Shift 2 Unleashed announced

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 16 November, 2010

Out spring 2011.

Slightly Mad Studios' Shift 2 Unleashed will be released during the spring of 2011 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, EA's announced.

Shift is EA's Gran Turismo and Forza killer – it's designed to offer an authentic simulation racing experience in contrast to the arcade racing found in Criterion's Hot Pursuit.

The first Shift sold through close to five million copies worldwide, according to EA. Shift 2 brings an "all-new" rendering engine and a "massive" graphics overhaul.

"With an innovative helmet camera view simulating the physical experience of driving at 200mph, the thrilling experience of night racing and authentic degradation of tracks and cars, this is tomorrow's sim for today's adrenaline fuelled racer," said EA.

Hot Pursuit's Autolog feature, which connects friends and compares stats, returns.

Shift 2 "is redefining immersive racing by blending the rush of tearing up the track at unbelievable speeds with the emotional experience of competitive battle" said executive producer Marcus Nilsson.

"We are also working closely with real-world performance drivers to ensure that Shift 2 Unleashed captures their experience and becomes the benchmark in authentic racing action."

The announcement comes as no surprise: Shift 2's been mentioned here and there for over a year.

And only two weeks ago EA executive Patrick Soderlund told Eurogamer he hopes the Shift series will overtake Sony's Gran Turismo series and Microsoft's Forza franchise as gaming's leading simulation racer.

"We think we can compete and ultimately become market leading in the simulation authentic motorsport segment," he said.

"One of the strongest points we have is, apart from the fact we have a very talented developer working with us and we now have an established brand underneath the NFS umbrella in that segment, we also have the advantage of being a multi-platform offering.

"Forza can only be bought on Xbox and Gran Turismo is only available on PlayStation. We're the only one right now that is of a significant weight that can offer something up on all those platforms."

Announcement trailer is below.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • beastmaster #1 2 years ago

    That was fast!

    Not known if the pun was intended.

  • wizlon #2 2 years ago

    That reminds me, what happened to GRiD 2?

  • mfnick #3 2 years ago

    YES!!!

    Really looking forward to this, loved the first.

  • BuffoonBassoon #4 2 years ago

    Im glad that EA have decided to have both the arcade and realistic nfs games instead of alternating :)

  • BigDaddy82 #5 2 years ago

    Grid 2 is in the works over at Codemasters, i assume they'll be working on it once Dirt 3 is complete

  • myiagros #6 2 years ago

    I'm guessing they waited to announce this until they knew when GT5 was coming.
    If that had been delayed into spring it would have killed Shift 2's PS3 sales.

    As it is the next 12months are going to me amazing for simulation racers (GT5 next week, this, Grid 2, Forza 4 & F1 2011).

  • natashaspice #7 2 years ago

    Anything with a need for speed title will draw interest. EA try naming it something else and let's see how much it sells.

  • MJHaylett #8 2 years ago

    DiRT 3, GRID 2, NFS Shift 2, Forza Kinect (?), GT5 very very soon - if you like Racing Games then you are in luck of late :D

  • Mackero #9 2 years ago

    "We think we can compete and ultimately become market leading in the simulation authentic motorsport segment,"

    Shift didn't ever really feal authentic or simulation - are they making a diiferent game this time?

  • DrDamn #10 2 years ago

    Loved the first one. Fantastic sensation of driving on the edge which you don't get in any of the other more serious racers. The camera work in particular was very impressive.

    So Spring 2011 - does this mean 2 NfS's a year? Aren't Blackrock working on something for next Christmas too?

  • BuffoonBassoon #11 2 years ago

    shift 2 unleashed makes me think of sonic unleashed....................*shudders*

  • tancredo #12 2 years ago

    No split screen = No sale

  • Nephirion #13 2 years ago

    Helmet camera made me lol

  • metalangel #14 2 years ago

    Wasn't impressed by the first one. Major lag in the controls, ridiculous blurring effects, and some twat shouting gibberish in my ear constantly.

  • FooAtari #15 2 years ago

    <a>And only two weeks ago EA executive Patrick Soderlund told Eurogamer he hopes the Shift series will overtake Sony's Gran Turismo series and Microsoft's Forza franchise as gaming's leading simulation racer.</a>

    Biggest selling maybe, but I wouldn't say leading. As far as advancing racing simulations go, iRacing is leading.

    Either way, Shift has quite a way to go before it offers the same level of realism as GT or Forza. Shift just felt a little odd, more comparable to something like GRID or PGR with it's hybrid style physics rather than simulation.

  • bad09 #16 2 years ago

    Nice. I really liked the 1st one roll on spring.

  • Numbat #17 2 years ago

    Really enjoyed Shift, though it clearly needed some further work to sort out, so really looking forward to what they can do with a sequel. My only concern will be if they've not allowed for enough development time - I reckon a 2 year cycle is about right.

  • Tallon4 #18 2 years ago

    Enjoyed the first one a lot.
    Controls needed some tweaking though. Cockpitview, sound and gfx were all great imo.
    Controller does the job, but when you buy a G25/G27, and tweak the controls you're in for a treat


    Very underestimated imo.

  • layleeloo #19 2 years ago

    Killer? The only thing this will kill are our hopes yet again of a decent control mechanic.

  • Beano #20 2 years ago

    Fine by me - if this means Criterion can get some time of from NFS and release a Burnout Paradise sequel in 2011/2012 :D

  • Baltazard-2010 #21 2 years ago

    If this Shift 2 is like the 1st one from driving simulation point of view then it’s for the bin, Shift 1 was a pain in the A** hard to drive slow driving response…., but a wide range of cars and an innovative playing scenario (a bit lengthy). A big handicap was driving in the cockpit which isn’t the ideal way for me (EA's selling point! complete garbage) they should instead focus on beating GRID and DIRT 2 (competition is good for us gamers :-)). I love to see what's inside NFS Hot Pursuit 2010!!! It looks good from the promo, but again what it’s like behind the console?