Burnout 3
Image via EA

Criterion co-founders Ward and Sperry leave studio

Starting fresh, Ward says

Recommended Videos

“Alex Ward and Fiona Sperry have decided to leave EA,” a spokesperson told Polygon this morning.

Welp. I’d drop some joke about how they were burned out, but that’s been taken already.

Ward and Sperry co-founded Criterion Games, the studio behind Burnout. EA says that the studio is hard at work on a new project for next-gen consoles, and that Matt Webster will be heading up this new game as well as Criterion in general. 

Criterion jumped into the Need for Speed franchise with Most Wanted last year. But Ghost Games took over for this most recent one, Need for Speed Rivals.

As for why they left, a recent tweet by Ward gives us some idea:

Just decided to start afresh and form a new games company with

Good luck to you both. I can’t wait to see what you end up doing.


Destructoid is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article Final Fantasy XIV Data Centers in all regions hit with DDoS attack
Ifrit in Final Fantasy XIV
Read Article Surprise! Hades 2 is out in Early Access now on PC
Hades 2 available now in Early Access
Read Article Latest Skyblivion dev diary shows how far the Skyrim/Oblivion project has come
Skyblivion: an Oblivion soldier in gold armor holds a basket of flowers by a peaceful river.
Related Content
Read Article Final Fantasy XIV Data Centers in all regions hit with DDoS attack
Ifrit in Final Fantasy XIV
Read Article Surprise! Hades 2 is out in Early Access now on PC
Hades 2 available now in Early Access
Read Article Latest Skyblivion dev diary shows how far the Skyrim/Oblivion project has come
Skyblivion: an Oblivion soldier in gold armor holds a basket of flowers by a peaceful river.
Author