14 DAY TRIAL // The Need for Speed franchise has been one of the most appreciated racing series for quite some time. But sadly, in recent years, this popularity has declined, as the yearly titles haven't managed to bring anything new to the franchise and make it once again the benchmark for all racing games.
This year though, Electronic Arts is using the bulk of its resources and is splitting the series into multiple games, all of which are designed to attract a specific type of gamer and offer niche experiences in terms of simulation, action, casual and, most importantly, the ability to play online for free.
We've already seen quite a lot of details about NFS Shift, the game that will focus on delivering a simulation-oriented experience, but now the producer of that game, Jesse Abney, has talked with Kikizo and has revealed some interesting details about all the NFS titles currently in development, mentioning a remarkable tidbit of information about NFS World Online, which will appear at the end of the year in North American and next year in Europe.
“Recent announcements of the franchise were that we would diversify to a point, that we would satisfy the interests of three sub-genres within the racing category and those are action, arcade and simulation and Shift represents the entry simulation, much like Pro Street did, and Porsche Unleashed did before that. On the Wii we are focusing on arcade first with Nitro. The action open world offering is World Online that we've announced for closed beta, which we are launching later in the year in the North America and further into next year for Europe which will be a massively multiplayer, online open world experience that will live on in online space.”
NFS World Online is already in closed beta stage in Asia, where it will be launched this summer. Although initially scheduled to appear on both European and North American shores at the end of this year, it seems that the localization process for the old continent has been extended in order to provide a better experience.
What do you think? Is NFS World Online an interesting title for you? Is the promise of a completely free online game based around the cities of NFS Carbon and NFS Most Wanted something that has stirred your interest? Leave us a comment with your thoughts.