Report: Battlefield 3, Criterion-developed Need for Speed underway

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jun 10th 2009 at 4:15PM }

During a William Blair Growth Stock Conference presentation, EA's COO (John Pleasants, FYI) noted the existence of two unannounced titles -- neither of them particularly surprising if you've been keeping up on your spurious internet rumors. The first, Battlefield 3, is said to be in good shape and, even better, in good hands over at developer DICE. Unfortunately, it appears fans of frenzied first-person shootery will have to wait until the next fiscal year before returning to the field.

According to G4TV's Patrick Klepek, the second title is yet another Need for Speed game, this one developed by the team behind Burnout. Pleasants allegedly praised the team for being "online-centric and notably high-quality game developers that we have out at Criterion." There's little else to go on at the moment, but we're certainly intrigued by the collision of those two racing franchises. There will be collisions, right?

Source -- Need for Speed
Source -- Battlefield 3

Tags: battlefield, battlefield-3, burnout, criterion, ea, fps, need-for-speed, racing

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

The Baron @ Jun 10th 2009 4:33PM

Both of these = very good news.

Is Battlefield 3 gonna follow on the PC-exclusive success of B2, or open up onto consoles? I thought Bad Company (and its sequel) was their iteration tailored specifically for console.

Discotheque @ Jun 10th 2009 5:14PM

Hopefully it's more like the PC-only Battlefield 2. And if it has to be on consoles I hope it doesn't effect the PC version.

Battlefield 2 was amazing. I've been waiting for 3 for so damn long.

Einhanderkiller @ Jun 10th 2009 6:47PM

I'm hoping Battlefield 3 stays on PC.
BF3 for PC and Bad Company for consoles. (BC2 is coming to the PC, but it's designed as a console game).

Manly Mcbeefington (Mr. ESC) @ Jun 10th 2009 8:58PM

What's wrong with Bad Company? the campaign was good and the multiplayer mode was excellent.

Cr4sh Dummy @ Jun 11th 2009 10:54AM

I would like to see it on the consoles. But if they released it on consoles I just hope they don't treat it like the console version of BF2. That game was horrible. And if they release it on consoles it shouldn't screw up game play. By now developers know how to make games for both the PC and consoles. Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4 were great on both the PC and Xbox.

Shmil @ Jun 10th 2009 4:33PM

Need for Burnout? sounds fun

D_Average @ Jun 10th 2009 5:06PM

I like that.

Neuromancer @ Jun 10th 2009 4:36PM

If that's Bad Company 3, I'm in.

mars @ Jun 10th 2009 4:38PM

finally! both battlefield 3 and criterion need for speed were no brainers.

I loved bad company, will love bc2, but want to get back to battlefield. and criterion/burnout are published by EA, and so is NFS, so obviously that's a good idea

Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 10th 2009 4:38PM

criterion developing NFS? day 1 purchase.

OMGOMG @ Jun 10th 2009 4:43PM

God, this finally might convince me to upgrade my PC.

ThatPCgameryouhate @ Jun 10th 2009 6:39PM

Time to head to Newegg I guess. Looking to build a new rig this summer, so bring on all the best games lol.

TheE3Guy @ Jun 10th 2009 4:51PM

So there's this little game coming out this year called Forza 3, maybe you've heard of it. There is no need for another Need for Speed game. Or any other racing game EVER for that matter.

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jun 10th 2009 4:54PM

Give me a break.

Dirty @ Jun 10th 2009 5:01PM

break me off a piece of that

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Jun 10th 2009 5:09PM

but isn't Forza a simulation racer? NFS is an arcade racer so what's the problem with having both of them? simulation and arcade are completely different animals.

The Baron @ Jun 10th 2009 6:03PM

Also Criterion are top-class developers.

Chad Vanderbilt (Moptimus in Disguise) @ Jun 10th 2009 6:05PM

yeah, Im sure 50 years from now people are going to be saying "Fuck the new virtual reality racing games, lets bust out some old skool Forza 3"

acme @ Jun 10th 2009 4:58PM

BF3 FUCK YEA!! bring on karkand all over again baby

Dirty @ Jun 10th 2009 5:02PM

Seems like they have been using some of criterion's tech in the recent NFS and it still sucked. Glad they are turning it over to a good developer. Kinda wish Criterion would do something different, just to see what they would come up with.

Dirty @ Jun 10th 2009 5:04PM

Oh yea they did Black. Yea more of that please.

Fin @ Jun 10th 2009 5:03PM

Kotaku reported on the Criterion NFS - http://kotaku.com/5285730/ea-burnout-devs-making-revolutionary-need-for-speed

ThatPCgameryouhate @ Jun 10th 2009 6:42PM

And Joysitq did too, so I guess that makes us ALL winners. YAY!

This_Time @ Jun 10th 2009 5:03PM

I preferred Bad Company to BF2 for one reason: all the side-switching in BF2 made it impossible to get attached to the characters. In Bad Company, there is a set group of characters with very distinct personalities that stay with you for nearly the entire game. In Battlefield 2, all there is is a bunch of dudes yelling at you to do stuff, and you care about them even less than they care about you. It was a little too big-picture for me, hopefully BF3 fixes this somewhat.

Cr4sh Dummy @ Jun 11th 2009 10:49AM

Are you talking about the console version of BF2? Because the PC version didn't have a campaign.

Kola @ Jun 10th 2009 5:25PM

Good god I made a promise I would never buy a Need for Speed game. But I also made a promise that I'lll buy anything Criterion makes because they are nice like that.

Oh noooes whatever will I do

tifosiotaku @ Jun 10th 2009 5:32PM

Am I the only one that doesn't like this news? Considering the Burnout Bikes update to Burnout Paradise, I would have loved it if Criterion made a new Road Rash. All that's missing from the Burnout Bikes update was opposing riders, the ability to wack those riders in the head with a tire iron, and some more legen... wait for it... dary '90s Seattle grunge on the soundtrack.

PedoJokerBear (aka Deeznuts) @ Jun 10th 2009 6:02PM

+1 for road rash

VaultICEE @ Jun 10th 2009 6:30PM

+2 for Road Rash!

Ihavepants @ Jun 10th 2009 7:53PM

+3 for Road Rash.

dextro @ Jun 11th 2009 7:40AM

+3 for Road Rash

Avada Kadavra 9 @ Jun 10th 2009 6:45PM

That picture you have for the post looks amazing.

ToddimusPrime @ Jun 10th 2009 7:12PM

That shot is from NFS Shift

jeremymodell @ Jun 10th 2009 6:36PM

what about mirror's edge 2?

ThatPCgameryouhate @ Jun 10th 2009 8:00PM

You and greenwald think alike.

Greenwald @ Jun 10th 2009 6:09PM

what happened to mirror's edge 2?

ChiTownRuler23 @ Jun 10th 2009 8:21PM

CHEAH! maybe this will be the next NFS game that is actually good the last NFS game that was actually good was NFS:U2

NOT ME @ Jun 10th 2009 11:40PM

Oh GOD no Burnouts style needs to stay in burnout.....NFS has loooooong lost its way, it needs a good foundation and this just isnt helping. At least in NFSU the dynamics felt somewhat real especially when u started modding your car.

hotrider12 @ Jun 11th 2009 12:44AM

now if criterion up-grade hotpursuit and make HP3 or high stakes 2 for ps3 Im in big time.

hotrider12 @ Jun 11th 2009 1:52AM

never played burnout Im a die hard NFS gamer. an so far NFS has disappointed me last couple years with most wanted, carbon, pro streets,undercover now shift thats 5 NFS games that fail and will fail coming this sept. and if criterion pull this off it will restore my faith in EA

but in the mean time anyone remember these NFS titles??

ROAD &TRACK presents THE NEED FOR SPEED, need for speed 2, need for speed 3 hotpursuit,need for speed porsche unleashed,need for speed high stakes, need for speed V-RALLY 2, need for speed hot pursuit 2 last but not lease NEED FOR SPEED UNDERGROUND 1&2 10 perfect good NFS games.

bad ones

mostwanted: even tho it has cops but still sucks. did not like you had to climb up a list to win the game (sucked)

carbon: has cops but still sucks fast an the furious FU'K that up

pro streets: sucks,suck,sucks