Need for Speed Vehicle Designer Talks Relationships With Car Manufacturers

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 2, 2024 136 Views 6 Min Read
Need for Speed Vehicle Designer Talks Relationships With Car Manufacturers
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Racing video game series Need for Speed is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024, and its designers and developers have taken the opportunity to look back at the franchise’s history. They discussed how the Need for Speed series has influenced and been influenced by car culture, the games they personally felt were most emblematic of the series, and the relationships they have built with car manufacturers all over the world as they strive to accurately recreate a wide variety of vehicles within each game.




During a press event attended by Game Rant, vehicle designer Bryn Alban, who has been with the series since 2009’s Need for Speed: Shift, discussed how he has built a positive relationship with a number of car manufacturers over the years. These close relationships have allowed Alban’s team to pursue authenticity with every car added to the games and to introduce vehicles ranging from luxury Porsche and Ferrari to fully kitted out race cars.

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Need For Speed And Car Culture Have Become Fully Intertwined

Alban explained that his research process for designing Need for Speed vehicles involves fully immersing himself in car culture, so that he can keep up with the trends as they change. In addition to the manufacturers themselves, he cited the website SpeedHunters as a valuable resource. Describing the process of going from someone who works with car design to someone who has himself become a passionate car fan, Alban said:


“From an authenticity standpoint, that lands squarely on my shoulders. I’ve gotta be the one who brings that to the table. It’s been my bread and butter in my own free time over the past 20 years. I’ve engrossed myself in car culture, and I like to think that brings the authenticity into
Need for Speed
as well.”

Alban went on to say that, over the years, he has noticed a distinctive shift in how Need for Speed is seen. Now, the games are inextricably a part of car culture, with many automobile and car enthusiasts becoming Need for Speed fans and vice versa. He emphasized that this has led to fruitful, decades-long partnerships with certain car manufacturers. In particular, Alban cited BMW and Nissan as partners with whom he has worked closely throughout his time developing Need for Speed.

Need For Speed’s Car Manufacturer Partnerships Will Continue In The Future


The Need for Speed franchise has no intention of stopping working with car manufacturers in the future. Recently, BMW, who Alban described as one of the series’ most long-standing partners, created a real life replica of the M3 GTR from Need for Speed: Most Wanted. The team was absolutely giddy about this collaboration, with creative director John Stanley grinning from ear to ear as he discussed the “exciting new project.” The project was “a dream come true,” said the team, who see Most Wanted as one of the most “iconic” Need for Speed games and truly “emblematic of the franchise as a whole.”

Ultimately, Bryn Alban explained, the relationship between the Need for Speed franchise and real life car manufacturers is not a stable or consistent thing – it can change on a dime “depending on who’s in charge,” said Alban. But, as the series becomes a greater and greater part of the car world, the team is confident that they will be able to continue working with real-life car creators and developers to make and design even more authentic cars. Perhaps, like the M3 GTR, the Need for Speed team will even create a few more vehicles of their own that can make the jump from video games into reality in the future.


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