After a year delay, Need for Speed will be releasing later this year, and rumor has it that it will be dropping last-gen platforms altogether. According to VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb, EA’s hit racing title will release during the holiday season and developer Criterion has abandoned its plans on a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One version for the game.
The journalist shared the news on his show GrubbSnax (transcribed by VGC). “Need for Speed is still coming this year… that’s true, that game should be coming in November,” Grubb revealed. “If you are a Need for Speed fan who has bought a next-gen console, here’s some news; it’s next-gen only. They are shifting to next-gen only.” EA’s Chief Studio Officer Lauren Miele stated last year that the next Need for Speed title would be cross-gen.
Criterion has worked on the Need for Speed franchise in the past, but stepped away for a handful of years supporting DICE titles like Star Wars Battlefront II and most recently Battlefield 2042. Criterion last worked on Need for Speed Rivals helping the transition of the series to developer Ghost Games of which as of 2020 has transitioned into an engineering support studio.
EA acquired the developer Codemasters in late 2020 who are most known for developing the DIRT and F1 racing games. This acquisition will likely lead to more development time between both studios on their projects as EA can have different racing games come out each year.
EA has already announced that there will be no EA Play this year, so there is no certainty like past years as to when we will learn about EA’s upcoming titles, including the next entry in the Need for Speed franchise.
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