Guildford, UK-based Criterion has seen a workforce reduction to a mere 17 people, with the bulk of its employees being shifted to Ghost Games to continue development on the
Need for Speed franchise.
Creative director Alex Ward revealed the dramatic headcount reduction over a series of
tweets, saying that Criterion is "a small team now," having lost somewhere between 60 and 65 workers to Ghost Games.
It was announced in August that Ghost Games would be taking over production of the
Need for Speed franchise from Criterion. With most of its team now moving over to a new studio, Ward says what remains of Criterion will shift its focus onto other projects.
"We still exist. We chose not to continue making [
Need for Speed] games," Ward
said over Twitter. "We are backed by a huge and successful wider company, Electronic Arts... We're in fine form actually."
