Need for Speed Unbound, the 2022 racer from Criterion Games that helped cement the series as one of EA’s longest-running franchises ever, introducing cel-shading, graffiti art, and other new features to players as part of a 25th installment, may not be getting a successor any time soon, according to new statements that Vince Zampella, Head of Respawn & Group GM for EA Studios Organization, sent out to various gaming outlets today.
“The Need for Speed team at Criterion are joining their colleagues working on Battlefield,” Zampella revealed before going on to assure players that while the franchise isn’t dead, EA has nothing to share about the next game yet aside from the fact that it should be “new and interesting.”
“As a company, it was important to us to take the last year to listen to our Need for Speed community and use their feedback to create content for Unbound,” explained Zampella. “With an increased understanding of what our players want in a Need for Speed experience, we plan to bring the franchise back in new and interesting ways.”
The news from Zampella comes nearly three months after the release of Need for Speed Unbound’s Vol. 9: Lockdown update, which, while delivering new features that include an all-new PvPvE multiplayer mode, will apparently be the game’s last.
“IGN has confirmed with EA that this marks the end of new content for Need for Speed Unbound, and the Need for Speed team within Criterion is now, alongside the rest of the studio, working on Battlefield,” reads a report.
“Need for Speed and Burnout developer Criterion is now entirely focused on developing EA’s next Battlefield game, the publisher has told Eurogamer – but there are still plans for the studio to return to its racing roots at some point in the future,” corroborates another.
“Welcome to Battlefield Labs,” EA and the Battlefield team wrote to players today, introducing them to a new program that was designed to ensure that the next installment of its military FPS series would live up to the quality of fan-favorite titles that include Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 3.
“We’d like to invite you to join us for our most ambitious community development collaboration ever. This is an opportunity to provide feedback, validate the future of Battlefield, and have a direct and lasting impact on the next generation of Battlefield games,” EA explained, confirming that sign-ups for Battlefield Labs are open today.