Need For Speed Heat is getting its final update today. Outside of the usual bug fixes, it comes with one big feature, cross-platform play.
Need For Speed Heat will be the first EA Game to have cross-play, allowing anyone on PS4, PC (Steam and Origin) and Xbox One to play with each other in an opt-in basis.
You will need to find your friends using their EA account name and from there you can party up in the same world instance. If you opt-in, players from different platform (all labelled) will be populated in the world, with the ability to use proximity voice chat.
For current players, now’s a good time to welcome the new players on Steam.
Full patch notes for the final Need For Speed Heat update can be found here.
Besides that, Criterion, the current caretakers of the Need For Speed franchise, has a few words to say on the future. In a blog post, the final update for Heat means the developers are fully focus on bringing a new title.
“We have a terrific foundation to create the most expressive, most socially connected, action-packed game yet for Need for Speed fans and beyond,” says Matt Webster, General Manager at Criterion Games.
Criterion’s last few games like Burnout Paradise and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit have some innovative online component for their time and it looks like that will continue to be the case for the next NFS game. And cross-play looks dead-set to be included in this vision as well.
Lastly, expect to see some more Need For Speed and Steam announcements at EA Play Live, now rescheduled for June 18.
Source: Need For Speed