Electronic Arts today announced an agreement to acquire Criterion Software Group Ltd. from Canon Europe. With the acquisition, EA assumes Criterion"s studio in Guildford, UK; two globally recognized intellectual properties, Burnout and Black; and the RenderWare middleware technology.
Under a previous agreement, Criterion"s Burnout3 game is being published by EA and is scheduled for release on all major platforms in September. Criterion is also developing a highly-anticipated game known simply as Black. Both titles received strong critical support earlier this year at the recent E3 game exhibition in Los Angeles. "This is a great fit," said EA Chairman and CEO Larry Probst. "Criterion offers us studio talent and a proven management team, globally recognized intellectual property and technology infrastructure that will accelerate our readiness on the next generation of consoles."