Sharp-suited and rebooted, Ghost Games’ Need for Speed overhaul stormed onto PlayStation 4 and Xbox One earlier this week. As the first installment in EA’s longstanding franchise in two years, the neon-clad arcade racer was bearing the brunt of considerable expectations – expectations that were put to the sword when it was revealed that this NFS would be always-online.
But while core fans of the series took umbrage with the implementation of the controversial feature, there’s one front that Ghost has managed to win over any doubters, and that’s in regards to downloadable content. For a publisher renown for dolling out season passes, EA is adopting a change of tact with Need for Speed in that each and every sliver of add-on content will be released free of charge.
While speaking to Vice, Ghost’s Creative Director Craig Sullivan touched base on the topic at hand, revealing that the end consumer, at least for his money, will always deserve free DLC.
“Everything we’re doing is focusing on listening to what the fans are asking for,” Sullivan said. “They’re certainly not saying to us, ‘Can you build a load of stuff and charge us for it?’ They’re not saying that, so we’re not doing that. I know some people when we do press like this, they say, ‘Yeah, but I’m sure it’ll all change in a week or two, or six months.’ It’s not going to. The plan is that there are no transactions in this game. All of the content that we’re going to give you–a pretty substantial amount in the future, starting pretty soon–is going to be free. That’s what players deserve.”
Even though Need for Speed has only graced store shelves, Ghost Games evidently has big content plans mapped out over the course of the next few weeks and months. What can we expect, then? More cars, for one, though Sullivan didn’t go into specifics just yet.
“You can never say never, as if we ended up doing DLC for this game for 10 years, I can’t know what’s happening in 10 years’ time,” he explained. “All I can say is, honestly, hand on heart, is there are absolutely no plans to charge for content in this game. We’re going to give you everything for free.
Need for Speed is available now across PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in North America – PC owners can expect the arcade racer in early 2016 – and you can see what all the fuss is about in Ventura Bay by checking out our review.
