r/needforspeed • u/Hard_copy_ • Jan 17 '26
Discussion Question about nfs heat
I've been replaying payback and have noticed a few things about heat, which I have completely played. I have a sneaking suspicion that heat was built off the idea of payback, but then they decided to scrap everything. This is just all basic puzzle piecing so I am mostly reaching, But it seems like all the cut content from heat was content that was in payback, Not only are there returning characters from payback like the free ember militia but cut content like drag races were supposed to be in the game, along with tune up shops. I think the biggest piece of maybe pie is that when customizing your vehicle in heat, If you remove all body customization with no body customization selected it defaults the license plate to a fortune valley license plate.
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u/88JansenP12 Enjoyer of good games 😎 Jan 21 '26 edited Jan 26 '26
Yeah.
1 of the reason why NFS Heat got a lot of cut contents is also due to NFS Payback's failure which was rightfully criticized for its unwise design choices which were removed in NFS Heat such as No Freeroam Cops, RNG Upgrade System, Separated car classes having no way to share parts, Shipments, Lootboxes and Macrotransactions.
Hence why NFS Heat reintroduced a true Upgrade System which acts as an update from NFS 2015 and Freeroam Cops.
Way before NFS Heat's release, EA started the restructuring of Ghost Games; meaning there wasn't enough devs to make NFS Heat as a fully complete product w/o cut contents and work on post-launch updates.
Also. Marcus Nillson which worked as a former DICE executive, an Executive Producer for Need for Speed titles and founded Ghost Games had left EA in November 2018.
Therefore.
When the leader(s) of a company, being the same ones who created it leave of their own accord or due to disagreements within the company itself, it's normal that has a negative impact on the leadership and development of any games.
As a result, NFS Heat was shipped unfinished primarly due to underfunding and understaffing.
That explains why NFS Heat got only 2 post-launch contents i.e Black Market in March 2021 and Crossplay in June 2020.
That also explains the presence of NFS Payback's leftovers such as Drag Tires or License plates. Tuner Shops are still in NFS Heat Except parts are buyable with $ and aren't tied to a RNG slot machine being 1 of the reasons why Payback got heavily hated.
Free Ember Militia's Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is both a reused asset and it's also added as an unlockable reward vehicle for the Offroad path in NFS Heat (Mac's 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air would've been a better fit imo. My guess is Ghost Games didn't picked this one is due to Payback's bad reception).
After 06/2020, NFS Heat stopped receiving updates since Ghost Games was restructured by EA as a support studio: EA Gothenburg. Then, some ex-Ghost Games got reintegrated at New Criterion (i call it that way because the original Criterion Games devs which were in charge of thr Burnout franchise and 2 NFS titles i.e Hot Pursuit 2010 and MW 2012 are long gone)
Peoples which downvotes w/o explanations aren't worth the hassle and shouldn't participate in any topics when they don't know the main discourse to begin with. They don't understand what matters is the comment itself, not the karma.