@isomeri: NFTs! Imagine instead of NFS the game became NFT and everything in the game was an NFT from the cars you drive to your lap times to any photos you take. And you only have to pay a small amount of crypto for each (so a very reasonable fee to unlock each car or take a photo or see your time etc...) It would be gaming paradise!
Seriously, though, there's a fair amount they could do with a Need for Speed game beyond driving. Autolog from the older games in the series, which functioned kind of like a weird mini social network, gives a hint of the direction.
You know how you have lobbies and spectator mode in fighting games? Why not add that to a racing game, where you can watch other people race and challenge the winner, or talk to other people, or show off your cars or liveries or whatever (Forza Horizon does something like this with its car meets.)
What about a game mode where you manage a racing team of AI drivers kind of like a franchise mode in a sports game and you customize their cars and hire 'drivers' for races kind of like the owner of a NASCAR team?
And obviously there's the story mode stuff they tried in Need For Speed: The Run. That game is bad, but the idea could be done better.
I'm not saying that these are things I want or think would improve the game, but they make sense as ways you could make the Need for Speed series more "metaversey" without betraying the core concept of the series. There are others too.
Personally I just wish they'd focus on making a game that looks good, handles well, and has a great map to explore. I don't need a cheesy story. Just give me something like Need for Speed Most Wanted from 2012. That game had good handling, a nice map, fun multiplayer, and some cool collectables and challenges. That's what I want from Need for Speed. Hot Pursuit 2010 also qualifies. Just focus on making a fun arcade racer instead of telling horrible stories or selling loot boxes.
They won't, though, because EA isn't really interested in making good games that are fun to play for their retail price. They are interested in "live services" and recurrent transactions. On occasion something like Fallen Order or Star Wars Squadron or It Takes Two will sneak out, and those games are super well received and sell well, and EA learns absolutely nothing from that and goes back to making microtransaction ridden skinner boxes that aren't particularly fun to play and frequently tank.
It works for their sports titles so they don't understand why it won't work for other genres and nobody can explain it to them.
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