Criterion Games is gearing up to release its next major video game into the marketplace. After spending time aiding other studios with their projects, the development team has since been actively developing the next Need for Speed game. What’s coming out is Need for Speed Unbound, which is slated to launch at the start of this upcoming month. But that hasn’t swayed fans from hoping that Criterion Games would return and bring out another massively popular racing video game experience with Burnout.
Burnout has quite a lengthy history, with the first game coming out in 2001. However, it’s been a few years now since we’ve seen the franchise really make an appearance on console platforms. Fortunately, it looks like the game IP is still highly cherished by the folks over at Criterion Games. Recently, Eurogamer managed to speak with the creative director for Need for Speed Unbound, Kieran Crimmins. During their conversation, the topic of Burnout came up.
Eurogamer asked the creative director if any possible Burnout games are coming out in the future. While we didn’t get a direct announcement, Kieran Crimmins did state that he absolutely hopes so. Right now, it’s not the next video game IP the developers are working on. But, there is some hope that the development studio will eventually be able to expand its team, and if that happens, then we could see Burnout make a return. So there is some hope over at Criterion Games that this IP will get another chance in the marketplace and deliver an adrenaline rush street experience once again. But don’t count on it being the next game to release after Need for Speed Unbound.
We love those two franchises, and Burnout has a unique take on racing that I think would be absolutely phenomenal now. So I guess what I’m saying is, I would love to do that. And I hope that if everything goes well with these games, and we can expand the team, then maybe we can make one of those as well.
But, for now, it does appear that Need for Speed is the franchise Criterion Games is focusing on. Earlier in the interview, Kieran Crimmins stated that they are looking at other Need for Speed titles. That’s likely going to be an IP that they’ll settle in at for a little while. Again, depending on how well this upcoming Need for Speed Unbound does, we could see the development studio expand to work on multiple projects.
Currently, Need for Speed Unbound is set to launch on December 2, 2022. When the game does launch into the marketplace, you’ll find it available only on the current-generation platforms. More specifically, it’s available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. While we wait for the game to launch into the marketplace officially, you can find the game trailer in the video embedded below.