What with Criterion's latest endeavours, you could be forgiven for thinking that the developer has abandoned Burnout for good. But that's not the case.

The last Burnout instalment hit in 2008, with Criterion transporting the speedy series into an open world and showering it with DLC support. It was fantastic, but since then EA has had the studio working on other projects.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was released in 2010 and spin-off Burnout Crash! kept the brand busy last year. Both games were different enough to stand apart from the main line of Burnout titles. However with Need for Speed: Most Wanted, announced at this year's E3, Criterion moves perilously close to their previous work.

So does Most Wanted spell the end for Burnout? Not at all, says Criterion. Pressed on the subject at E3 this year, Senior Producer Matt Webster said, "No, of course, not. That's not going anywhere."

Indeed, the studio is now pushing their blistering brand of racing even further. While discussing Most Wanted's open-world, Webster said, "It's bigger than Paradise, but it's difficult that one. It's not necessarily about the square meterage or whatever... There's much more drivable surface in here than we've ever done before though."

So not only can we look forward to more Burnout games, Most Wanted is also sounding pretty damn exciting. Good news all around!

You can read our preview of Need for Speed: Most Wanted here. It's out on October 30th in North America and November 2nd in Europe.