Summary
- Criterion Games has promised that the Need for Speed franchise has a future.
- However, the EA-owned studio is currently focused on the next Battlefield game.
- Assuming the NFS Unbound sequel doesn’t enter active production until the next Battlefield is out, NFS fans may have to wait until the early 2030s for a new entry in the franchise.
The Need for Speed series will continue, developer Criterion Games has pledged. However, the Electronic Arts-owned studio also suggested that the next Need for Speed game is still a long way off.
Between NFS 2 (1997) and NFS Rivals (2013), the Need for Speed series consistently received annual installments. Four new mainline entries were released over the next 11 years, in addition to one mobile game—Firemonkeys Studios’ NFS: No Limits, which debuted in 2015.
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The 2022 Need for Speed Unbound is still the latest entry in the franchise, with its sequel being nowhere in sight. While the series appears to have lost some steam in terms of release pace, it still has a future. Developer Criterion Games said as much in a recent statement to Eurogamer, pledging that the franchise isn’t dead. And though another Need for Speed game will materialize eventually, the Guildford, UK-based studio currently has different priorities.
NFS Developer Is Currently Focused on the Next Battlefield Game
“The Need for Speed team at Criterion are joining their colleagues working on Battlefield,” a company spokesperson told Eurogamer. Criterion was already involved in the development of Battlefield 2042, joining the project as a support studio in early 2021, which resulted in Need for Speed Unbound being pushed back to 2022. It played a similar role in the development of Battlefield 5 (2018) and Battlefield 1 (2016). However, it would appear that the next Battlefield game is its sole priority this time around, or at least became its sole focus after the studio ended support for Need for Speed Unbound in late 2024.
The Need for Speed team at Criterion are joining their colleagues working on Battlefield.
Next Need for Speed Game Might Not Arrive Until 2030s
Given this present state of affairs, it would appear that the next Need for Speed game is still ways off. The early February 2025 announcement of the Battlefield Labs community testing program described the current state of the next Battlefield game as a “pre-alpha.” This label suggests that the shooter could be at least several more years away from hitting the market. Since contemporary AAA game development cycles are around five years long on average, and in light of Criterion’s new hint that the next Need for Speed game won’t enter active production until the upcoming Battlefield title is out, NFS fans may end up having to wait until the early 2030s for a new series entry.
Alternatively, EA could task a different studio with work on a new Need for Speed game in the meantime. Although this wouldn’t be the first time that the series switched developers, EA might struggle to find a company that could match Criterion’s expertise with the racing genre, making such a move less likely. Either way, December 2025 will mark the start of the longest gap between two Need for Speed games since the franchise began in 1994.
