EA says Need for Speed HEAT will never have loot boxes

A miracle has happened: EA will never be adding loot boxes to the upcoming Need for Speed HEAT.

The upcoming racing game, which finally looks to be the Underground 3 we’ve always wanted, won’t suffer from the introduction of EA’s signature “surprise mechanics”.

After Need for Speed Payback’s intense reliance on loot boxes for it’s car customisation system really rubbed players the wrong way, EA has finally switched stances. With governmentsand console manufacturers turning on loot boxes, it’s finally time for a change. Will microtransactions make a return? Well, probably.

“There are no lootboxes in NFS Heat and there won’t be,” by EA community manager Ben Walke announced in a Reddit post. “What we can confirm is that customisation options are earned through the completion of in-game events. For example, you spot a street race on your map and notice it has a new performance part up for grabs. Win the race, win the part. Speed cards from NFS Payback are gone.”

As for paid content that’s already announced, Walke has confirmed “time savers” to be in place.

“We plan to have post launch paid-DLC in the form of car packs. Later this year, we’ll introduce a time-save pack, that will show all collectables on the map.”

With EA’s upcoming release schedule consisting of actual single-player games this year, like Star Wars, the time of scummy monetisation may be over for a while. Maybe.