Next Need for Speed Title Pushed Back to 2022 Release

Usually I would shrug my shoulders at a game getting delayed because more development usually results in a more polished experience at launch, but this one hits different because the project is being halted in order for work to continue on another game in a genre I have no interest in. At best, there will be a skeleton crew working on the next Need For Speed.

Given the long gap between releases, expectations are going to be sky high from those unaware NFS development was paused. Worse still, in the event of BF6 actually releasing on time, there's even the concern some Criterion members won't even be put back on NFS development in order to provide BF6 with post-launch support.

Ideally, I'd like the favour to be returned and have the team at DICE helping Criterion develop NFS throughout 2022, but that's probably not gonna happen.
 
GTPNewsWire
This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:
This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on March 1st, 2021 in the Need for Speed Series category.
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I've downloaded, played and platinumed NFS Payback from October 2020's PS+.

It's been since NFS Shift 2 on the PS3 I had not played a NFS game, and I first hated it playing with a dualshock.

But then I plugged my t300rs and the game became a riot to play, especially in the speedcross mode. But it ruined for a moment my abilities in GTSPORT.

What I mean is that any NFS can be very surprising or very Bad (NFS heat) so that franchise is not the one I'm expecting the most.
 
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I’m a huge BF fan and play that and COD when not playing racing games. I understand the decision and just hope they don’t get burned out for when they eventually get back to NFS. Who knows if DICE will be able to assist Criterion with NFS as a favour probably won’t but I just hope the next BF is really, really good and polished before release. I hope NFS won’t suffer either and is a top game on release.


With Codemasters there it does help with the 2021 racing EA scene and 2022 should be an even bigger one for racing fans.


Fun fact: DICE actually did make a racing game once they made The V8 challenge around 2001. It was my favourite Supercars game on PC and I still enjoy it to this day.


The physics were good for its time but the sounds were amazing imo for an early 2001 era game. So a good amount of those devs are still active with Battlefield today and you can see that they have a knack for creating incredible sound design. Maybe they should one day do a Supercars game again.... hehe no that won’t happen LOL.


As a BF fan I’m happy but I’m also a NFS fan so I do understand any frustrations I hope it all works out for both games it the end.
 
After hating 2015 (2015 looked good though but the characters were annoying yeah bro, and the handling on pad I hated it) and payback and not really enjoying heat I’m so done with need for speed. Even if it’s awesome with cockpit camera I’m done. Haven’t really been a fan since need for speed 4.
 
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Sounds like another stinker in the making, unless EA gives them the much needed time to finish it up after they’re done with supporting DICE.
 
Generally, I'm not too worried, as it sounds like they're just freezing development to temporarily re-assign some staff. Once BF6 goes gold, I fully expect NFS2021 to resume full development with the staff it had before this re-allocation of manpower. I also take EA's word at face value when they say that both NFS2021 and BF6 are doing fine - it just sounds like investors are really excited for BF6, and given that Covid-19 has indeed affected game development in general worldwide (see also: GT7), I don't think I have any reason to believe BF6 nor NFS2021 will have development troubles beyond those that can be traced to Covid-19. I would apply the same to any other game in development, such as Gran Turismo 7.
 
So some potential leaks have emerged, courtesy of someone who recently joined Criterion games:



Based on the poster, it appears the next game is going for a cartoony (potentially cell-shaded?) art style and the car in the image appears to be a Nissan S14 with a chassis-mount rear wing. This ties into the leaks that emerged nearly a year ago where pre-alpha footage was found featuring a more light-hearted aesthetic.
 
Honestly, might as well go for it and shoot for style above all. At least they are willing to try something somewhat different instead of flip flopping between cops and supercars and tuners because EA is scared of pissing off both camps.
 
TBH if that is what they decide to do that's fine. I just want them to give more support for the next game. I feel like they abandoned Heat almost immediately after it came out
 
SestoScudo
Nfs Heat, sw battlefront 2 and bfv got abandoned to make way for that trash of a game called Bf 2042.
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Hot take: we don't know what happened with BF 2042. It could've been like Anthem where it was the developer's fault, and not EA. It could've also been that there simply wasn't enough time to iron the game out, even despite the delays and the fact they pulled staff from other projects/studios. I think it's more on DICE than EA, as they've unfortunately almost always had rocky releases, going back over a decade to BF3.

Meanwhile, NFS games as of late have been relatively fine as far as bugs/glitches go, and most of the issues seem to be with the actual game design and not the fundamental stuff like crashes. Not so say that modern NFS don't have bugs or even crashes, but they seem to have much less than say, the Battlefield series. That said, I'm sure Covid-19 and the development of BF2042 had something to do with the datamined NFS Heat content that was ultimately never released, as I hypothesize that if it weren't for these two factors, Heat would've had much more add-on content. But I digress.

My big concern is that Criterion these days isn't what it used to be, especially with head-honchos Sperry and Ward departing after MW2012. As someone else may've mentioned in that linked Reddit thread, the Criterion of today is a bit of a patchwork that includes actual senior staff of Criterion, but also ex-Ghost folks and some new hires. I'd argue that as far as launch-day viability goes, I have much more faith in Criterion than DICE, if only because most if not all DICE releases are, well, a roll of the dice.

EDIT: It would also make a lot of sense for a Chicago-based map, as we arguably have already had LA, Las Vegas, and Miami, in that order - all American cities. Perhaps a map based on NYC or Boston would be coming after this one? At any rate, all we can really do right now - other than blindly speculate and pray for leaks - is wait for May/June 2022, which is when EA will be the most likely to formally reveal the new title.
 
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MIE1992
Hot take: we don't know what happened with BF 2042.
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Ignoring your typical wall of text answers: we know exactly what happened with BF2042.

Tom is usually pretty correct when it comes to Battlefield insider trading, as much as I want to say he isn't.

Frankly, it is absolutely asinine to think that Heat got 'abandoned' because of 2042. The true reasoning is much simpler: it's time of life came at the worst possible time. Released in the last normal quarter before The COVID Times, and being killed in the middle of WFH and lockdowns across the world. Why wouldn't you pull the plug and work on something else if you're EA?
 
MIE1992
Hot take: we don't know what happened with BF 2042. It could've been like Anthem where it was the developer's fault, and not EA. It could've also been that there simply wasn't enough time to iron the game out, even despite the delays and the fact they pulled staff from other projects/studios. I think it's more on DICE than EA, as they've unfortunately almost always had rocky releases, going back over a decade to BF3.

Meanwhile, NFS games as of late have been relatively fine as far as bugs/glitches go, and most of the issues seem to be with the actual game design and not the fundamental stuff like crashes. Not so say that modern NFS don't have bugs or even crashes, but they seem to have much less than say, the Battlefield series. That said, I'm sure Covid-19 and the development of BF2042 had something to do with the datamined NFS Heat content that was ultimately never released, as I hypothesize that if it weren't for these two factors, Heat would've had much more add-on content. But I digress.

My big concern is that Criterion these days isn't what it used to be, especially with head-honchos Sperry and Ward departing after MW2012. As someone else may've mentioned in that linked Reddit thread, the Criterion of today is a bit of a patchwork that includes actual senior staff of Criterion, but also ex-Ghost folks and some new hires. I'd argue that as far as launch-day viability goes, I have much more faith in Criterion than DICE, if only because most if not all DICE releases are, well, a roll of the dice.

EDIT: It would also make a lot of sense for a Chicago-based map, as we arguably have already had LA, Las Vegas, and Miami, in that order - all American cities. Perhaps a map based on NYC or Boston would be coming after this one? At any rate, all we can really do right now - other than blindly speculate and pray for leaks - is wait for May/June 2022, which is when EA will be the most likely to formally reveal the new title.
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Watch tom hendersons video on BF 2042. @Silver Arrows thank you for posting that video i was just going to post it but you did it already.

You will see why Bf 2042 is trash and suffwring lots of problems. The game was originally be a BR then they switched it back to a bf game in the last minute.

Bf 2042 has been having problems since its first conception while many veteran dice developers left then you have covid lockdowns and working fron home contributing to the game becoming unfinished.
 
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MIE1992
Hot take: we don't know what happened with BF 2042. It could've been like Anthem where it was the developer's fault, and not EA. It could've also been that there simply wasn't enough time to iron the game out, even despite the delays and the fact they pulled staff from other projects/studios. I think it's more on DICE than EA, as they've unfortunately almost always had rocky releases, going back over a decade to BF3.

Meanwhile, NFS games as of late have been relatively fine as far as bugs/glitches go, and most of the issues seem to be with the actual game design and not the fundamental stuff like crashes. Not so say that modern NFS don't have bugs or even crashes, but they seem to have much less than say, the Battlefield series. That said, I'm sure Covid-19 and the development of BF2042 had something to do with the datamined NFS Heat content that was ultimately never released, as I hypothesize that if it weren't for these two factors, Heat would've had much more add-on content. But I digress.

My big concern is that Criterion these days isn't what it used to be, especially with head-honchos Sperry and Ward departing after MW2012. As someone else may've mentioned in that linked Reddit thread, the Criterion of today is a bit of a patchwork that includes actual senior staff of Criterion, but also ex-Ghost folks and some new hires. I'd argue that as far as launch-day viability goes, I have much more faith in Criterion than DICE, if only because most if not all DICE releases are, well, a roll of the dice.

EDIT: It would also make a lot of sense for a Chicago-based map, as we arguably have already had LA, Las Vegas, and Miami, in that order - all American cities. Perhaps a map based on NYC or Boston would be coming after this one? At any rate, all we can really do right now - other than blindly speculate and pray for leaks - is wait for May/June 2022, which is when EA will be the most likely to formally reveal the new title.
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Just please no more LA inspired maps. I can't even begin to tell you how many games I've played set in either Miami or LA.
 
AISUYU
Just please no more LA inspired maps. I can't even begin to tell you how many games I've played set in either Miami or LA.
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Since LA was the basis for NFS2015, I think it's going to be off the table for a while. Same thing with Miami, since it was used for Heat.
 
That is good they should base it on Vegas in the upcoming NFS IMO. Or maybe a European city
 

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