"Ea and Black Box have announced today that their racing MMO Need for Speed World has surpassed 1 million registered users, and will from now on be sporting a fully free-to-play model.

The game was previously free up to level 10, and from there users had to pay, but now free users will be able to go all the way up to level 50. EA will still be making money through power-ups, double XP periods and even rental cars- all of which you have to pay for via microtransactions."

Da MAULER via www.ripten.com »

"If six years ago you would have told me that Need for Speed was downloadable for free, and was playable with thousands of people online, I would have jumped up and down with glee. Nowadays, free-to-play games are commonplace and the luster of the genre is wearing thin. While it is rare for a popular franchise such as Need for Speed to take that plunge into free gaming, the question has to be asked: Is it totally free?"

DarkBlade4658 via pc.gamezone.com »

"Releases of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, HydroThunder, and Arc Rise Fantasia help get this week's game releases past the typical summer lull period. We also get an oddity this week in Clash of the Titans. Movie tie-in games are typically released alongside the theatrical release. This time, the game was delayed to release alongside the DVD release of the film. Now we'll have to see if that makes a difference in the quality of the game."

Queasy1 via www.examiner.com »

"Gamers will be able to race each other across the world on July 20, 2010 when EA's Need for Speed World is released. On that date, the client for the MMO will be free to download and players can race to level 10 for free."

pamkhat via examiner.com »

"Electronic Arts Inc. has announced today that the Need for Speed franchise has surpassed 100M units sold life to date. The newest release, Need for Speed SHIFT, pushes the franchise over the 100M mark, making it the best-selling racing brand in the gaming world."

kevcothirtythree via www.electronictheatre.co.uk »