The company wants racing to learn from sports simulations

Nov 6, 2013 10:45 GMT  ·  By

The Need for Speed franchise, the core racing experience created by publisher Electronic Arts, is set to move under the leadership of the EA Sports division and will undergo a set of big changes in overall design philosophy.

Patrick Soderlund, an executive at the company, tells Polygon that Matt Bilbey will be leading the development process.

He states, “We think that could benefit from from fresh eyes, could benefit from some different thinking, and we think that Matt is the right guy to do that. He's got a very different viewpoint about how to make games and what great games.”

FIFA and Madden NFL are two of the biggest profit centers for Electronic Arts at the moment and their popularity has only been enhanced by the addition of the Ultimate Team modes, which have also been driving up digital revenue.

Soderlund believes that Need for Speed can benefit from the experience of the teams working on sports sim, who can create a game that delivers more immersion for fans.

He adds, “When you play a sports game, the controller in your hand will dictate how good the game is. It's all about player control and input and how it feels. It's a feeling, right? I think that focus on pure gameplay, is something that can benefit the Need for Speed brand in a very positive way.”

EA Sports will not try to turn the racing series into a realistic simulation and will continue to focus on the open world and the social elements that have been introduced in the last few installments.

Need for Speed: Rivals is set to be launched on November 15 and Electronic Arts is so confident of its quality that it has brought forward the release date in order to profit from the delay of DriveClub on the PlayStation 4.