New Need for Speed confirmed for launch before April 2023

Electronic Arts has confirmed a new Need for Speed game due for release before 1st April 2023.

In its Q3 2022 Earnings Call, Blake Jorgensen, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, stated that “… in Financial Year ’23, we’ve disclosed that Need for Speed is on the slate, and we’ll announce more titles closer to the time.” For clarity, EA’s financial year begins on 1st April this year, running to 31st March 2023.

Last year we reported on the fact that there would be no Need for Speed (NfS) game released in 2021, as developer Criterion were moved off NFS production duties to assist EA DICE on finishing Battlefield 2042, in an apparent knock-on effect of the coronavirus pandemic.

Andrew Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Arts (EA) talked about implementing the ‘Metaverse’ – a series of virtual three-dimensional worlds based on and connected with social interactions – in their franchises in future.

Could this mean VR implementation for the series, or a more-advanced multiplayer/social experience? Or even esports? Wilson commented:

“I look at the engagement that we’re seeing inside these 3D spaces that we create in and around sports and other worlds, what you see with our industry is the beginnings of what a metaverse might be… So what can you do in FIFA beyond playing football, what would you do in Need for Speed beyond the driving game…?”

Interesting.

2020 saw the last entry in the franchise, with a remastered version of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit released for PC and console. The last fully original game in the series was 2019’s Need for Speed Heat, which garnered mostly positive reviews for its PC, PS4 and Xbox One versions.

What would you like to see in the next NfS game? Let us know in the comments below.