Electronic Arts has paused all work on its popular Need for Speed franchise and aligned developer Criterion Games to work on the next Battlefield title, a report claimed Monday.
The development comes as EA shared pre-alpha gameplay footage of the next Battlefield game and announced its plans for a new community testing program.
While all of Criterion is now aiding development on the military shooter franchise, EA intends to return to the NFS franchise at some point.
Vince Zampella, head of Respawn Entertainment at EA who is now in charge of Battlefield, told Eurogamer Monday the NFS developer was now working on the shooter. “The Need for Speed team at Criterion are joining their colleagues working on Battlefield.
As a company, it was important to us to take the last year to listen to our Need for Speed community and use their feedback to create content for Unbound,” Zampella told the publication. “With an increased understanding of what our players want in a Need for Speed experience, we plan to bring the franchise back in new and interesting ways,” he added.