According to an insider, you should prepare for the worst regarding the next instalment of the recently unimpressive (and deserving of a better fate) Need For Speed.
Tom Henderson, who has proven himself a reliable source around Electronic Arts with Battlefield 2042, recently received a question about Criterion’s Need For Speed. This game has been rumoured to have both photorealism and stylistic features reminiscent of anime. Electronic Arts still doesn’t want to talk about it (and didn’t during the E3 replacement EA Play Live this summer, for example, because Andrew Wilson’s company cancelled even that to say more about the games separately…).
Henderson wrote on Twitter that he’s worried about the new Need For Speed (it’s supposed to be released this year, at the end of March at the latest), but he’ll have more to tell us about the new WRC game soon. While it sounds like a logical flop, we can explain: WRC Generations, due out in October, will be the last game based on the World Rally Championship licence developed by Kylotonn (and published by Nacon), as Codemasters acquired the rights to use the licence in 2020… from 2023. And they’ve been acquired by Electronic Arts, so the WRC licence goes to them…
In June, Matt Webster, Criterion’s general manager, wrote the following on the Electronic Arts blog: “As we at Criterion shift gears into the future with full focus on developing the next Need for Speed game, this will be the final update for Need for Speed Heat. Since the launch of Need for Speed Heat and as players continue to tear it up in Palm City, we’re listening to what you love about this experience and what you all believe could be even better. With these insights, we have a terrific foundation to create the most expressive, socially connected, action-packed game yet for Need for Speed fans and beyond.”
At the time, Henderson said the reveal would come in July, with a November release. The former still hasn’t happened, and if you’re worried about the game, it might not be released until 2023… but after all, if they cancel the project, it wouldn’t be a huge shock!
Source: WCCFTech
Leave a Reply