After seven years at Swedish studio Ghost Games, the Need for Speed series will be taken over by former developer Criterion. Meanwhile, Ghost Games was renamed EA Gothenburg and became an engineering support studio to assist with other games.

Ghost Games has been working on the series since 2013's Need for Speed: Rivals, and since then Ghost Games has been working with Criterion. The film was a solid if not outstanding effort, and follows a remake of the original that would probably have been better had it not been for performance issues and problems caused by being online all the time.

The studio's latest is the best Need for Speed in years, according to Rick Lane's review of Need for Speed: Heat, but it feels like the series is coasting along. According to GamesIndustry.biz, EA has been in Gothenburg struggling to attract the best talent, and Criterion is based in Guilford, home to Hello Games, Supermassive, Media Molecule, and many other studios.

While some will remain in the rebranded studio, others on the team will be moved to other studios within Criterion or EA; EA Gothenburg still has 30 staff, but they have not yet been placed elsewhere.

Criterion developed the third installment of the Hot Pursuit series and the Most Wanted reboot, but is best known as the studio behind the Burnout series, which the Need for Speed series is emulating. Despite its racing legacy, the studio has been away from producing "Battlefield" and "Star Wars Battlefront" since backing Ghost Games' "Rivals."

"With a strong history and passion for racing games and a vision for what we can create, the team at Criterion will take 'Need for Speed' into the next generation," EA said.

"Burnout Paradise" is the perfect racing game for me, so I'm eager to see if Criterion can inject more zest into "Need for Speed". Until then, "Forza Horizon 4" remains an excellent alternative. If you're interested in buying it, check out our list of the best racing games on PC.