Games insider/leaker/villain (delete as apt) Tom Henderson has tweeted that a new Need for Speed game will release in late 2022, developed by Criterion Games - the studio behind previous series entries including Hot Pursuit, Most Wanted, and Rivals.
Henderson’s post was picked up by VGC, who add that we were meant to see this new Need for Speed in 2021, but the game was delayed as staff at Criterion - a subsidiary of Electronic Arts - were moved over to help on Battlefield 2042.
Criterions’s Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was remastered in 2020…
Criterion - which made its name with the Burnout series before working on Need for Speed titles - was handed back the keys to Need for Speed by EA after Swedish studio Ghost Games’ Payback and Heat (our review, here) were only modestly received by the series’ fans.
As VGC reports, the team’s as-yet-untitled new game was in no rush, and targeting a 2023 release for both new- and outgoing-gen consoles (yes, your PS4 will still get new games in 2023). But that needle seems to have shifted, if Henderson’s sources are right. We'll obviously update you when we know more on this one - if there is a new Need for Speed game in 2022, we'd expect to see a reveal by this summer's E3 events, at the latest.
Now, if I may add something to this new racing game convo: Xbox, please, now you’ve got Activision in your sights, bring Blur back? Blur was the best. Blur deserves its chance to compete, again, alongside the Need for Speeds of the gaming world. More Blur, in our gaming future, is what I’m saying here. Cheers, Phil.
Topics: Need For Speed