EA is reportedly hitting the brakes on the Want for Velocity franchise

The Want for Velocity franchise could possibly be making its final laps — a minimum of in the intervening time. Matthew Everingham, a photographer who incessantly contributed to automotive tradition web site Speedhunters, mentioned in social media posts that Digital Arts has “shelved Need for Speed” and is “quietly parking” the sequence. Speedhunters, which was funded by EA and was final up to date in April of this 12 months, may even reportedly stop operations for now.

EA hasn’t launched an official assertion on the destiny of the Want for Velocity franchise, however a number of inner choices level to an unsure future. Earlier this month, the writer introduced that it might shut down on-line servers for the cult basic Want for Velocity Rivals on October 7. Earlier than that, the developer behind Want for Velocity, Criterion Video games, shifted most of its staff to deal with the Battlefield franchise, leaving solely a “core group” to proceed engaged on the racing sequence in 2023. Nonetheless, Battlefield head Vince Zampella informed EuroGamer earlier this 12 months that the remainder of that Want for Velocity workforce could be “becoming a member of their colleagues engaged on Battlefield.”

The longstanding franchise dates again to 1994 when the primary title, The Want for Velocity, was launched on the unique PlayStation and Sega Saturn consoles. Since then, the sequence pumped out greater than 20 video games, with the newest being Want for Velocity Unbound. Launched in December 2022, the most recent title within the franchise is at the moment sitting at a Mixed rating with greater than 40,000 evaluations on Steam.