The next Need for Speed Mobile game has had gameplay footage leaked ahead of an official announcement. The video obtained appears to show three high-end cars tearing around a large open-world map showcasing races in both day and night settings.
This isn’t the first NFS entry to hit mobile devices. EA previously released a free-to-play version, Need for Speed: No Limits, on Android and iOS devices back in 2015. While the game still receives updates, it seems EA is giving the next mobile entry into the franchise a full revamp.
The short clip posted to the Need for Speed subreddit by user Clxbsport allegedly comes from a recent playtest of the current iOS build of the game. The 45-second footage shows gameplay from three cars - the McLaren F1, the Lamborghini Aventador SVJR, and the Gallardo racing around the Palm City map found in NFS Heat. The clip also shows both day and night comparisons, with the latter maintaining Heat’s style of a city that is clad in vibrant neon lights.
Without an official announcement from EA, details on the game’s story mode are not currently clear and, in the video, it’s noted that no cops are present either. The information provided along with the video seems to indicate that the new Need for Speed Mobile will be running on Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 and will need the latest smartphones to run it.
It is thought that the new NFS mobile is being developed by the Tencent-owned TiMi studios, as job listings appeared for the game earlier in the year. TiMi's previous games include Call of Duty Mobile and Pokemon Unite, so it is certainly experienced in bringing big franchises over to the mobile market. Although with the possibility of Tencent developing the game, fans are concerned that the latest entry will follow the divisive free-to-play model that No Limits implemented.
The Need for Speed franchise already gearing up for a new Criterion-developed entry this year. Due to release across next-gen consoles and PC later in the year, this will be the first NFS game to hit major platforms since 2019’s Need for Speed Heat. Details on this entry remain equally tight-lipped, but there is speculation that the next entry will not release on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One and will have anime elements. Fans however will no doubt be excited about the prospect that two Need for Speed games releasing in 2022.