Need for Speed Unbound

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Need for Speed Unbound.

Concept ArtsVery cool.

Multiple 2020 builds leaks#

Footages of several early builds of Unbound (codename Excalibur) dated May and July 2020 were leaked in a deleted message in GZILLA's Discord server in August 5, 2020. These builds have major differences from the final game. Due to its earliness, the game still uses most assets from Need for Speed Heat therefore, there is unfinished stuff. Watch on YouTube

User Interface#

• The HUD was different.
• The District name used the Din Pro Italic Black font.
• The north indicator in the minimap has changed the font of North ("N") to Din Pro Italic Black font.
• The Heat bar was inside the minimap like in Black Box's Need for Speed titles.
• The Race POI had purple color.

Customization#

• Driving effects were very different.
• The default plate name was EXC (referred to its codename, Excalibur).

Game world#

• The checkpoint neon colors were cyan-green, and light red when it's the next one.

Cutscenes#

• Race start and finish cutscenes were different.

Soundtrack#

• The videos feature the cut music: SuperM - Jopping, already dynamic for race start and finish events.

Gallery#

GDC 2023 Nitrous wings mock-up#

The game has now became more polished, however it still did not like final build. The only thing that is not part of in-game footage are wings shown during nitrous.

Graphics#

• Overcast was different.

User Interface#

• The Meetup POI had purple color
• The activity UI was different.
• The cop POI now uses car icon instead of the unit one as seen in leaked 2020 footage above before being undone.
• The game had more variations of the Eurostile font.

March 2021#

The videos listed here are coming from Derrick Barth's portfolio site.

User Interface#

• The helicopter icon is reused from Need for Speed: Rivals and the background turns red when chasing the player.
• The race leaderboard is different.
• The Heat level is back to the top of the screen. Although similar to final in functionality, it has a different UI.

Signatures#

• The driving effects are now similar to what is in final game, but missing some details as they weren't implemented yet
• The default driving effect was entirely different.

Game world#

• Checkpoints now use the unique model to Heat's, although not final yet.

June 2021#

Watch on YouTubeFootage of the June 2021 build of Unbound was leaked on August 25, 2022. The extended version of the same footage was revealed by LP-RIPPER24, a now deleted channel on YouTube who was also heavily involved with leaks of the game on September 2, 2022.

User Interface#

• Activities and Collectables backgrounds in the mini map were circles, colored purple from Heat.
• Districts had placeholder names.
• Meetup had a different icon and the color was changed to be bright-blue.
• Saving and Loading animations still used Heat animations as placeholders.
• The in-session bar was different.

Graphics#

• Morning was different.

Gallery#

Post-2021 screenshots#

These shots have been revealed in the "Developing the Stylized VFX of Need For Speed Unbound" GDC 2023 session.

User Interface#

• Changed the activities POI background color to be yellow rather than reusing Heat's bright purple color.
• The speedometer was updated to use the non-Italic version for the transmission number indicator and an extended version of Eurostile font for RPM and MPH/KM/H.
• The in-session bar got polished to be more in style.

Gameplay#

• The Burst Nitrous was added, replacing the regular Nitrous Bar. It used the cyan color than yellow color.

Game World#

• The chevrons (or what everybody calls them "barriers") were different.
• Checkpoint Gates models have now changed to have a rounded shape.
• Morning has changed, with the color correction being bluer-reddish.

Gallery#

April 2022#

Footage of an April 2022 build of Unbound was leaked in Kuru's HotShots (KuruHS) Discord Server by an NFS leaker named ynk on April 22, 2022, along with an earlier version of the world map which is in low quality. Another screenshot in which online mode is running, likely captured from a Discord stream was originally leaked on a now-deleted Twitter thread on August 18, 2022.

• The default license plate background has been changed to use the one in the release.
• The Morning now looks more closer to the final version.
• The in-session bar has changed slightly to use different colors for cash and an additional button

Gallery#

Early Summer 2022#

A footage of game during is seen in one of UI designers' portfolio video again. By this point, the game's artstyle has gotten more finalised but there were still a few key differences. The tunnel clip was features in one of the slides in the EA - Investor Day 2024 presentation.

User Interface#

• The speedometer has changed, looking closer to final, however it uses old elements.
• Most of POI glyphs colors were updated to be dark, rather than white.
• Most of world map symbols were updated, such as player icon, overall it's shaping up to be what would be the final artstyle.
• Save animation got updated to feature the animated NFS logo as in final game and it is what would be used in the final build.
• The In-Session bar now appears more like the final build except there's still the symbol for the earned cash and it was still yellow-colored rather than red in the final game.

Gameplay#

• It appears that the video shows the prologue race (the tutorial part), and if it is, the route must have been different.

Game World#

• Checkpoint Gate models have been updated to look like final one, and there are now animations for the new checkpoint.
• Twilight VE is a bit purpler than in final game.

Gallery#

Trailer footages#

The game trailers feature the slightly earlier footages of the game. By that time, everything is finalized, although there are a few differeces.

Differences#

• The numbers in the speedometer were slightly larger than in the final.
• Different avatars for some opponents.
• The Driving Effects had placeholder names:
  • "Flame Dancer" is "BURN"
  • "Blood Cells" is "DJ"
  • "Electric Sheep" is "LYRIC"
    • AI Racer "Lyric" using this tag.
  • "Purple Turtle" is "CARD SHARK"
  • "Incredible Bulk" is "GREEN MACHINE"
  • "Moon Shadow" is "NFS"

Gallery#

Other#

2024 Developer Q&A#

Early on, the game initially had Detroit as an inspiration for the game world for a brief amount of time, however it was changed to Chicago since developers found that Detroit was "kind of too flat" and developers "didn't get the kind of dulation that makes for an interesting map".⁶²

Obscure Information#

Apashe (feat. Instasamka) - Uebok VIP was rumored to be a song in game as a "title screen song" since many leakers mentioned it. It was later noted publicly a few days before the game's reveal.⁶³

Unknown Lamborghini Picture#

This was featured in a Twitter reply of a user.⁶⁴

Extended A$AP Rocky's Custom Car Trailer#

A Trailer of A$AP Rocky's Custom Mercedes 190E which was never formally released through Need for Speed accounts which fully features Shittin' Me (2WEI Remix) song rather than one clip and overall it is extended. It should be noted that the endcard of the trailer mentions COMING NOV 04 2022, which was the original release date of the game after the 2021 delay before being pushed a month later.

Watch on YouTube

Slightly Earlier Reveal Trailer#

A slightly earlier version of the Reveal Trailer which isn't very different from the released one, however like with A$AP Rocky's 190E trailer, the endcard mentions COMING NOV 04 2022, which was the original release date of the game after the 2021 delay and also the transition filter at the very end.

Facial Motion#

On June 25, 2023, Winking Studios posted a behind-the-scenes/Work In Progress version of the cutscene on ArtStation.

References#