Electronic Arts Announces Need for Speed: The Run

Black Box designing the cross-country racer with DICE's Frostbite 2 engine.

Electronic Arts and Criterion Games downshifted and punched it in last year's back-to-its-roots racer, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Now the publisher is putting Black Box behind the wheel and DICE's Frosbite 2 engine under the hood for Need for Speed: The Run.

The Run puts players into a high-stakes, cross-country race from San Francisco to New York, and with Frostbite 2, the same engine powering DICE's upcoming shooter Battlefield 3, EA is promising to make it a stunning visual journey. Check the reveal trailer:

"This is the year that Need for Speed goes to the next level," Jason DeLong, Executive Producer at EA, said in a statement. "We think that Need for Speed The Run is going to surprise people with its intense, thrilling story and big action feel. But the game would be nothing without hot cars and crazy-fast chases. So that is what we're delivering -- explosive racing that will have players flirting with disaster at 200-miles an hour."

Black Box is well-versed in the Need for Speed franchise, having developed racing MMO Need for Speed World, and the studio is working to have The Run ready for a November 15 launch on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows PCs, and Nintendo Wii and 3DS.

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