8 Dead EA Video Game Franchises That Deserve A Comeback
2. Burnout
You're a games publisher in control of a studio responsible for the greatest open world sandbox racer of a generation. Off the back of its success, do you offer congratulations and greenlight a sequel, or reduce the developer to little more than a jobber? For reasons that still elude everyone to this day, EA opted to shoot for scenario B, disallowing Criterion from going anywhere near supercars and vehicular destruction post-Burnout Paradise, tasking it, instead, with putting together the multiplayer components for DICE's various shooters.
Since 2008, the closest it's come to spearheading its own racer is as co-developer of 2013's Need For Speed Rivals and, given the glowing reception that game received, it is truly beggars belief why EA continues to deny Criterion the opportunity to work with its first love. If it's for fear of trying to appeal to an audience that no longer exists, last year's Paradise Remaster rocketing straight to the top of retail charts couldn't make it more obvious to the publisher that the appetite for more Burnout is bigger than ever.
The reluctance to commit is astounding and leaves little room to wonder why Criterion's co-founders opted to depart in 2014.