Need For Speed Unbound Leaks Again As EA Sets Announcement For October 6

Electronic Arts will officially announce the next Need for Speed game on October 6, the company has announced, but an early leak might have spoiled the publisher's surprise.

EA's own website apparently hosted an image for a game called Need for Speed Unbound, though this page no longer appears to be online. The name Unbound would be no surprise, as a previous report pointed to this being the title. The reveal will officially take place on October 6 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET.

the new Need for Speed game is titled Unbound (art leaked from EA's own website) pic.twitter.com/ndjbJ3eS1L
— Wario64 (@Wario64) October 4, 2022

Unbound will be revealed via a 90-second trailer, a report said. The game will reportedly be focused on multiplayer and include a feature called "meetups" where players can sync up to compete in races.

An additional leak reveals the first screenshots for Need for Speed Unbound--take a look below.

First screenshots of Need for Speed Unbound via Japanese retailer Neowing, which listed it early: https://t.co/q23uM1Ol7b

Launches Dec. 2. Currently only listed for PS5 (this is Japan---no Xbox physical edition). No PS4 version listed. Possibly new-gen-only? pic.twitter.com/aCWhuAh2oW
— Gematsu (@gematsu) October 5, 2022

Need for Speed Unbound will be exclusive to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S for its console release, according to a report, and it will also be released on PC. The rumored release date is December 2, 2022. All should become clear soon.

Burnout developer Criterion is said to be developing the next Need for Speed. Leaked gameplay footage showed some arcade-style animated elements, which matches up with reports that the game will have photorealistic graphics mixed with anime elements.

The last game in the franchise was a remaster of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit in 2020 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One. In addition to the Need for Speed series, EA publishes the F1, Grid, Dirt, and Project Cars franchises via Codemasters.