Criterion confirmed as dev for next Need For Speed

In a conference call, last night, EA confirmed that the dev for next year’s Need For Speed will be Criterion of Burnout fame.We have all heard the rumours to this but now it is officially confirmed, Criterion will now drive the franchise forward after the successes of Shift and Nitro this year.

Fran Gibeau, speaking at EA’s quarterly earnings call last night announced that the next Need For Speed has been in  development for a while now and will be released next year.

“Next year’s Need for Speed has been under development now for some time at our award-winning Criterion Studio,” he said.

“In recent years, we failed to put adequate resources behind the franchise and, as a result, quality suffered.”

So how will this next version of the franchise play.  Will it keep on with the fresh approach to sim racing or will Criterion go to its core root and create something more in Burnout tradition?