EA delays next Need for Speed into 2022, developer Criterion now supporting the next Battlefield game

In a statement given to Polygon, Electronic Arts Chief Studios Officer Laura Miele said that due to a variety of factors such as the pandemic affecting development and the finalized acquisition of Codemasters, the decision was made to push the next Need for Speed game back to 2022, while developer Criterion Games is now supporting development of the next Battlefield.

"[Battlefield] is shaping up great, the team has been working incredibly hard, they pushed hard last year, and yes, we have been working from home," Miele said. "And it's hard; it's hard to make games from home, and the [EA DICE] team is fatigued a bit.

Per EA's Q3 2021 financial results, the next Battlefield game is on schedule to release at some point in Holiday 2021, telling investors that the team was ahead of internal milestones.

A lot of games and studios are shifting around at EA right now, with a recent report indicating that the next Dragon Age game will now be single-player only, dropping its planned multiplayer portion even as the Anthem Next overhaul was scrapped. A new IP from Motive Studios has also reportedly been canceled. The next major title from EA is the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition remaster collection, which is set to release on May 14, 2021.