Criterion Games

Criterion Games is a Guildford-founded AAA game-development studio and wholly owned Electronic Arts subsidiary. Now part of EA Entertainment and the Battlefield Studios collective, it develops and co-develops action, vehicular and first-person shooter experiences for console and PC.

Founded in 1993 as Criterion Software, the company established its game-development division in the mid-1990s and adopted the Criterion Games name in 2001. Its early technical work included RenderWare, a 3D graphics and middleware suite that became widely used during the PlayStation 2 and Xbox era. Electronic Arts acquired Criterion Software Limited in 2004.

The studio is particularly associated with the high-speed arcade racing of the Burnout series, including Burnout 3: Takedown, Burnout Revenge and Burnout Paradise, as well as the first-person shooter Black. It later modernised EA's Need for Speed franchise with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Need for Speed Unbound.

Development expertise

Its supported capabilities span:

• AAA game production and multi-studio co-development
• First-person combat, gameplay systems and narrative campaign design
• Vehicular physics, handling and racing mechanics
• Frostbite integration, real-time lighting, shading and visual effects
• Audio production, sound design, voiceover and performance-capture integration
• Live-service content pipelines and post-launch support

Criterion has also contributed to collaborative EA projects, including Star Wars Battlefront: Rogue One – X-Wing VR Mission, Star Wars Battlefront II, Battlefield V and Battlefield 2042. In 2022, EA integrated the former Codemasters Cheshire development team into Criterion, expanding the studio into a dual-hub operation. The studio subsequently shifted its exclusive focus to the Battlefield franchise, with responsibilities spanning single-player narrative development, multiplayer engineering and cross-studio production.