New Need for Speed game unveiled

By Ellie Gibson Published 18 June, 2008

EA admits to "torturing" workers.

John Riccitiello has unveiled the next Need for Speed game and confessed to "torturing" developers working on previous instalments in the series.

Need for Speed Undercover, as the game is titled, will have been in development for considerably longer than its predecessors by the time it's released later this year.

Speaking in an investors meeting, Riccitiello confirmed that the NFS team worked on 12-month development cycles for eight years in a row before bosses took pity on them.

"Last summer we added head count and split the team in two, so now there are two teams on a 24 month cycle," Riccitiello stated.

"We were torturing a very talented group of people up in Vancouver, which makes it harder to be as innovative every year. So, I think we are going to get better from here."

Riccitiello is confident Need for Speed Undercover will "a much better game" than the previous instalment in the series, thanks in part to a richer storyline. Doesn't sound like he was too impressed with Need for Speed Pro Street, which came out last November.

"I thought it was an okay game, in terms of gameplay. It's not good," Riccitiello observed. He's not wrong.

"But who wanted Pro Street? It was a sort of made up, put numbers on the side of your car and pretend to drive your Ferrari where? Or your Porsche where?"

Undercover, according to Riccitiello, is instead taking cues from action films. "For those of you who ever saw movies like The Transporter - it's sort of a cult classic among people with a B-movie mentality, which fits me perfectly," he said.

"I liked it. I apologise. For those of you with no taste, and you liked it too, we can go have a Schlitz after this." Love to.

There's no word on which platforms Need for Speed Undercover is in development for, but chances are it's more than one. Or eight.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (11) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • stoopidgreg #1 4 years ago

    so they took a team on a 12 month cycle, split it in two, each with a 24 month cycle... that's different, how?

  • Eighthours #2 4 years ago

    I think you need to get up, have a cup of coffee, and then return to the screen. As it's very obvious.

  • spongebob #3 4 years ago

    Guantanamo style torturing? Ouch.

  • bad09 #4 4 years ago

    I to would like to torture the NFS team, their chav games stink! :)

  • wellzy4eva #5 4 years ago

    Transporter a 'cult classic' for B Movie Enthausiasts?

    Sounds like they are making a 'Driver' rip off, or that Vin Diesel game...The Wheelman.

    So much for orginality

  • poloman #6 4 years ago

    could of said something about what the game involves a bit more :) was it just me or was that article badly written grammar wise? /english lesson over

  • Rirekon #7 4 years ago

    @ stoopidgreg;

    A "cycle" is the time for the full development of a game plus down time for the developers (if the developer is nice) before they start the next game.
    Being on a 24 month cycle means they have twice the time they had before, they can take longer of their planning stages and relax a bit at the end. The teams will presumably be staggered so that after 12 months the second team starts their first game, giving you a new game every 12 months but each having taken 24 to complete.

    I'm sure the developers are praising him right now for that change after 8 years of 12 month cycles.

    Also don't forget that they hired more people ;-)

  • Daymare #8 4 years ago

    I so very much don't care about a story in a racing game. Give us picturesque tracks ala NFS 3, 4 and Porsche Unleashed, ffs!

  • lindblum_resident #9 4 years ago

    I so very much don't care about a story in a racing game. Give us picturesque tracks ala NFS 3, 4 and Porsche Unleashed, ffs!

    This. So very much, this. At times, I feel like I'm the only one who still remember what Need for Speed really stood for. The amazing instrumental ambient/electronica music. The best track designs you could find anywhere. The atmosphere. Racing in a 355F1 through Rocky Pass's tunnels while Knossos was playing is one of the best racing experiences you can have. And that's a fact. I also think that those three titles (Hot Pursuit, High Stakes/Road Challenge, Porsche Unleashed) are the best the franchise has offered. But, only the PC version when it comes to Porsche Unleashed.

  • Bitkari #10 4 years ago

    Meh.

    Most Wanted was fairly good, but every other NFS game (post NFS 3) has been incredibly dull.

    I'll stick with GRID, thanks.

  • Lu-Tze #11 4 years ago

    Because there's a difference in what you can accomplish and try out if you have 24 months in your schedule as opposed to 12. That's twice as many monthly/weekly meetings and reviews of how well things are working. Large teams don't necessarily work twice as fast, any more than a kitchen with twice as many chefs cooks twice as fast.

    EDIT : Oh you deleted your post because you realised you were wrong. Fair enough.
    Edited by 1 at 18/06/08 @ 18:05