I think it's safe to say that pretty much everyone and their second cousin's "housemaid" thought that Criterion's recent "staff transfer", where a majority of the studio's devs were allocated to Ghost Games, was pretty much a move orchestrated by their overlords at EA. Well, no. At least not according to Criterion's Studio Director Fiona Sperry. Speaking to PCGamesN, she had the following to say on the matter:

"Criterion has always been about doing our own games so it was never the long term plan for us to stay doing Need for Speed. Thats not our game. We lent some people (artists and engineers primarily) to Ghost as when you're making something new you don't need a whole team of people - we didn't need them, Ghost did - so it all just made sense. Wasn't something EA 'asked' us to do. My management team at Criterion sorted it out with the management team at Ghost.

"Thats how things work at EA these days. Teams work together, coordinate sharing of people as it suits where projects are at. We love being a small team so we are keen to stay so for as long as possible. Our best games and ideas come about when we work this way."

So there you have it folks, no arm-twisting from faceless, corporate douchebags and no threats of having an "unproven, untested new IP" shitcanned, this was a voluntary decision from Criterion and one that they are actually somewhat thankful about.

Sound off in the box-that-holds-your-opinions below.