Although Electronic Arts have announced that Criterion will return to Need For Speed development after helping with Battlefield 2042, the publisher has yet to reveal the new instalment…

Tom Henderson has written that the Andrew Wilson-led publisher will be talking about more games during July (it isn’t something Electronic Arts will be doing during an EA Play Live, as we’ve already written about the publisher skipping that program this year!) So along with FIFA 23, Skate 4 and the new Need For Speed could also be shown during the second month of summer.

The latest Need For Speed, Need For Speed: Heat, was released in November 2019, so it’s been almost three years since its release. The new instalment is being developed by Criterion Games, who got the IP back after Ghost Games (which has since been renamed EA Gothenburg) has left it behind. According to Henderson, the next instalment of NFS could be subtitled Unbound, but he’s treating it as a code name. He confirmed several earlier rumours from Jeff Grubb, who wrote for VentureBeat in April, that this racing game would have a photorealistic graphical style combined with anime-like, cartoony elements.

Henderson likened the character designs to the animated series The Boondocks. At the same time, the cars will have exaggerated effects (flames, wind, smoke) during specific actions (drifting, reaching a certain speed, etc.). He also mentioned a Meetups feature, which allows online players to run into each other on the map and race on what he calls “unique” tracks.

Henderson also leaked the release date: he understands that Need For Speed: Unbound (if that’s what it’s going to be called…) will be released on November 4. The PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC trio is a safe bet, but the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One are not out of the question either if the game gets slightly more… shall we say, childish graphics. It should be noted here, however, that this is not yet official.

Source: WCCFTech