they pushed hard last year, and yes, we have been working from home,” Miele said. “And it’s hard; it’s hard to make games from home, and the [EA DICE] team is fatigued a bit. We have a great game and some incredible potential with this game. We’re playing to win; we’re playing to put a great Battlefield game out in the market.”
“There’s no way we would have made a decision like this without including [Criterion] and discussing this with them first, and the impact that they could have on [Battlefield],” Miele added. “They’ve worked on [Star Wars] Battlefront, they’ve worked on Battlefields, and they have a really tight, close collaborative partnership with DICE. I’m really confident that this is going to be a pretty positive win for them.”
Miele called the game “a love letter to our fans” but wouldn't comment on its specific features. “We’re going to put all the resources we have on this,” she said.
While Battlefield 6 is slated to be released by the end of this year, Need for Speed will be delayed to 2022.
Keep in mind, Battlefield 6 is just a placeholder name because the upcoming game hasn't been titled yet.
