
These two players loved World despite its flaws, and when EA shut down its official servers in 2015, they were instrumental in building a version that could be played offline. It's no surprise that most players got bored and moved on. You couldn't even go past level 10 without buying a starter pack.

Rewards from races, like cash or new parts, came frequently, but buying new cars or expanding your garage was exorbitantly expensive.

It was a neat idea, but World was unnecessarily grindy and favored those who bought their way to the top.

Like any true Need For Speed, World was all about customizing your car and driving dangerously-only you did so in a big open world filled with strangers. The idea was that players would roam an open world, challenging each other to races or getting into chases with computer-controlled police cruisers. It's an experience invigorated by the intimacy of its community and emphasis on fair racing.īack in 2010, Need For Speed: World billed itself as an MMO hybrid of Need For Speed: Most Wanted and Need For Speed: Carbon. It's a crucial part of the vision of Soapbox Race World, the fan-made project that slowly brought EA's ill-fated MMO back to life. I'm terribly outclassed in my Dodge Challenger RT, but I don't mind because the higher level players who are about to leave me in their dust earned their rides instead of paying for them. It's a sunny afternoon in the virtual city of Palmont when I pull up next to a Lamborghini Estoque and a Toyota Supra. Until we say soĪt first I didn't believe they revived this game until I played it, then quickly I got addicted again.

And in reviving it and tearing down its greedy microtransactions, Need for Speed: World's fans have finally unearthed its hidden potential. Need for Speed: World lives on thanks to private servers, which initially set out to create an offline version of the MMO but have since evolved into a thriving community home to thousands of players racing online. That should have been the end, but today Need for Speed: World is more popular than ever.
