News broke this morning that Fiona Sperry and Alex Ward, co-founders of Criterion Games, have left the company. An EA spokesperson later confirmed their departure in a statement to Polygon. It's the latest in a string of departures from the UK-based studio, which lost 60-65 people earlier this year as EA transferred talent to new Need For Speed developer Ghost Games. At the time Ward seemed upbeat about the transfer, citing it as an opportunity for Criterion to work on something other than a new Need for Speed. The studio had previously developed multiple Need For Speed and Burnout games, including the highly-acclaimed Burnout Paradise. Today Ward confirmed to VG247's Dave Cook via Twitter that he left Criterion to start a new company with Sperry, but at this time neither has given any clues to what their next venture might be.
The news breaks. Along with @FionaSperry I have left @CriterionGames . Welcome to the REAL #tothefuture
— Alex Ward (@AlexanderJWard) January 3, 2014Gamasutra has reached out to both for comment, and will report back with any meaningful updates. In the meantime, Criterion Games appears to still be working on unannounced projects.
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