Criterion reveals dark history with EA....

Criterion Games has revealed that it approached EA eight years to develop a "stunt racing game" called 'Need For Speed: Split Second'.

Speaking in this month's issue of GamesTM, Criterion designer Craig Sullivan revealed that after finishing Burnout 2, the team "were talking to EA Canada about doing a Need For Speed game, so we put together a pitch to do a stunt racing game called Need For Speed: Split Second."

So why didn't it work out?

Well, according to Criterion's Alex Ward, it was because of an ongoing situation involving the team walking away from a sequel to C64 classic Skate or Die, a secret game that the studio had agreed to develop for EA.

"We called a meeting with the EA guys, told them we were walking away and they went mad, threatening to sue us, put us out of business... there was a lot of anger and frustration.

"Then we got a call from the Need For Speed guys and they said 'we can't work with you guys any more; you just walked away and there's a shame on your company, so we can't talk to you'.

"I remember coming back to my desk and there was a folder on my desktop called EA and I just clicked delete. We learned a lot about how a game should be made."

It all worked out in the end, of course, with the team being given a chance to develop a second sequel to Burnout.

They finally had their wish come true this year with the opportunity to develop Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Got to wonder how many of these kind of stories are in the background that havent had any press coverage.....