It's official racing fanatics, the development of the next Need for Speed game is on hold, as Electronic Arts confirmed the developing team at Criterion Games is focused on the upcoming Battlefield title.
However, Vince Zampella has promised the studio will be back working on Need for Speed in the future, and will do so in "new and interesting ways". While this isn't good news, it's at least comforting to know that the new Need for Speed game wasn't shelved.
Need for Speed is Temporarily Shutting Down its Engines
It's Battlefield season, and with all the teams at Criterion Games now focusing on the new title of the historic FPS franchise, Need for Speed is forced to shut down its engines, even if just for the time being.
This is incredibly disappointing for racing game fans, especially hardcore Need for Speed fans. It's been almost three years since Need for Speed Unbound released, a game that received mixed reactions, to put it lightly, and it seems a new Need for Speed title isn't coming any time soon.
While the promise of a new Need for Speed title that will be unique and deliver "interesting things" is exciting, knowing the game won't probably come any time soon is disappointing.
It's still much better than the game being scratched, and there being no plans for the franchise moving forward. So at least we have something to be happy about, I guess.
At the end of the day, Battlefield is a huge franchise and it seems Electronic Arts is bent on reviving it. A successful revival of the franchise would be massive for EA, especially from a financial standpoint. So, I can understand why this decision was made, even when I'm not a big fan of it.