It sounds like Slightly Mad Studios is making a Fast & Furious game
Too fast, too furious?
What happens when you have a CEO who hasn't slept for three days and had a few sips of wine? Well, firstly you get a quite amazingly frank, entertaining and honest interview, and then sometimes you get a little bit more.
Australian YouTuber SpotTheOzzie was streaming himself playing some Project Cars 2 just prior to the launch of Slightly Mad Studio's driving game when he was joined by an unexpected guest - the studio's CEO Ian Bell, who then went on to engage in an open conversation with SpotTheOzzie. (You can join the Q&A with Bell from this point in the video).
There's some wonderful insight there into the development of Project Cars 2 - a game Bell admits isn't perfect, but one that should be considered a fine achievement given the resources with which it was put together and how it goes wheel-to-wheel with the likes of Forza and Gran Turismo. Fair assessments, both, and in keeping with our review in which I discovered an outstanding racing game that's currently hampered by a handful of technical issues.
Bell also went on to reveal perhaps a little bit more than he should, talking about Slightly Mad Studios' other project - which, it takes very little imagination to conclude, is a tie-in with the Fast & Furious film series.
"Guess what the latest Need for Speed game is doing, and have a think about which Hollywood film they're copying," said Bell on the stream. "And then I can tell you we have a six year deal with that major Hollywood company that'll beat what Need for Speed is doing. For the next six years."
And, just in case you really weren't convinced, Bell offered another hint a little later on in the stream: "If you look at me, I'm a bald guy and I work out a bit," he said. "So that's a clue."
It sounds like a fairly glorious partnership, and while it won't be the first attempt to bring the franchise to the world of video games - Eutechnyx had a crack in the PS2 era, and Forza Horizon enjoyed a licensed tie-in which featured many of the films' iconic rides - it could be the first time we've seen the exploits of Vin Diesel et al done justice. From the sounds of things, a proper announcement isn't too far off.