Criterion Games

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Criterion Games

Type	Subsidiary
Founded	1993
Headquarters	Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom
Industry	Video Game Industry
Products	Burnout series Black
Parent	Electronic Arts
Website	http://www.criteriongames.com/

Criterion Games (Officialy called Criterion Software) is a Guildford, England based video game developer. It is best known for its work on the award-winning, multi-platform, successful Burnout series, the PS2 and Xbox first-person shooter Black, and the RenderWare middleware game engine, created by Criterion Software.

Criterion Software Ltd was created to commercialise 3D graphics rendering technology created by Canon's European Research Lab. Its two co-founders were both previously employed by Canon. Criterion Software is a game company specialising in the development of the RenderWare family of middleware technology, including graphics, AI, audio and physics components. RenderWare is used in such games as Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which are developed by Rockstar Games, and the successful Burnout series, developed in house by Criterion Games.

In August 2004 Electronic Arts announced they had acquired Criterion Games and Criterion Software for a rumoured £40 million, taking into account the purchase price and existing debt. This was followed by the release of Black, a first-person shooter set in Eastern Europe, to which they applied the action movie sensibilities characteristic of the Burnout series.

After the purchase, both Criterion and EA declared that RenderWare would continue to be made available to third party customers. However, some clients decided it was too risky to rely on technology owned by a competitor. EA has since withdrawn RenderWare from the commercial middleware market, although it is increasingly used by EA's internal developers.

In the summer of 2006 the company closed their Derby satellite office, making all of their programmers and support staff redundant. In early March 2007, EA moved their Chertsey UK development Studio and Criteron Games to a new building in Central Guildford, creating a single UK Studio that now has approximately 500 full-time developers.

[edit] Games

Name	Year	Formats
Scorched Planet	1996	PC
Sub Culture	1997	PC
Redline Racer	1998	PC
Trickstyle	1999	Dreamcast, PC
Deep Fighter	2000	Dreamcast, PC
Suzuki Alstare Racing	2000	Dreamcast
Burnout	2001	PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube
Airblade	2002	PlayStation 2
Burnout 2: Point of Impact	2002	PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube
Burnout 3: Takedown	2004	PlayStation 2, Xbox
Burnout Revenge	2005	PlayStation 2, Xbox
Burnout Legends	2005	PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS
Burnout Revenge	2006	Xbox 360,Playstation 2, Xbox
Black	2006	PlayStation 2, Xbox
Burnout Paradise	2008	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows