Criterion's upcoming over-the-top extreme sports game gets canceled

Electronic Arts has officially confirmed that the upcoming, and unnamed, extreme sports game from its Criterion team has been canceled. The game was first revealed at E3 in June 2014.

At the time, this game was supposed to be the next big thing from the UK-based development team behind the Burnout franchise, along with the popular single-player shooter Black. In 2014, a teaser trailer showed an early build of what looked to be a promising new title, with first-person driving of vehicles like helicopters, boats, jetskis, ATVs, wingsuits, parachutes, and snowmobiles.The whole thing looked like it was meant to be filmed with a GoPro-like action camera.

Since that reveal trailer, little to nothing has been mentioned about the game. At E3 2016, EA said Criterion was helping to develop the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront VR title. However, Gamespot got a statement from EA that has finally put the extreme sports game to rest:

"While they've moved on from the previous project they've spoken about and aren't pursuing it, they are continuing to build new ideas and experiment with new IP for EA, in addition to continuing to collaborate with other EA studios," an EA representative told GameSpot today.

Ironically, Ubisoft announced a new game called Steep at E3 2016 that has similarities to Criterion's cancelled title. It is set in an open world where players will be able to pilot, among other things, wingsuits and paragliders in a mountainous environment. That game is due in December 2016.

John Callaham