Final week, to mark its thirtieth anniversary, EA rebranded Criterion as Criterion: A Battlefield Studio. The storied studio that created Burnout and in recent times has shepherded the Want For Velocity collection, in addition to engaged on the rebooted Star Wars: Battlefront, will turn out to be simply one of many 4 studios supporting EA’s recent Battlefield push.
This is not the primary time Criterion have contributed to Battlefield, the Guildford studio have been concerned since 2015’s Battlefield 1, however the rebranding marks an finish to engaged on different tasks.
Or is it?
For the subsequent couple of days, I am on the Develop Convention in Brighton, which suggests I am being that prick on the finish of a chat who pipes up with a query that may be quickly rotated right into a information story. At the moment’s query: Over the previous 30 years, Criterion have demonstrated what they’ll obtain with inventive freedom, will not narrowing to turning into a Battlefield-only studio stifle their creativity?
“Clearly, we’re not going to be going off with a recreation about dinosaurs,” Criterion senior producer Danny Isaac says, including “That has come up a number of occasions.” Although, he argues that there’s freedom inside Battlefield. “The way in which I see it’s that the Battlefield franchise, now platform, is so huge there’s quite a lot of alternative. We have areas equivalent to Portal, user-generated content material, multiplayer, [and] singleplayer marketing campaign. There’s quite a lot of alternative. We’re at all times in search of new methods to convey Battlefield gamers in – as we’re seeing with RedSEC and battle royale.
“So, on the one hand, it might be seen as constrained. However, [as someone told me], give me the liberty of a tightly constrained temporary. Typically that constraint can drive creativity.”
“Once we discuss demystifying how all these studios work collectively, I believe consistency is not conformity,” Criterion Director of Operations Amy Pejic added. “EA picked 4 actually distinctive studios for his or her abilities. There is a motive we’re part of that workforce, proper? It hasn’t muted what makes Criterion ‘Criterion’. There’s nonetheless room to defy these expectations [and] to consider issues a bit bit in a different way. We do not have once more course of for course of’ sake that pushes down and [means] each studio must be the identical. Each studio remains to be going to indicate up as themselves on this bigger portfolio.”
‘However what does it imply for non-Battlefield tasks? Have we seen the final Criterion Want For Velocity, the final Burnout?,” I throw in earlier than the mic will be seized from me.
“I believe Burnout, we put that one down some time in the past,” Isaac says. “Want For Velocity? Sure, for now, we’re centered on Battlefield Studios. However you’ve got seen the journey that we have been on, I would by no means say by no means. Issues change. EA modified. They’ve completely different viewpoints, however we’re on Battlefield.”
“My colleague mentioned this greatest,” Pejic says. “We will do any recreation, proper now we’re centered on Battlefield.”
I’ll say that sounds quite a bit just like the Henry Ford aphorism: “Any colour the client desires, so long as it is black.”
Leave a Reply