There was a time when Criterion was renowned for its genre-defying arcade racers like Burnout and Need for Speed. And yet aside from Need for Speed Unbound, the Guildford-based UK studio has been mostly relegated to an EA support studio over the last decade, developing the vehicle sections for the Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefield series. In a recent media event celebrating the studio’s 30th anniversary, its racing game achievements were surprisingly downplayed. “We’re not here to talk about the past,” said Battlefield Studios Europe’s Rebecka Coutaz, reported by IGN. “We are solely focused on Battlefield.” But the studio will always be synonymous with its racing titles. Here are five reasons why its legacy deserves to be celebrated. Criterion created Grand Theft Auto’s first 3D engine Before it became synonymous with Burnout, the studio was established in the early 1990s as a technology division of Canon, where it developed a 3D graphics engine known as RenderWare. Initially, the engine powered the studio’s first PC-exclusive racing games, including Speedboat Attack and Redline Racer. However, it was also adopted by third-party developers, including none other than Rockstar Games. As a result, this pivotal engine would not only power every mainline Burnout game, but also Rockstar’s early 3D Grand Theft Auto games, including GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas – instrumental titles that transformed the industry. Its chaotic arcade racing was unrivalled After experimenting with extreme sports games like TrickStyle and AirBlade, Criterion created the seminal Burnout series. Born from the developer’s love of arcade racers, it encouraged reckless driving as you raced on city streets at ridiculous speeds while dodging traffic. This was rewarded with a speed boost, known as a Burnout, which could be activated once the meter was full. This sense of risk vs reward would define the series.