During a recent episode of his paid Giantbomb podcast Grubbsnax (paywalled, transcribed by VGC), VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb revealed that EA plans to release the latest instalment in the long-running racing franchise this holiday season. “Need for Speed will still be released this year… “Yes, that is correct; the game should be out in November,” Grubb stated. ”
If you are a Need for Speed enthusiast who has purchased a next-generation console, I have some worse news for you: it is only available on next-generation consoles. They are solely using next-generation technology.” If this is accurate, it indicates a shift in EA’s overall strategy. After a year-long delay, publisher Electronic Arts postponed the release of the next Need for Speed game in 2021 and reassigned developer Criterion Games to a support position on Battlefield 2042.
During that time, Laura Miele, EA’s chief studio officer, informed Polygon that Criterion was still in charge of the new Need for Speed, which will now be released by March 2023 on a variety of platforms, including current-generation and last-generation consoles. The most recent two instalments in the series, 2017’s Need for Speed Payback and 2019’s Need for Speed Heat, were released on the same day for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and computer.
While Grubb did not mention any plans for a PC version of the game, he did speculate that the action would take place in Miami, but he was not confident about this. EA said in February 2020 that it has returned development responsibility for the Need for Speed racing series to Criterion Games, citing a desire to restructure Ghost Games, which had produced the previous four instalments in the series.
The company is situated in Guildford, England. Criterion is most known for the Burnout series, but the company has also worked on two prior Need for Speed games: Hot Pursuit (2010) and Most Wanted (2012), both released in 2012. It also had a role in Need for Speed Rivals, which came out in 2013.