2019 marks the 25th anniversary of EA's racing franchise, Need for Speed, so fans are expecting to see something about it later this year. We do already know that a new game is in the works, thanks to an EA earnings report that was published back in February, but despite EA Play being just around the corner, it looks as if we're not going to see anything about the new game during the event.
A statement published on EA's website reads "Are you going to hear more about the next NFS title? Yes. Is it being released this year? Yes. Will we be doing anything in June? No." June is when the publisher is going to host its EA Play event, with the event starting on June 8th, where it plans to reveal new info on various games. EA has already confirmed the full lineup of titles that it will be featuring, which includes Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and the second season of Apex Legends.
But while there are no official details about it, the statement does seem to confirm that car customization will return, as it is considered to be "foundational":
"You could say that the cars and customization of NFS are the beating heart of what we do. Without either of these, NFS fails to exist as we know it. These two elements play a pivotal role in the series and are two aspects that we consider to be foundational, meaning they aren’t going anywhere because NFS wouldn’t exist without them."
Aside from that, the statement is intentionally vague so any new mechanics or inclusions remain a mystery. The next Need for Speed does have a lot of expectations for it, though, as the last title, Need for Speed Payback, received mixed reviews, with a recurring criticism being its overuse of lootboxes.
EA itself is in desperate need of a win, as the last five months have not been particularly kind to them, especially following the release of Anthem. It's latest update, which was intended to improve matchmaking, has ended up making Anthem matchmaking worse, resulting in players being stuck waiting for a teammate to appear for ages.
The new Need for Speed is planned to be released later in 2019.
Source: Electronic Arts