Need for Speed Unbound will get a surprise second year of new content in 2024

Need for Speed Unbound was released in late 2022 by developer Criterion and publisher Electronic Arts. The latest game in the long-running arcade racing series used a new graffiti art style and cel shading while also offering an open-world setting with street racing.

In 2023, Criterion released four major free content updates for Unbound. Most players thought that would be it for the game, especially since EA announced that year that Criterion would transition into becoming a studio that would mostly help develop new Battlefield games.

However, a smaller core group of Criterion developers is still working on Need for Speed Unbound. Today, in a blog post on the game's site, Criterion revealed there will be a surprise second year of post-release content update for Unbound.

This new year of content for the game is also part of EA's plan to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Need For Speed franchise. While the team at Criterion admits that they "can't build everything everyone wants right now," the main goal of Unbound Year 2 is to "for the first time, begin to play the ultimate NFS experience in one place."

As with the first year of content updates, Unbound Year 2 will consist of four releases. The first is coming soon, called Head to Head. Later updates are titled Drift and Drag, based on the gameplay in Need For Speed Underground, and Cops vs Racers, which will be based on Need For Speed Hot Pursuit. The final content drop does not yet have a title.

Each of these four updates will add at least one major new game mode or feature, two new cars, and a paid Premium section of the Speed Pass that will let players unlock one of the new cars in each update instantly, along with other features.

Unbound Year 2 will also feature new events and challenges, free drive, progression updates, and, of course, bug fixes and improvements. Criterion added it will be working with both data gathered from the updates and a special group of Need For Speed enthusiasts to get more info on what the team might add in the future.