Need for Speed World added to Aeria's global network
Free-to-play racer joins MMO portal's lineup
Aeria Games has signed a deal with Electronic Arts to publish the latter's Need for Speed World for a global market, the Santa Clara, CA publisher announced today. The racing MMO, developed by NFS: The Run's Black Box, boasts vehicle customization, RPG-style progression and 150 miles of open-world terrain. Originally launched in 2010, the game's addition to the Aeria library marks the publisher's first title in the racing genre.
Need for Speed World is the second EA title to be made available on the Aeria network, following Battlefield Heroes' addition earlier this year. It's available in English, French, Polish, Spanish and Portuguese, with exclusive third-party publishing rights in Latin American territories. Having gone free-to-play in September of last year, the game's supported by in-game currency with a real-world value, which is necessary to purchase many of the higher-spec vehicles.
As we noted when the EA/Aeria deal was first announced, it may seem strange for EA to distribute its Play4Free titles outside the company's own, heavily-pushed Origin platform. However, the 6-month-old platform is still in its infancy, and already negotiating legal issues in some territories – whereas Aeria's global network includes subsidiaries in Germany and Brazil, as well as a Japanese parent company. Regardless of the partnership's impact on Origin, then, it can be seen as a pragmatic move on EA's part to increase distribution of its free-play library.
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Diablo 4 dev is sending 666 buckets of literal bugs to "meat their maker" at a charity for hungry birds
The cult vampire third-person shooter that nearly bankrupted the small studio that made it is getting a film adaptation from the Transformers producer
Fallout mod site says it's like players are downloading Skyrim "twice every second" after Amazon TV series drives fans back to the open-world RPGs