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[DSc]

EA's new Swedish studio EA Gothenburg appears to be working on the Need For Speed franchise with Criterion's Alex Ward.

Has EA cut Black Box out of NFS for good, now?

EA Gothenburg developing new Need For Speed

EA Gothenburg is developing a new Need For Speed title, according to the online CV of one of the studio's employees.

The LinkedIn profile of a producer at the studio states that he's "working on the best racing franchise ever - Need for Speed", and is responsible for "UI and Autolog".

Other employees hired by the studio suggest that Gothenburg has been primarily established to develop racing games.

Some of its employees have previously worked on major racing titles like Project Gotham Racing, Need For Speed: The Run, RACE Pro, and Forza Horizon.

EA Gothenburg was formed in March 2012 to develop a "a new generation of games on the Frostbite 2 engine".

It was revealed back in June that Criterion would have a "strong involvement" in all future Need For Speed titles.

Criterion VP Alex Ward is known to be working with EA Gothenburg, too.

EA has yet to formally announce any games in development at the studio. But could next year's Need For Speed be in development at Gothenburg rather than EA Black Box?

VideoGamer.com has contacted EA for comment.

http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/n...gothenburg_developing_new_need_for_speed.html

 

[Data West]

Gothenburg sounds like they would develop horror games

 

[waypoetic]

Gothenburg sounds like they would develop horror games

This city is in to fish, trams and soccer. And Bruce Springsteen..

 

[TheSeks]

Maybe Black Box can go back to .Skate? *eyes light up*

Spoiler

That will never happen.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Hej alla glada människor ifrån staden Göteborg!

 

[Miles X]

'the best racing franchise ever'

lies.

 

[strafer]

Hej alla glada människor ifrån staden Göteborg!

You're not from sweden, I can tell.

 

[The Awesomest]

Well hopefully they model their game after the older style of NFS instead of copying the Black Box style. I miss the older NFS games, so much.

 

[Matlen]

I love Gothenburg, hopefully the studio is competent enough too.

Did I say that I live there?

 

[Combichristoffersen]

You're not from sweden, I can tell.

Norrbagge

 

[iNvid02]

some info about this new studio

EA Gothenburg is a new EA Studio located on the west coast of Sweden. Gothenburg is Sweden’s second largest city with a population of about 1 million people.
This charming location was chosen because of the plethora of highly talented game developers that can be found in that part of Sweden and its southern regions.

The Studio was formed on the initiative of Patrick Söderlund, EVP of EA’s Games Label, who appointed former DICE Executive Producer Marcus Nilsson to build and run the studio.

Marcus has led development on a number of AAA games including Battlefield 2 Modern Combat, Battlefield 2142 and most recently Need for Speed Shift 2 Unleashed.

The Studio will focus on developing a new generation of games, and the engine of choice is Frostbite 2.

 

[Foshy]

I'd like to see NFS Underground 3. I played the older NFS's (1, 2, HP1, High Stakes, Porsche Unleashed) but I personally think that Underground 1&2 and Most Wanted were the peak of the series. Haven't played the HP reboot yet but it looks really good too, and I've just preordered Most Wanted.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

They're most definitely using the Frostbite 2 engine because it's also made by a Swedish EA-related studio: DICE.

 

[Mechanized]

Gothenburg Studio
Frostbite Engine

Damn, now all we need is a melodic death metal soundtrack and we're good to go!

Spoiler

NFS: Dark Tranquility

 

[thuway]

IS it just me, or does anyone else here think Frostbite 2 is too sterile for racing games?

 

[Drencrom]

Hej alla glada människor ifrån staden Göteborg!

Cute.

 

[faridmon]

Hej alla glada människor ifrån staden Göteborg!

Er du ikke Norsk? Stop med det tullet du her der.

 

[waypoetic]

Nu får vi göteborgare en egen tråd ser jag.

 

[gabbo]

I'd like to see NFS Underground 3. I played the older NFS's (1, 2, HP1, High Stakes, Porsche Unleashed) but I personally think that Underground 1&2 and Most Wanted were the peak of the series. Haven't played the HP reboot yet but it looks really good too, and I've just preordered Most Wanted.

If they returned to a style reminiscent of the old NFS games, that aren't anything like the Criterion games, I would pay attention to the series again. Hell, go for another Porsche Unleashed style game and I'm front row center.

 

[danmaku]

Gothenburg Studio
Frostbite Engine

Damn, now all we need is a melodic death metal soundtrack and we're good to go!

Spoiler

NFS: Dark Tranquility

Preordered!

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Er du ikke Norsk? Stop med det tullet du her der.

I am, but apparently no one picked up on my reference to the old Troublemakers song

 

[faridmon]

I am, but apparently no one picked up on my reference to the old Troublemakers song

Spoiler

I was giving you advice before your brain is poisoned with Swedish litter

 

[Foshy]

If they returned to a style reminiscent of the old NFS games, that aren't anything like the Criterion games, I would pay attention to the series again. Hell, go for another Porsche Unleashed style game and I'm front row center.

I think that if they would make another Porsche Unleashed nowadays they'd just take the Shift 2, slap the Porsche license on it and make it a generic sim-racer without identity. Now don't get me wrong, I love GT5, Forza and pCARS, but we don't need too many of them and it's been a while since we got an Underground-style racing game with tons of tuning and customization.

 

[Kong Fisso]

Need for Speed: Sweden

Ja tak.

 

[Rapstah]

Isn't this just DICE? Dice were credited for Autolog in Hot Pursuit 2010. Dice is in Gothenburg, aren't they?

 

[gabbo]

I think that if they would make another Porsche Unleashed nowadays they'd just take the Shift 2, slap the Porsche license on it and make it a generic sim-racer without identity. Now don't get me wrong, I love GT5, Forza and pCARS, but we don't need too many of them and it's been a while since we got an Underground-style racing game with tons of tuning and customization.

Well, I would hope they go all out if they went with a NFSPU game (reality is this won't happen), where it's a true sim, not half baked.

I would love to see a new Underground or something similar, if, and I do mean if, the tuning and customization actually effected the way the car performed in races. All I remember from Underground was that customization was completely cosmetic, and the damage modeling was too. It was the last time I put any serious time into the series. Borrowed the most recent Hot Pursuit from my brother, felt like Burnout Paradise with cops, didn't do much.

 

[faridmon]

Isn't this just DICE? Dice were credited for Autolog in Hot Pursuit 2010. Dice is in Gothenburg, aren't they?

DICE is based in Stockholm

 

[waypoetic]

Isn't this just DICE? Dice were credited for Autolog in Hot Pursuit 2010. Dice is in Gothenburg, aren't they?

Nope, Stockholm. The company was founded in Gothenburg though.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

Isn't this just DICE? Dice were credited for Autolog in Hot Pursuit 2010. Dice is in Gothenburg, aren't they?

Like others have said, DICE is in Stockholm, and this studio is as far as I know not related to DICE at all: except that they both work for EA.

 

[Wario64]

UPDATE: EA Gothenburg's website has confirmed that the studio is developing a game "in the Need For Speed franchise".

"Would you like to be a part of EA?", reads the site. "Would you like to work on a game in the Need for Speed franchise? You now have the opportunity to become a part of EA Gothenburg and fulfill those two wishes!"

EA has yet to officially announce Gothenburg's involvement in the Need For Speed franchise.

 

[Darklord]

Can't say I'm sad to see Black Box be put aside. The Run was a cool idea, poorly executed.

 

[strafer]

Need for Speed: Underground 3.

Please EA, please.

 

[twinturbo2]

Volvos in the next NFS game confirmed. I call dibs on the 240 sedan.