Need for Speed Unbound reveal trailer confirms December release for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC

Electronic Arts has published the debut trailer for Need for Speed Unbound, which is viewable below.

Featuring 4K resolution at 60 FPS for the first time in the series, the game will be released for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Origin, Steam and Epic Games Store on December 2, 2022.

However, customers who pre-order the title will be able to begin playing three days earlier on November 29.

They’ll also receive exclusive Need For Speed Unbound items including a driving effects pack, decals, license plate, banner artwork, stickers and $150,000 Bank in their wallet when they first join multiplayer.

The standard version of the game will be priced at $69.99. The $79.99 Need for Speed Unbound Palace Edition, which is being created in partnership with Palace Skateboards, will offer players exclusive content including custom cars, a clothing pack, driving effect, decals and license plate, character pose and banner artwork.

“The innovative single player campaign delivers thrills and consequences through an immersive narrative that engages players in the city of Lakeshore as they race, collect, upgrade, and customize the world’s hottest performance cars on their way to the top of the scene,” according to EA.

“Players uncover the world of Lakeshore when a robbery at a family auto-shop tears two friends apart and sets a rookie racer on a journey to win the ultimate street race and reclaim the priceless car that was stolen from them.”

Need for Speed Unbound features:

• The World is Each Player’s Canvas: Graffiti comes to life in a new art style as players ride through the city equipped with a brand-new toolkit of high-energy visual and sound effects, like Burst Nitrous, which rewards players with style-based boost, reflecting how they drive.
• Run the Streets: The more players race, the more heat they build up. Choose to outdrive or outsmart cops using new escape mechanics to take control of the chase to earn big rewards or even bigger consequences for getting busted.
• Self-Expression and Style: Hundreds of cosmetic items including exclusive licensed gear from some of the world’s pioneering fashion innovators and custom automotive gear companies give players endless options to not only kit out their car but show off their personal style in game.
• Find Freedom in the Flow: Ride to a genre-defying soundtrack of trailblazing artists from the world of hip-hop led by multi-hyphenated artist, entrepreneur, actor and fashion icon A$AP Rocky and his creative agency AWGE, including the world premiere of A$AP Rocky’s brand new track “Sh*ttin’ Me,” also featured in the reveal trailer.
• Takeover Scene featuring A$AP Rocky: A$AP Rocky will appear in-game as the leader of the Takeover Scene, a new replayable precision driving mode that brings together the community to take over parts of the city and celebrate driving with style over pure speed.

The trailer, which features ASAP Rocky, appears to have been released early as EA previously said it would be published at 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm BST on Thursday. The YouTube description for the video also links to a Need for Speed Unbound page on EA’s site which won’t go live until that time.

EA announced in February 2020 that it had handed Need for Speed development duties back to Criterion Games as it planned to restructure Ghost Games, which made the previous four entries in the racing series.

Further reading

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Leaked Need for Speed Unbound screenshots reveal new art style

EA is officially set to unveil the game on Thursday

UK-based Criterion is best known for the Burnout series and has also developed two previous Need for Speed titles: 2010’s Hot Pursuit and 2012’s Most Wanted. It contributed to 2013’s Need for Speed Rivals too.

Codemasters’ Cheshire team, the outfit behind Dirt 5, was integrated into Criterion earlier this year “to create the future of Need for Speed”.