Criterion: "Be Patient With us" if you Want a Decent Burnout Game, "Maybe in Years to Come"

Alex Ward, Creative Director over at Criterion Games, is always happy to tweet about what his company is working on right now, the failed BLACK 2 concept, and the Burnout franchise.

His latest round of tweets was all about Burnout, where he said, “If you want a decent Burnout game you’ll just have to be patient with us. That’s all I can say. Oh, and our lawyers are watching.” He then addressed that with, “”Please be patient” almost sounds a bit Iwata style, really. “Please understand” – oh well, or “please look forward to it”.”

Alex followed this all up with a slew of tweets:

But like I have been saying for months now – we won’t do Burnout until we are ready to do something amazing again. Just to be clear.

Shiny new hardware isn’t enough of a reason either. Series has always been about breaking new ground somehow. Hence we aren’t do it now.

Or maybe we won’t work on anything like that ever again. For some, it was pure fiery passion. For other, just a day job.

Terminator 3 was fun but without Jim Cameron and Lightstorm, it wasn’t all there IMHO. We don’t want to do a T3 w/ Burnout.

And then so many more, which we’ve broken down into bullet point form:

A Vita Burnout is unlikely to happen.
Criterion is “prototyping new ideas in Unity.”
They are “deep into something fun.”
“We just walked away from a big franchise. Would have been easy to continue. But we have something else we desire to create.”
On people asking for a new Burnout 3: “And a Paradise 2. And another Burnout 2. And all of the others. How original? Not.”
On teasing people: “Trust me. I’m not teasing anyone. Fans are super passionate and we see and read it all.”
On worries of EA going over their head with a Burnout: “Not particularly. EA is people you know, not a “thing” – and there are so many smart people here.”
“I hope everyone understands that at Criterion we are gamers too. We’ll always try to Do The Right Thing with craftsmanship and dedication.”
On how a new Burnout would be awesome: “I am sure it would be too. Maybe in years to come.”
“The last thirteen years were wild and challenging. But it did get repetitive. So we’re actively breaking the cycle.”
“It’s time to make something that doesn’t begin with the letter B for starters. Or feels like someone else owns it.”
“Either way, buckle up because it’s going to be one hell of a ride.”