Need For Speed Franchise Sells 100M

Today EA announced the Need for Speed franchise has passed the 100 million mark of units sold to date with the release of Need for Speed SHIFT. The sales boost from SHIFT makes Need for Speed the best-selling racing game brand generating more than $2.7 billion in sales since the series first began in 1994.

“Few video game franchises ever reach the 100 million units mark so this is a huge honor,” said Frank Gibeau, EA Games Label president. “With the launch of Need for Speed SHIFT and the upcoming release of Need for Speed NITRO, we hope to continue to deliver the most entertaining, action-packed racing experiences.”

Need for Speed NITRO will ship in November on the Wii and DS. According to EA's corporate site, looks like NITRO might be racing toward the iPhone and iPod touch as well with details yet to be announced.

A PC title is also in the works titled Need for Speed World Online, an open world game that follows a free to play model. A beta version of World Online is expected to open to players around the world in fall 2010.