First Need For Speed 2022 Footage Appears Online

In January, rumours began to spread that a new Need For Speed title was in development by Criterion Games, for release in 2022. 

This followed the 2020 announcement that the studio would be returning as the main developer for the racing franchise after working on Battlefield and Star Wars titles for the better part of a decade. Criterion previously worked on Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, Need For Speed: Most Wanted, and Need For Speed Rivals, which are some of the best-rated games of the franchise. While Ghost Games, now known as EA Gothenburg, took over the franchise for the release of the next three games, these titles weren’t as critically successful. 

The Need For Speed game from EA Gothenburg which was the most well received was a remake of Criterion’s Hot Pursuit. Check it out in the video below.

Leaks have appeared from a Need For Speed insider known as ynk on Reddit, which reportedly show the first known screenshots from the upcoming game. There's one of the overworld map; one blurry shot of a yellow car driving in front of some skyscrapers; and, in the final shot, the background is too blurry to make out much but we can see elements of the UI.

The UI displays a mini-map in the bottom left corner with a number of markers on it. The map denotes the area as 'The Quarry'. In the bottom right is the speedometer which displays a speed of 82 mph, and in the top right is the marker for in-game currency which is nearing $2 million in the image. 

It has previously been reported that the upcoming Need For Speed title will only be available on the latest generation of consoles - however, these images are too blurry to note the graphical fidelity and make a call on whether or not they are obviously PlayStation 5/Series X standard. Comments below the screenshots also claim that the upcoming game will take place in a fictionalised version of Chicago named Lake Shore City, which would fit with the landscape displayed in the leaks.