In an Instagram post, Speedhunters contributor Matthew Everingham revealed that the website itself is also being shelved due to funding from EA coming to an end. For context, Speedhunters has been described as “an international collective of photographers, writers and drivers with a shared passion for uncovering the world’s most exciting car culture stories.” A quick glance at the website would indeed confirm that not much has been going on there for a bit, with the latest post having been published back in April.

“Speedhunters is on ice,” posted Everingham on Instagram. “EA shelved Need For Speed, and that means no more funding for the site. Grateful for everything — the trips, the stories, the lifelong mates. I’m still shooting, just shifting gears into more video.”

The idea that Need for Speed might have been permanently shelved by EA runs counter to the statement that the company had made regarding developer Criterion earlier this year. In its statement, EA had said that Criterion was currently busy with working on the next Battlefield game. The studio, however, would eventually return to working on Need for Speed with new content for Unbound.

“The Need for Speed team at Criterion are joining their colleagues working on Battlefield,” said EA exec Vince Zampella. “As a company, it was important to us to take the last year to listen to our Need for Speed community and use their feedback to create content for Unbound. With an increased understanding of what our players want in a Need for Speed experience, we plan to bring the franchise back in new and interesting ways.”

The last time Criterion had spoken about Need for Speed was last year, when it had confirmed that support for NFS Unbound would continue to get more updates and content. As part of celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Need for Speed franchise, the studio had announced additional content, and updates to its PvP playlists and updates for Freedrive. However, this announcement was made more than a year ago at this point.

Back in 2023, there were also rumours going around about a potential remake of one of the most beloved games in the franchise – 2005’s Need for Speed: Most Wanted. The rumour came about thanks to cryptic teases about the original Most Wanted by actor Simone Bailly, who played the role of the unnamed partner of Sergeant Jonathon Cross in the game’s main story.

In the meantime, Criterion, along with DICE and Ripple Effect, has been working on the next Battlefield game, and has been helping with development on the Battlefield Labs playtests. The Battlefield game is currently slated for release later this year, and is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Criterion says it will be releasing an additional four volumes of new content for the open world racer. They will be released every few months, with each including at least one new mode, two new fully customizable cars, and a new Speed Pass.

In the spirit of celebrating a landmark anniversary for the franchise, this post-launch content will also be inspired by a variety of past Need for Speed titles. For instance, Volume 7, releasing between May and July, will add Drift and Drag, which is inspired by Need for Speed Underground, while Volume 8, which will arrive between August and October, will bring Cops vs. Racers, inspired by Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Additionally, starting with Volume 6, which will be the first of the game’s year 2 roadmap, Criterion and EA will also start offering the Premium Speed Pass, a paid battle pass that will include instant access to one of the new vehicles, its custom variants, and all of its customization options. The Premium Speed Pass will also include new customization options, while the free Speed Pass will also continue to be offered.

Additionally, you can also expect new events, weekly PvP playlists, updates for Freedrive and progression, new challenges, bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, and more.

Criterion says Need for Speed Unbound’s second year of post-launch content will aim to deliver “the ultimate NFS experience in one place”, adding that players’ “feedback and gameplay will help shape the future of this iconic franchise.”

“We see this as a year to test and learn and understand what works best for you,” the developer writes. “Committing to an extended Unbound live service allows us to really build on feedback, which we’ll be gathering in a few ways. We’re working closely with a dedicated Player Council – a great bunch of NFS influencers, core community members, and players to understand what’s important to them and their communities. We’ll be increasing the amount of telemetry we track from the games to better understand through gameplay data what’s working for you. And we’ll look to close the feedback loop by being as transparent as possible with you, letting you know what we’ve heard and what we can and can’t do.”

In September last year, it was announced that Criterion Games was once again providing development support on the Battlefield franchise, with a core team within the studio remaining focused on the future of Need for Speed. Earlier in the year, job listings suggested the studio was working on a new open world instalment in the franchise.

In July, actress Simone Bailly – who played the unnamed partner of Sergeant Jonathan Cross in 2005’s Need for Speed: Most Wanted – put up posts on her Twitter and Instagram accounts that claimed a remake of the game was scheduled to be released in 2024, before quickly deleting the posts.

Need for Speed Unbound is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium players will be able to claim the game at no cost starting February 20. Read our review of the open world racer through here.

PS4-exclusive titles include LEGO Jurassic World, LEGO Worlds, Rogue Lords and Tales of Zestiria. Need for Speed Unbound and The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition round out the PS5-exclusive titles.

As for PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers, they gain access to two PS4/PS5 titles – Jet Moto 2 for the PS One and Resistance: Retribution from the PSP era – and two PS4 titles – Tales of Symphonia Remastered and Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition. All PS4 titles should be playable on PS5 with backwards compatibility, further increasing the number of offerings.

PlayStation Plus currently has 47.4 milion subscribers. Head here for more details on active users for PlayStation Network, along with other sales updates from Sony.

Back 4 Blood

Turtle Rock Studios’ Back 4 Blood is a glorious tribute to Valve’s Left 4 Dead series, and while it definitely has a few flaws – that doesn’t detract from the fact that it is a really fun time with friends. There are plenty of enemy types and the encounters do a good job of mixing things up on a consistent basis, which makes it a consistently enjoyable experience that’s even better with friends. 

Sons of the Forest

Sons of the Forest is a brutal survival game that tasks players to hold their backs against cannibalistic primals with only a limited few resources to spare. It presents its brutal world with gorgeous graphics and striking attention to detail, and the gradual process of collecting resources and becoming more powerful is one that will keep you hooked for dozens upon dozens of hours. Add to that the ability to enjoy exploring with friends, and Sons of the Forest becomes a great option for a co-op open-world experience.

Chief among them is probably Need for Speed Unbound, Criterion’s open world racer, which launched last year. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will have access to it via EA Play on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and cloud starting June 22.

Another major new title to look forward to is F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch. TiGames’ acclaimed steampunk Metroidvania game launched for PS5, PS4, and PC in 2021, before coming to Switch last year. It’ll finally be releasing for Xbox Series X/S on June 27, and will also be available on Game Pass for PC, console, and cloud on the same day.

Beyond that, narrative adventure title The Bookwalker launches for Game Pass on June 22 (console and PC), Nordic adventure game Bramble: The Mountain King arrives on June 27 (cloud, console, and PC), and Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town arrives on June 29 (console and PC).

June’s second wave will also bleed into the early days of next month, with Arcade Paradise launching for Game Pass on July 3 (console and PC), and Sword and Fairy: Together Forever wrapping up the batch on July 5 (console and PC).

Deus Ex to Mankind Divided

Deus Ex was a revolutionary game when it was originally released way back in 2000. Its complex web of mechanics and interesting narrative themes paved the way for systemic game design for years to come, and a lot of that still stands true for Mankind Divided which is the latest entry in this long-running franchise. Of course, there’s a night and day difference between the visual fidelity of both games – and a simple side by side comparison is all that’s needed to see the graphical leap in all its glory. Mankind Divided has amazing weather effects, superb lighting and reflections, and lifelike animations while the original feels clunky and borderline unplayable by modern standards.

There are 30 new Hot Laps activities to tackle, 40 new Daily Challenges, two new Rumble Playlists, two new Standard Playlists and new Street Races. The existing Playlists have also been refreshed, and completing any with a Lotus car unlocks the Rare Custom Lotus Emira Balmain Edition 2021 for free. Of course, there are also new driving effects, poses and banner stickers to unlock

Those subscribed to EA Play can get Nissan Fairlady ZG 1971 as well. The Keys to the Map is also available, revealing the locations of all collectibles and activities. It includes the Fury and Zen clothing pack with a new jacket, sweatpants, cap and T-shirt to customize one’s character.

More updates are in the works, so stay tuned. Need for Speed Unbound is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

The studio is being led by Matt Webster—formerly vice president at EA and general manager at Criterion. While Fuse Games hasn’t revealed ore details about its new project, it has described its game as “fusing uncompromising attention to game-feel with blockbuster spectacle and player-centric innovations in social gameplay, self-expression, and creativity.”

Webster is joined by executive producer Pete Lake, Alan McDairmant as the head of studio development, Steve Uphill as the head of content, and Andrei Shires as the senior technical director.

Criterion itself is currently working on content for its most recent release—Need for Speed Unbound. The studio recently announced the VOL 2 update for Need for Speed Unbound, which is slated to hit the game on March 21, bringing with it new challenges and playlists.

For more details, check out our review of Need for Speed Unbound.

There’s also the Nissan Fairlady ZG 1971, available for EA Play members, available exclusively to members in VOL 2. You can also partake in 40 new Daily Challenges (15 being brand new), 30 Hot Laps Activities, and four new Endurance events. Two new Rumble Playlists and Race Playlists have also been added, while the existing Playlist is getting refreshed.

A new driving effect, Bear Champ, is also unlocked on beating the 30 Rival Hot Lap scores while reaching 60 stars grants the Hey May driving effect. If you hit 90 stars, then you’ll receive the Ghost pose for your character. There are also six new banner stickers to earn.

Stay tuned for patch notes in the coming days. Need for Speed Unbound is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. Check out our review here.