Need For Speed: Rivals Bumped Onto PlayStation 4’s Launch Lineup

Following the delay of Evolution Studio’s Driveclub, Sony has jettisoned EA’s Need For Speed: Rivals onto the proverbial starting grid for the PlayStation 4 when it launches next week in North America. The high-octane racing sim, which was previously slated to release worldwide on November 22nd, will now appear first on Sony’s new hardware ahead of other platforms.

Taking to PlayStation Blog, here’s what EA’s community manager, Jessica Damerst, had to say about the rescheduling:

“We’re stoked to be the first racing game on PS4, and believe we’re setting a new bar for driving gameplay and visuals. PS4, coupled with the Frostbite 3 engine, will give players unparalleled next-gen gaming — epic locations and vistas, stunning time of day and weather changes, and super high fidelity cars.”

Damerst went on to explain how Need For Speed: Rivals plans to utilise the console’s new social features, including the ability to share in-game footage with friends via the DualShock 4’s Share button. Not only that, the game also supports Remote Play through the PlayStation Vita, allowing players to continue their pursuits remotely within a Wi-Fi network.

Need for Speed: Rivals represents the first title from Swedish studio Ghosts Games, who are implementing the AllDrive feature into EA’s racer. This system is essentially designed to seamlessly merge the autonomous single-player, multiplayer and co-op modes under one accessible framework. What’s more, the studio has confirmed the roaring return of the Ferrari; a supercar that hasn’t appeared in the franchise from the get-go since the Hot Pursuit sequel back in 2002.

Ghosts Games’ maiden project will launch on PlayStation 4 first on November 15th, before drifting onto PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on November 19th. Need for Speed: Rivals will also launch on Xbox One in tandem with the console’s release on November 22nd.