US EditionEA Is Reportedly Hitting the Brakes on the Need for Speed Franchise
GLOBAL, JUL 13 – Electronic Arts reallocates Criterion Games staff to Battlefield, ending funding for Speedhunters and shutting down Need for Speed Rivals servers by October 7, 2025, amid franchise uncertainty.
- In September 2023, EA announced it shelved the Need for Speed franchise, leading to the winding down of Speedhunters and no new updates until at least 2025.
- In 2023, Criterion Games shifted most staff to Battlefield, delaying new Need for Speed projects amid EA's strategic focus change.
- Speedhunters, last updated in April 2025, will cease operations after EA cuts funding, and Need for Speed Rivals servers shut down on October 7, causing online access loss for players.
- The delay pushes the next Need for Speed game to 2029 or 2030, marking the longest wait in the series' history, with development starting in 2026/2027.
- EA’s shelving of Need for Speed reflects a broader decline in racing games’ prominence, as Forza Horizon 5 sold 2 million copies on PS5 and EA ended its WRC partnership in 2025.
21 Articles
21 Articles
The future of the Need for Speed franchise has been on the air for a long time. After a series of unmemorable and worse-received deliveries, such as the recent Need for Speed Unbound, the EA publisher has remained quite quiet about what the future holds for the franchise. For the time being, it does not seem clear that Need for Speed has any future. This has been reinforced by the fact that a website of car culture fans previously supported by E…
EA-backed fan-site is shutting down following "shelving" of Need for Speed franchise
The future of the {Need for Speed} franchise has been up in the air for a long while. Following a slate of less-well received and memorable instalments, like the recent {Need for Speed Unbound}, publisher EA has been quite quiet about what the future holds for the franchise. As of the moment, it seems unclear that {Need for Speed} has a future whatsoever. This has been reinforced by the fact that a car culture fansite that was previously backed…
EA has a long history of ending beloved franchises across all genres. According to photographer Matthew Everingham, this is now the fate of Need for Speed. It was part of the Speedhunters program that EA created for
EA Quietly Parks Need For Speed Leaving Franchise's Future In Doubt
Talk about sad news if a fresh rumor holds out. Allegedly, the iconic Need for Speed racing franchise, a cornerstone of Electronic Arts' gaming portfolio since its inception in 1994, is facing an uncertain future, with claims circulating that EA has silently shelved the series indefinitely. While EA has yet to issue an official statement,
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