EA studio Ghost Games takes ownership of Need for Speed IP

The Need for Speed IP is now under the creative control of EA’s Gothenburg-based studio Ghost Games.

A huge number of developers have worked on the series since its inception in 1994, including the likes of UK outfit Criterion, EA Black Box, EA Montreal, EA Bright Light, EA Vancouver and Slightly Mad Studios.

But the plan now seems, for the time being at least, for Ghost Games to steward the series through the early next-gen era.

Need For Speed needs continuity,” studio head Marcus Nilsson told Videogamer. "It cannot go from black to white between Black Box and Criterion, and that’s why we’re now thinking about the brand as Ghost owns it.

"We’re going to build it, we’re going to build it on Frostbite 3. People will see something they are familiar with every time we release the game. And I think that is the core basis of building a brand; that people know what to expect."

Nilsson also believes that the IP needs a greater level of consistency in the future.

"When you go from a Shift experience to The Run experience to a Hot Pursuit experience, then it loses credibility," Nilsson added. "I think we now have the work of re-establishing that credibility with building the brand.

You know, it’s still a really strong brand, absolutely. We just need to make sure people know what to expect when they get it, and Rivals is absolutely the first step toward that. Need For Speed is not going to go away, right? It’s not the final or last step of that. But what you see in Rivals, a lot of those things will carry on going forward and myself and Rivals will be involved in shaping that."