New Need For Speed Will Require Internet Connection
Oh, oh, oh. We finally have one solid fact about the rebooted Need For Speed title from Electronic Arts, and it’s not a good one. Remember the scant few other companies that have tried forcing an Internet connection requirement onto their games, and what a disaster it was when the inevitable server crashes made those games unplayable for everyone? EA doesn’t remember.
Twitter-er DeanRheims asked the official Need For Speed Twitter account the question this morning:
@NeedforSpeed look how always online worked for Micrduringwhen they announced the Xbox One. Don’t make the same mistake!. #NFS #Underground
And this was the reply:
@DeanRheims NFS will require an online connection, but the benefits are nice. More variety and a more rewarding experience with friends.
Unless a significant portion of Need For Speed will be rendered in the cloud, “more variety” does not require a 24/7 Internet connection. And while you can’t talk to your friends if you’re not online, being unable to unplug the connection doesn’t make your experience more “rewarding.” These “benefits” are imaginary.
They must have known the tweet felt fishy, because they clarified what they meant a few minutes later:
@JonBarry3 Being connected will allow your friends to be part of your narrative experience, something only possible through connected play.
EA has mentioned that the new NFS will be story-driven and that your friends can appear and interact with the story at any time. To pull this off the Internet would have to always be on. It’s still not a good thing, though.
Another tweet tried to assure angry repliers that the EA servers were strong enough to handle the workload, but…..we’ll see about that, won’t we?
