It was just revealed in a surprise update by Electronic Arts that Need for Speed Unbound, the latest title in the legendary racing series, has a ‘whole year’s worth of content’ lined up. It’s part of the firm’s desire to ‘build new memories over the next 12 months’ as the franchise celebrates its 30th anniversary, a stunning milestone for any series.
It wasn’t what most fans of the franchise expected, but here we are. In a roadmap reveal, Electronic Arts showcased all the events coming to NFS Unbound until December 2024, including the ‘season passes’, events, and quality-of-life improvements.
Speaking Volumes
In a fresh blog post, EA revealed a series of new volumes that will be released periodically over the next few months, seeing to it that 2024 has plenty of thrilling content where Need for Speed’s latest title is concerned. First up, there’s the head-to-head volume, which seems to have been developed in association with Audi. Following that, there’s Drift & Drag, which is ‘inspired by NFS Underground’, one of the series’ most iconic retro games.
In August, the Cops vs. Racers volume will be released, which has been inspired by NFS Hot Pursuit. In October, a fourth and final volume will drop, but at present, EA hasn’t lifted the lid on that one.
It was mentioned in the blog post that this is an opportunity for the developers to learn more about live service expectations from their fans:
We see this as a year to test and learn and understand what works best for you. Committing to an extended Unbound live service allows us to really build on feedback, which we’ll be gathering in a few ways. We’re working closely with a dedicated Player Council – a great bunch of NFS influencers, core community members, and players to understand what’s important to them and their communities.
It was stressed that each volume will bring a major mode and/or feature, new cars and body kits, and a ‘speed pass’, which is a fancy term for a season or battle pass. Electronic Arts and Criterion are dedicated to keeping NFS Unbound alive for another year at least.
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