Last week, EA announced Need for Speed Unbound will get a surprise second year of live service support, with new volume updates adding new cars, themed events, and new game modes inspired by fan-favourite NFS games throughout the year.
Out today on all platforms, Volume 6 is the first of four planned Volume updates aiming to revitalise Need for Speed Unbound.
Audi returns to Need for Speed
Along with Toyota, Audi has been absent in Need for Speed Unbound, despite the German manufacturer appearing in Need for Speed Heat. That changes today, with the return of the 2019 Audi R8 Coupe and S5 Sportback alongside the 2020 Audi RS 6 Avant power estate, which makes its Need for Speed debut.
Each car is fully customisable and a Rare Custom version of each model can be unlocked with the Premium Speed Pass.
Celebrating Need for Speed’s 30th anniversary, Volume 6 also adds Darius’ custom 2019 Audi R8 Coupe from Need for Speed Carbon in the Premium Speed Pass and the 1984 Ferrari Testarossa Coupe from the original Road and Track Presents: The Need for Speed.
New PVP mode
In addition, Volume 6 introduces a new dedicated PVP mode. Before, you had to drive to specific meet-up points on the map and wait for events to start. Now, you can jump straight into PVP races.
Accessible from the multiplayer garage, players can jump into 25 new PVP races in either dedicated events or free roam with three rotating weekly playlists to keep things fresh. A new rank system will also allow players to show off their achievements in single player and multiplayer. Reaching new rank divisions will unlock decals, banner frames, and banner title customisation items.
Speed Pass
Like other Volume updates, Volume 6 brings a new Speed Pass with 45 tiers of rewards to unlock as you rank up including the Audi R8 Coupe, S5 Sportback, and customisation parts. Notably, Volume 6 introduces a new paid Premium Speed Pass, bringing 30 additional tiers.
Premium Speed Pass owners will get instant access to the 2020 Audi RS 6 Avant along with its body kits and three Rare Custom versions. Rydell can also be unlocked as a playable character skin in multiplayer along with infinity cosmetics, new VFX and SFX options and more.
Here’s what’s included in the Volume 6 Speed Pass and Premium Speed Pass:
Speed Pass
- Car: Audi R8 Coupé (2019)
- Car: Audi S5 Sportback (2017)
- Bodykits: R8 and S5
- Rival racer character skins for multiplayer: Ross, Justicia, and Youmna
- Banner feature: Banner Titles
- And more, 45 Total Tiers to Unlock
Premium Speed Pass
- Car: Audi RS 6 Avant (2020)
- Bodykits: RS 6
- New Custom: NFS Legends - Darius’ Custom R8 Coupé (2019)
- New Custom: Nextech Tourenwagen - Custom S5 Sportback (2017)
- New Custom: "Michèle" - Custom RS 6 Avant (2020)
- Character Skin for multiplayer: Rydell
- Cosmetics: Infinity Rims and Plates
- Cosmetics: Car Projections
- And more, 30 additional tiers total in the Premium Speed Pass
Need for Speed Unbound Volume 6 patch notes
Volume 6 also brings a host of quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes. You can find out more in the full patch notes here, but here's a summary of the quality-of-life improvements and new events:
New events
25 new races! Across A-S+ tiers! and it wouldn't be Kaizen without trying out some new things. Like a race that runs along the length of the downtown elevated trainline? Yep! Race is called “Gotta be Kiddin’ Me” for a reason.
As with everything, let us know what you like and don't like! It will help inform us for the Volumes ahead.
Freedrive playlist weekly speedlist updates
You might remember our update where we added Server recommended playlists in Freedrive? Well as with our Dedicated PVP rotation, the playlists now recommended by the server will change on a weekly basis too.
XP and SP earning
You can now add towards both your Global rank and your Speed Pass progression from either Single player or Multiplayer. Cars you unlock from the Speed Pass will be unlocked in SP too!
More XP rewards
XP rewards have been added and rebalanced for the following:
- Activities + Collectables
- Linkup MVP
- SP events
- Side Bets
- Escaping cop chases
- Playlists
Playlist rewards have been rebalanced. First place now receives lower rewards with last place earning more, reducing the disparity. The base reward for a playlist has also been increased, but the modifier for participants has been decreased, meaning the number of participants impacts the rewards less now. It's all a bit Robin Hood (steal from the rich, give to the poor), but there is overall more XP in the pool.
QOL
We have also made other improvements to make your life easier:
- Hot Laps are not discovered by default, as these are no longer ‘new’: they sit alongside the other activities to find and conquer
- Fixed a bug with Linkup MVP tracking - now it should take into account contribution to the whole round!
- Fixed a bug when entering a Linkup while in a pursuit/escaping, where a player wouldn't trigger the escalating heat and pursuit status throughout the Linkup rounds
- Some small performance improvements when in longer game modes (endurance, mostly). This should save on CPU usage spikes
- Improved cars and road reflection
- Improved image aliasing stability
- Fixed "white tunnels" problem
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