Need for Speed Payback Gets A Really Substantial Update

EA and Ghost Games’ new Need for Speed game, Need for Speed Payback, landed with a resounding thud when it launched on November 7, earlier this week. The game was also plagued with a fair number of bugs and issues- thankfully, that latter part has been addressed, to some extent at the very least, by a new patch for the game that resolves some of those problems.

The update fixes things including the game’s performance in multiple areas, addressed some unintended crashes, and fixed how the game acts and how events unfold in multiple areas and points in the story. The patch notes are very extensive, and, if you are actually interested in the game’s story, may have several spoilers- nonetheless, they are posted in full below.

Need for Speed Payback is the third Need for Speed game by Ghost Games, and the first title in the once annual franchise since 2015. It is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

Improved game performance during the event ‘Solar Sprint’
The event ‘Aki kimura: The Drift King’ will no longer sometimes cause a game crash
The ‘Silver Canyon Getaway’ event will no longer cause a crash after the first spike strip
Improved performance within Ranked Speedlist
Fixed a crash that would sometimes occur during initial loading
The game will no longer sometimes crash during the purchase of Shipments on a non-English language
Repeating the event ‘Drifting the Block’ several times will no longer cause the game to crash
Fixed a crash that occurred after the race between Mac and Jess to the airfield
The game will no longer hang on a black screen at the start of the third section of the ‘Convoy’ mission
While playing through ‘The Highway Heist’ mission, the game will no longer hang after the ‘Get to the Rendezvous’ section
All checkpoints during the event ‘Safety Last’ will now award bonus time
Improved cop AI within the ‘Failed Heist’ mission
The ‘Cavalry’ event now has the correct car requirements assigned to it
The objective in the ‘Disconnect’ event has been changed to ‘Reach the finish line’
Cops now take more damage when ramming them from behind at high speed
Chevrons are now correctly placed during the event ‘Underground Soldier: Sabotage’
You will no longer received a “checkpoint missed” message during the event ‘Downforce’ drift trial when going through a checkpoint
AI drivers will no longer drive straight into a wall when starting the Outlaw’s Rush
The helicopter in the ‘Skyhammer’ event now flies correctly
The AI drivers during the ‘Outlaws Rush’ event will now drive the correct route
The mini-map during the ‘Outlaws Rush’ event will now display correctly
The voice over that takes place at the end of the ‘Racer’s Revenge’ mission will no longer repeat itself
Improved off-road handling of the BMW X6M
Fixed an audio issue where the sound of an impact would not always be heard when crashing into barriers
Cars will no longer get stuck when collecting one of the billboards in the desert
Courier missions will now display completion time instead of tracked time on the outro screen
‘Downtown Escape’ can no longer be started a street away from its intended position
Traffic vehicles have been sent back to driving school and will no longer attempt to perform an illegal turn
Improved AI of cops during pursuits
Tuned the AI (hard difficulty) in the event ‘Junkyard Solem’ on hard difficulty
Grass and bush debris will no longer duplicate
The wheels on the 1969 Dodge Charger no longer protrude through the fenders when steering left or right
Multiple events now have the correct colour of event icons displayed
Tuned hard difficulty on various events, it’s now harder…good luck
The ‘Gearbox’ roaming racer has gone back to driving school and will no longer crash into rocks while driving around Fortune Valley
If you challenge the ‘Gearbox’ roaming racer at the tunnel entrance you will no longer start the race directly in front of a pillar
Even if you lose to the first race against Rav, you will now receive a Speed Card
The on-screen text displayed during the Live Tuning tutorial now displays correctly
Sparks will no longer appear from the front wheels when performing sharp turns on asphalt surfaces
The AI will no longer take the wrong turn 1.27km away from the objective during the ‘Canyon Brawl’ event
You can now paint Derelict cars that have been purchased from a dealership
The AI has been improved in the ‘Holtzman: The Coming Storm’ event
The body panels on the Volkswagen Beetle Derelict now display correctly
Derelict wheels will no longer glow a strange orange glow when out in the world awaiting collection
Fixed a visual issue on the suspension and brakes of the Chevrolet Bel-Air derelict
Entering a part shop while in hood or bonnet cam will no longer create a camera spin around the shop
Corrected an issue on the Mazda MX-5 when using a Ghost branded Diffuser that caused nitrous to appear in the wrong place
Fixed an issue that was blocking decals from being applied to the front of the Dodge Charger 1969
Failing to make the jump at the end of the ‘Hairping Dragging’ event will no longer result in your car being placed back on the road, upside down
The last two checkpoints from the ‘Flash Bang’ Speed Run are now activity checkpoints instead of race ones
The character model no longer clips through the driver seat of any of the 1965 Ford Mustang Derelict Super Builds
The tires on the Ford Roadster no longer get shiny and black when they get dirty
The game will now save before the final cinematic resulting in having to repeat the race against Lina in the Outlaw’s Rush
Starting a race in the Chevrolet C10 Pickup while in bonnet cam will no longer place the camera behind the windscreen
The Ford Mustang 1965 Super Derelict build of the race class will now look different to the standard race build
Poker chips and billboards are now marked as completed on both the minimap and the map
Music now plays correctly during the final credits
Drag specific rims (The Alchemist) are now available for other car classes
The camera will no longer shake when exiting the garage
Numerous audio fixes
Multiple UI fixes
Various localization issues have been fixed
Various improvements to character animation
Numerous minor fixes, tweaks and improvements