Unfortunately, not all news are always good news. EA BlackBox, the studio responsible for this year's Need For Speed: The Run and the first Massive Multiplayer Online Racing Game in the NFS series (Need For Speed: World), was hit with layoffs while the studio goes through a transformation. Here's the official quote:
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"EA in Vancouver is transforming its studio to align with EA's transformation to high-growth digital formats, including online, social gaming and free-to-play," an EA spokesperson told IndustryGamers. "The Need for Speed World team in Burnaby is leading the digital transformation with 11 million registered players. As the BC studio makes this transformation, a small number of employees are being impacted while most others are being retrained, redeployed and rolling-on to new projects."
EA has recently reported a net loss of $205 million in the third quarter, but is seeing significant positive transformation in increased digital product sales.
We at NFSUnlimited.net wish our best to all the employers who were affected by this situation, and we hope they can get a job in the near future.
Even though the brand "Pontiac" is no longer among us (it was terminated in 2010 due to General Motors' financial problems), their cars still live on, and Need For Speed: World players can now get their hands on yet another Pontiac: the Solstice GXP.
Powered by a 2.0-liter inline-4 Ecotec engine equipped with a dual-scroll turbocharger, the GXP has an output of 260 horsepower, and weighing 1305 kilograms, it goes from 0 to 100 km/h in under 5.5 seconds. Production ran from 2007 to 2009. This Tier 1 certainly delivers and will challenge the best in its class. Go to the car dealer to get yours today!
Every racing fan can surely recognize the car that just arrived to Need For Speed: World. Being the street-legal version of the Lancia Delta Group A, the Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione II is a car to behold. Its distinctive look and nimble performance made its rally counterpart one of the best in the world. Introduced in the 1987 World Rally Championship season, it dominated WRC by scoring 46 victories overall and winning the constructors' championship a record six times in a row from 1987 to 1992, in addition to drivers' championship titles for Juha Kankkunen (1987 and 1991) and Miki Biasion (1988 and 1989).
Powered by a 2-litre 16-valve turbo engine and an AWD system, this Lancia shows how cool it is do drive in the mud. To make it even more enjoyable for rally fans, the dev. team decided to give it a new paintjob that resembles the rally car of the late 80s and early 90s. If you are a fan of rally cars, then the Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione II is surely for you. Get yours today at the car dealer and get ready to win in the dirt!
To all Need For Speed: World players, please be aware that the game servers will be shut down for 3 hours due to maintenance. This will affect players on the 31st January and also 1st February (due to different time zones).
Since this is a server patch, and not a game patch, no new content or fixes should be expected. Instead, this is probably the new anti-cheat system that EA said it would implement in January 2012.
UPDATE 1: As expected, the servers are now up and running. EA has not clarified yet if something was updated.
McLaren is a British automotive manufacturer best known as the creators of the mythic McLaren F1. With a top speed of 391 km/h (recorded in 1998), this car remained the world's fastest production car for 12 years, and still is the world's fastest naturally aspirated production car. Its successor is known as the McLaren MP4-12C, and that is exactly the car that all Need For Speed: World players can now buy for 5500 Speedboost.
Powered by a McLaren M838T twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 engine, this new McLaren (the first production car wholly designed and built by McLaren since the F1) was unveiled in 2009 and reached the market in 2011. According to McLaren, the MP4-12C can reach speeds in excess of 322 km/h. Weighing just 1,301 kg (due to the F1-style carbon fibre chassis), this car looks and sounds impressive. Although it might no be as powerful as the McLaren F1, the MP4-12C surely won't have any problem living up to his big brother. It is not known how many MP4-12Cs will be build. As for racing, there is a GT3 variant built by McLaren that will race in the 2012 FIA GT3 European Championship.
Only time will tell if the McLaren MP4-12C is ready to dominate the best Tier 3 cars, but it sure looks promising. Get yours today!
The Porsche 911 is, without a doubt, the most well-known line of cars from Porsche, the prestigious German car maker. Even though over the years the model has undergone continuous development, the basic concept has remained little changed. Despite the fact that Porsche gives each 911 series different internal names (such as 996 or 997), every single car is sold as “Porsche 911”. The first 911 was created in 1963 and has its roots on the company’s first car, the Porsche 356. The more recent 911 (Type 991) was released in late 2011.
Now, Need For Speed: World players can get their hands on the rare Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0. Created in 1974, the 911 RS is considered by many the greatest classic 911 ever made. RS stands for Rennsport, which is German for "race sport". This was the street-legal version of the car that Porsche had to build to meet the regulations of their competition car: the Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0. This car dominated the world GT scene from 1973 to 1975, and in 1976 it achieved its first LeMans victory. With its unmistakably wide-body forms and the signature whale-tail spoiler, the Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 is a fine specimen of racing beauty and the most explosive car of this era. Only 109 RSRs 3.0 were built, so enjoy driving one in Need For Speed: World. The car is available when you top-up with 8000, 17000 or 50000 Speedboost.
And if you are somehow reluctant to top-up with Speedboost, there is a promotion going on for a limited time: 25% more Speedboost is now available for free on all non-SMS offers!
The Lotus Evora is back... as cop car!
The Lotus Evora has made its appearance in Need For Speed: World but it was soon retired. Now it returns as a cop car, a trend that Blackbox has been following lately. With its unique colour scheme and badge design, the Lotus Evora cop was definitely inspired by the Brazilian federal highway patrol units. The car number denotes the engine displacement, as well as "211" in reference to another prestigious Lotus car (the Lotus 2-Eleven).
The Lotus Evora is based on the first all-new vehicle platform from Lotus since the introduction of the Elise in 1995. The solid performance of the V6 powerplant is more than enough to propel you, bull bars first, into offending speeders! With working cop lights, Lotus fans surely won’t turn their back to this car, especially if you didn’t have the chance to buy the normal Evora before it was retired. For 6000 Speedboost this Tier 3 car can be yours, so be sure to head to the car dealer as soon as possible!
Last but not least, Need For Speed: World’s and Marc De Vellis’ Facebook pages are giving away 50 codes for the Lotus Exige Cup 260. To get a chance of winning a code for this car, all you have to do is answer the following question: "In which "Spot The Devs" did we debut the Lotus Exige Cup 260?"
Post your answer on the comments of both pages (one comment is enough, no spamming!) and you are in for a random draw to get the Lotus Exige Cup 260 for free! Make sure to get your entry in by 12:00pm PST (that is 20:00 GMT) on January 30th. The 50 random winners will be announced on February 1st.
January's Need For Speed: World in-game cash car is finally out! The Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 can now be yours without using real world money (aka Speedboost) to buy it.
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Exotic fans get ready. 640HP combined with an AWD setup that distributes 70% of torque to the rear axle under most conditions makes this Big Bull an extreme ride. Not only does this car look the part, it drives like a true exotic should and challenges any in its class.
Could the Lamborghini Murciélago LP 640 be the car that dethrones the BMW GTR E46 in Need for Speed World free to play racing game? Put it through its paces and decide for yourself. The Lamborghini Murciélago LP 640 is now available for in-game cash!
Just to remember, the LP640 is one of the last versions of the Lamborghini Murciélago made before the car went out of production in 2010 (it was replaced by the Lamborghini Aventador). LP stands for "Longitudinale Posteriore", which is Italian for "rear longitudinal", and it states where the engine is located. 640 stands for the power output of the new 6.5-liter V12 engine. The LP640 is the second-fastest Murciélago with a top speed of 340 km/h, only beaten by the LP 670-4 SuperVeloce edition.
To all Need For Speed: World players, be aware that the game's servers will be shut down today (24th January), from 2pm to 6pm PST (that is from 22:00 GMT today to 02:00 GMT tomorrow).
The shutdown time will allow the team to deploy a new patch. Here are the changes.
- The Pagani Zonda F has been re-released and is available for purchase from the Car Dealer;
- Improvements to the client’s stability have been made;
- Free Roam keyboard shortcuts are now disabled when navigating to the SpeedBoost store from the News Feed.
After making an appearance in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2010 as DLC (exclusive to consoles), and more recently in Need For Speed: The Run (PS3 exclusive), it is time for PC players to finally get their hands on the mythic Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV! For 4500 Speedboost you can get this piece of Italian art in your garage, along with 7-day Car Insurance and 10-day Rep-and-Cash Amplifiers.
The Lamborghini Countach was a supercar produced between 1974 and 1990. Its aggressive look and shape made it worldwide famous and still today the Countach can turn any car enthusiast's neck around to look at it! The Countach 5000 QV (QV stands for quattrovalvove in Italian and it means "four valves") was created in 1985 and was one of the last versions of this Lamborghini produced. 676 QVs were made, making it the most produced model of the Countach. It bore a 5.2-liter V12 engine, the most powerful engine in a Countach. In 1990 the Countach was succeeded by the Lamborghini Diablo, after being in production for 16 years.
In 2004, American car magazine Sports Car International named this car number three on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1970s, and it was listed as number ten on their list of Top Sports Cars of the 1980s.
This Lamborghini is certainly the "star of the week", but let us not forget some other cars that were released this week (all Speedboost only): Porsche 911 Carrera S, Toyota MR-2, Lexus LFA and a special tuned version of the Nissan 200SX.
Wednesday, 11. January 2012
World new patch, another Facebook milestone and a gift!
It's been a busy week for the developers of NFS World. After some emergency maintenance during the past couple of days, during which the game was quite unstable, things seem to be back to normal. The first patch of 2012 was released, players have reached yet another milestone on Facebook and there's a new gift for the entire community to be announced very soon!
Patch (January 10th:)
- Improvements to the client’s stability have been made;
- Players are no longer sent to the same chat channel upon entering Free Roam;
- Players will now receive the correct car when purchasing the Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake "The Run edition" web deal;
- The Porsche 911 Carrera S was added to the car lot for 5500 Speedboost.
Facebook milestone:
The official NFS World page on Facebook has reached more than 100 000 likes, and to commemorate, EA is going to give the whole community a new gift! No details were given about the gift, but it is probably a rental car for free or some Speedboost. Due to the problems with the game in the past days, maybe they decided to start the year by giving everyone a car for free. At the moment we can only guess, so check back tomorrow to see what's the gift.
UPDATE: The gift was announced and, as expected, it is an universal code that will give every player in World 750 Speedboost for free. The code will expire on 17th January at 12:00 AM GMT, so be sure to redeem yours as quickly as possible. Here is the code: EWPD-3KGA-VBVF-9HYS (thanks honke).
