Need for Speed 2022 – Leaked Gameplay Clip Shows Cartoon Effects, Launch Reportedly Delayed to December

In EA’s pipeline of upcoming games for the remainder of 2022, the next Need for Speed – developed by Criterion Games – is probably the one that can potentially turn the most heads. Though the game has yet to be officially announced, leaks have revealed details on the open world racer, from its visuals featuring “anime elements” in an otherwise photorealistic style to it being set in a fictionalized version of Chicago, called Lake Shore City.

Now, a brief gameplay clip of the title has emerged online (via Reddit), which isn’t particularly meaty, but does seem to confirm those details. It shows a car crashing into a circular object in the environment, at which point the screen flashes with cartoon-like effects, like a flashing skull and wings briefly popping out of the car.

Meanwhile, journalist Jeff Grubb also claims (via VGC) that the game has been slightly delayed. Previous reports had pegged the next Need for Speed title for a November launch, but Grubb says Criterion decided to push it to December and to “take a few extra weeks before showing it off”. Interestingly, Grubb says that the developer “got sidetracked a little bit” when it was doing support work on Battlefield 2042, which had “a ripple effect.”

Another recent report also provided brief details on the next Need for Speed’s open world and social features. It’s also been reported that the game won’t be cross-gen and will launch only for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.