Criterion Games

Criterion Games is a British development studio that made its name chiefly with the Burnout racing series, renowned for its emphasis on adrenaline-fuelled speed, spectacular crashes, and an arcade approach to driving rather than simulation-grade precision. The studio gradually built a reputation as one of the most experienced teams in the arcade racing genre, and its technology and design philosophy later influenced other major franchises when Criterion took over development of entries in the Need for Speed series. Besides racing games, the studio was also behind the RenderWare technology engine, which for a time was widely used across the games industry, from smaller developers to major publishers looking for a ready-made solution for three-dimensional graphics and physics.

History

Criterion Games emerged as the development arm of Criterion Software, a company originally known mainly for its game-development technology and middleware, including the aforementioned RenderWare engine. The studio began releasing its own games at the start of the 21st century, and with the very first entry in the Burnout series on PlayStation 2 it showed where its work would head: fast arcade racing built around spectacular vehicle destruction. The series continued to grow through further entries, which gradually refined the slow-motion crash system and added new game modes.

A turning point came with Burnout 3: Takedown, which won broad attention from both players and critics for its aggressive yet entertaining take on on-track combat, where taking down rivals mattered just as much as the finish line itself. The studio then briefly stepped away from racing with the action shooter Black, which showed that Criterion could handle environmental destruction outside the car genre too, before returning to its tried-and-tested formula with Burnout Dominator. Burnout Paradise followed, marking the studio's first departure from traditional linear tracks in favour of a connected open city that players could freely drive around, with no menus or loading screens between races. During the series' development, Criterion Games became part of publisher Electronic Arts, which later put the studio's arcade racing expertise to use for another major franchise.

After the release of Burnout Paradise, the studio became increasingly involved in developing the Need for Speed series, delivering entries such as Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, which combined Burnout-style speed with chases between police and drivers, as well as a portable version of Need for Speed: Most Wanted for the Vita console. Criterion Games thus gradually became one of the key teams keeping the Need for Speed series alive under the Electronic Arts banner, while its own Burnout brand faded into the background for a while. The original game was eventually revisited with Burnout Paradise Remastered, which brought the classic title to a newer console generation, and a few years later the studio once again contributed to the Need for Speed series with Need for Speed Unbound, which combined a realistic setting with striking comic-book-style visuals.

Today

Today Criterion Games operates as part of Electronic Arts and remains long-term involved in developing and supporting the Need for Speed series, including more recent entries like Need for Speed Unbound. The studio has kept its reputation as a team specialising in arcade racing with an emphasis on speed and visual spectacle, even though its own Burnout brand hasn't received a new entry in recent years and exists mainly in the form of a remastered version of an older title. Among fans of both Need for Speed and Burnout, Criterion Games remains associated above all with a sense of speed and spectacular, almost cinematic crashes, which have been the hallmark of its work ever since its earliest entries in the early 2000s.