Criterion Games surprised fans by announcing another year of support for Need for Speed Unbound, 2022’s installment in the racing game series. It’s partly due to Need for Speed celebrating its 30th anniversary, they said.
Criterion intends for this year of live service to be the first step in providing the ultimate NFS experience in a single game. They’re aiming to release four volumes of new content, starting with Head to Head (February-April), then Drift & Drag (May-July, inspired by NFS Underground), Cops vs. Racers (August-October, inspired by NFS: Hot Pursuit), and lastly a currently unnamed volume of content scheduled for October-December.
Each of these volumes will add at least one major game mode and/or feature to Need for Speed Unbound, as well as two new fully customizable cars with multiple bodykits. Beginning with Volume 6, the developers are also adding a premium track to the Speed Pass.
The premium track provides instant access to one of the hot new vehicles and unlocks the ability to earn all of its in-depth customization content. It also includes custom versions of the car, and it’s where players will find the hottest new customization options each season.
Need for Speed Unbound players can also expect Events, Freedrive updates, Weekly PvP Playlists, Progression Updates, Challenges, as well as bug fixes and Quality of Life improvements based on community feedback. This will be gathered through increased amounts of telemetry as well as organized through a Player Council formed by NFS influencers and prominent members of the community.
In Wccftech’s launch review, Need for Speed Unbound got a 7.5 out of 10 score from Nathan Birch.
Need for Speed Unbound is the franchise’s best entry in a decade, although the competition for that title wasn’t particularly stiff. The game offers polished tech, good (if slightly dated) open-world design, and a varied array of events and challenges, but still lags behind the current open-world racer pack leaders.
In other Criterion news, the studio was moved internally from EA Sports to EA Entertainment last September. It will continue to support Battlefield (it worked on Battlefield 2042) as well as keep making Need for Speed.
