Criterion, the guys behind the Burnout series and the good Need For Speed games (not the movie), are going through what you could call a transitional period. Like, there's hardly anyone actually working there anymore.
But that's not a bad thing.
Criterion creative director Alex Ward Tweeted over the weekend:
Ward says that, with most staff headed over to the new Ghost Games studio, who will be continuing work on Need For Speed, those few left at Criterion will be working on something different.
Awesome! They key to their driving games wasn't necessarily their driving, it was the interesting additions and mechanics they layered on top of it that made them so damn fun (head-on boosting, crash mode, etc). It'll be cool seeing what they can come up with next!
Criterion now consists of just 17 people [Gamasutra]