A recent leak seemingly confirms that EA’sNeed for Speed: Unboundis coming this December. Reportedly in development by British studio Criterion Games, it will be the studio’s firstNeed for SpeedgamesinceNeed for Speed: Rivalsin 2013.
EA has had some difficulty keepingNeed for Speed: Unboundunder wraps, assuming that some of these slip-ups weren’t deliberate. EA briefly hosted an image for Unbound before quickly pulling it from the site. Meanwhile, Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson leaked the game’s upcoming reveal late last month.
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The newest leak comes courtesy ofthe gaming publication Gematsu, who spotted a product listing forNeed for Speed: Unboundon the Japanese retail website Neowing. The page, which was presumably put up early, lists the game’s release date as December 2nd, 2022, for the PlayStation 5. There’s no mention of an Xbox Series X/S or PC release, which seems to conflict with earlier leaks. However, it seems likely that Neowing simply isn’t carrying the other versions. There’s also no indication thatNeed for Speed: Unboundwill come to last-gen consoles.
In addition to confirming the game’s release date, the product listing also included a few screenshots ofthe upcomingNeed for Speed: Unbound. The four images are unfortunately a bit low resolution but give some idea of what the new game will look like. Previous installments like 2019’sNeed for Speed: Heatgenerally aimed for photo-realism as much as possible. However,Need for Speed: Unboundtakes a different approach, combining realistic cars and environments with anime or comic-book-inspired characters and visual effects.
Twitter responses to the leaked images were decidedly mixed. Some fans seemed pleased withthe upcomingNeed for Speedgame’s cel-shaded elements. Others were significantly less enthusiastic, with some fans claiming that it made the game look too much likeFortnite. Others responded with sarcastic quips along the lines of “this is certainly a design.” A few commenters even took note of the conflicting responses.
Regardless of fans’ opinions onNeed for Speed: Unbound’s graphic design, it’s at least good to have a confirmed release date. In the meantime, fans have the official reveal to look forward to. TheupcomingNeed of Speed: Unboundtraileris scheduled to premiere on October 6th at 11 AM Eastern/5 AM Pacific onNeed for Speed’s official YouTube account. Hopefully, it will give fans a better look at the upcoming game.
Need for Speed: Unboundreportedly releases for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on June 08, 2025.
