Key Takeaways
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- The Need for Speed franchise has been put on hold by Electronic Arts, affecting associated projects like the Speedhunters website, which hasnt been updated since April 2025.
- EA transferred Criterion Games, the studio responsible for developing the latest Need for Speed game, to its EA Entertainment group in September 2023, focusing their efforts on Battlefield 6 instead.
- As of October 7, 2025, online servers for Need for Speed Rivals will be deactivated, with offline mode remaining accessible. This marks the longest break for the series since 1994.
- EA has expressed intentions to bring back the Need for Speed franchise in new and interesting ways, but no concrete details or production timeline have been provided yet. The current focus on Battlefield 6 suggests a potential delay before a new Need for Speed game is announced.
Paused Development on Need for Speed Franchise Affects Speedhunters Site Since April 2025
Electronic Arts has put the Need for Speed series on hold, according to Matthew Everingham, a longtime contributor to the Speedhunters website. Everingham stated on Instagram that EA paused development on Need for Speed, which resulted in the cessation of funding for its associated portal. Speedhunters, known for its car culture coverage, was an independent project funded by EA as part of the Need for Speed promotional ecosystem. The site has not been updated since April 2025, following the cut in funding. The Need for Speed franchise has faced challenges in recent years. After a difficult period between 2015 and 2019, which saw several games produced by Ghost Games fail to resonate with audiences, Need for Speed Unbound was released in December 2022. Developed by Criterion Games in conjunction with Codemasters, Unbound received a more positive critical reception. However, sales were insufficient to justify an immediate sequel.
In September 2023, EA transferred Criterion Games to its EA Entertainment group, where the studio began supporting the production of Battlefield 6. While it was suggested at the time that Criterion would remain involved in a new Need for Speed entry, throughout 2024 and 2025, the studio’s focus has been almost entirely on Battlefield 6. EA has invested $400 million in this title, which is focused on its campaign. This shift left the Need for Speed project on hold, as the next installment did not meet expectations. Further indicating a pause for the franchise, EA also announced the shutdown of online servers for Need for Speed Rivals, released in 2013. As of October 7, 2025, all online features for Rivals, including multiplayer modes and server-related interactions, will be deactivated. The offline mode will remain accessible.
Currently, no new Need for Speed titles have been announced for 2025, marking the longest break for the series since 1994. While EA has confirmed its intention to bring the franchise back in “new and interesting ways,” concrete details or a production timeline for a new title have not been provided. The current focus on Battlefield 6 and the absence of new Need for Speed game announcements suggest that a return to the series may take some time to materialize.
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Specification | |
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Official Name | Need for Speed: Most Wanted |
Brief Summary | Need for Speed: Most Wanted takes on the gameplay style of the first Most Wanted title in the Need for Speed franchise. Most Wanted allows players to select one car and compete against other racers in three types of events: Sprint races, which involves traveling from one point of the city to another, Circuit races, each having two or three laps total and Speed runs, which involve traversing through a course in the highest average speed possible. There is also the Ambush races, which start with the player surrounded by cops and tasked to evade their pursuit as quickly as possible. |
Platforms | Xbox 360, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 3 |
Released | October 30, 2012 |
Genre | Racing, Adventure |
Play Modes | Single player, Multiplayer |
Content Rating | 7 |
Languages | English, Japanese |
Genre | Criterion Games |
Genre | Electronic Arts |
Ratings | 79/100 (411 reviews) |
They also talk about it
Links to external sources for further reading
- The End of the Road? EA Reportedly Shelves Need for Speed Franchisehttps://racinggames.gg/article/ea-reportedly-shelves-need-for-speed-franchise
- Need For Speed Just Reportedly Hit The End Of Its Roadhttps://gameranx.com/updates/id/544338/article/need-for-speed-just-reportedly-hit-the-end-of-its-road/
- Rumors: Need for Speed series may be on hold - EA ends support and freezes projecthttps://en.gamegpu.com/game/sluhi-seria-need-for-speed-may-be-suspended-ea-pre-empts-support-and-freezes-the-project
- EA Has Shelved The Need For Speed Franchise, It’s Claimedhttps://tech4gamers.com/need-for-speed-franchise-shelved/
- I’m Relieved EA Canceled the New Titanfall Game – It Saved My Favorite Franchise From Mutating Into an Abominationhttps://fandomwire.com/after-forza-motorsports-demise-ea-reportedly-shelves-need-for-speed-indefinitely/