We chatted with producer Marc de Vellis and lead designer Melvin Teo about the state of this unique MMO racing game, two years in.

Collectors’ Edition

If we’re not racing around circuits or cruising in the open world, most drivers are working on their ever-growing car collection. With some players amassing some 150-plus cars, including custom and Art Director versions, it’s clear that de Vellis is proud of the range offered in NFSW. “An average car list in a console game would be 50 to 70 or 80, and then there’s some DLC that bumps it up by 5 or 10 a month for a few months. With World, in 2 years we’re already at 120+ cars, we’re growing by 8 unique cars a month. At that pace we’re going to be at a couple of hundred cars very shortly.” 

“The guys creating the cars have been on the franchise for a long time, and they have a lot of experience.  Even when they go to the manufacturers, the quality of the cars is to the T. Everything that we do, because we’re a licensed car game, we have to go through manufacturer approvals. Every aspect, from the bumper to the hood, is scrutinized by the manufacturers.”

The car team also works on custom variations of existing vehicles, in conjunction with the manufacturer. Unsurprisingly, these unique designs are currently the most popular with players. That said, they’re also keeping an eye on community requests and car culture to meet the insatiable demand for new rides. Although the Pagani Zonda F and Koenigsegg CCX are already in-game, a collection of rare supercars is due to arrive in August.

Rock My Ride.

There’s a mantra that de Vellis repeats when describing NFSW: Compete Collect and Customize. Trouble is, it can be easy to get lost in a range of options for tuning and tweaking a car in order to squeeze every last drop of horsepower out of it. But while de Vellis insists that the game is far from a simulation, he’s also quick to emphasize that there’s more depth than just a plain arcade game.

The Safehouse is your base of operations away from the tarmac, providing access to countless ways you can customize your car. By dipping into the aftermarket shop, I quickly added neon downlighters and emerald tinted windows, dropping the suspension and swapping in some custom bodywork. A visit to the paint shop finished the look, adding a dark metallic green and some subtle vinyl stripes. I might have the worst taste in cars, but to me it was the coolest thing on four wheels.

My changes were previewed and purchased in ten minutes, but we’re told by de Vellis that some players spend hours in here making replicas of real-life cars. “A lot of car enthusiasts actually use this as a tool to really see how their cars become customized in real life. A mustang owner might want to add a body kit, they come in to Need for Speed World, the start adding parts, it’s like a customization tool for them.”

A performance shop is where the tweakers and tinkers spend time poring over hardware choices, constantly pushing for better performance, acceleration, handling and top speed. Continuing the move from visual to the tactical, the recently implemented Skill Shop offers further ways to tweak the car for particular driving styles. I was told that the community had started to build a catalogue of recommended Skill Shop builds, based on the event and the player’s personal approach.

The Car’s the Star

In a way, Need for Speed World is a curious hybrid. It presents an accessible, arcade-feel racer, with enough depth to encourage experimentation in those who feel up to the challenge. Now that they’ve tapped into that group of gamers with a passionate love for cars, de Vellis and his team are looking at ways to make the player’s pride and joy even more central.

A free camera pivot was added this week, providing every wannabe supercar photographer with the chance to show off his/her skills. Drivers are encouraged to share their pictures on Facebook, where community managers are carefully curating albums. Impressive custom work is shared, with creators encouraged to share their techniques in tutorials.

Beyond hiding the HUD and snapping screenshots, the team is looking at ways of letting drivers push their latest shots to Facebook and Twitter. According to de Vellis, “Social is huge for us.” Even the race finish screen is getting a makeover, with the cars being shown more prominently, along with customization details.

As de Vellis says, the car is central. “It’s what you want to do with it. Do you want to race it, customize it? Do you want to just collect and look at it? It all starts with the car.”

Gareth “Gazimoff” Harmer, Staff Writer