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I still can’t believe that the once mighty Need For Speed franchise has now been left to rot.
Having been quietly shelved by EA several months ago, it’s unlikely that we’ll receive a new entry in the popular racing series any time soon.
One fan and creator has dreamt up what a new-gen Need For Speed might look like though.
YouTuber Digital Dreams is an expert when it comes to modded remasters, and they’ve recently treated us to a fantastic overhaul of Need For Speed Underground, making it look like a brand new release.
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The addition of pathtracing really infuses the game with fresh life, making it look far more like something suited to launch in 2025 rather than 2003.
To achieve this, you simply need to install the Need For Speed Underground Remix mod which is completely free providing you have a copy of the game on PC.
It adds full ray tracing, ray reconstruction, high-poly 3D models, and PBR textures.
Digital Dreams also has their own ReShade preset you can nab from the video’s description.
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They’ve got the mod running on a hefty bit of kit.
Digital Dreams is making use of a Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA RTX 5090 FE, so your own PC may not be able to replicate this quite to the same standard.
“This is the same graphics I remember as a kid,” commented one viewer on the video.
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As for why Need For Speed is currently lying dormant, well, EA previously pulled funding for Speedhunters, an EA-backed fan site.
You could argue that EA was simply looking to save some money, especially as Need For Speed entries have been few and far between in recent years.
But then Speedhunters contributor Matthew Everingham claimed that the franchise had been shelved.
"Speedhunters is on ice. EA shelved Need For Speed, and that means no more funding for the site,” he wrote.
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“Grateful for everything — the trips, the stories, the lifelong mates. I'm still shooting, just shifting gears into more video."
It’s worth also keeping in mind that Need For Speed developer Criterion is now very much occupied with assisting with the development of the soon-to-be-released Battlefield 6.
Then again, perhaps there’s hope.
EA is in the midst of being acquired by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund for $55 billion.
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Under new ownership, EA’s priorities could change which may include bringing back Need For Speed but I wouldn’t hold your breath.
Topics: Need For Speed, EA, Mods, PC