EA's Need For Speed Franchise Eclipses 100 Million Sold, $2.7 Billion Revenues

With the latest release, Need for Speed SHIFT, Electronic Arts today proudly announced that the Need for Speed franchise has now passed 100 million units sold life-to-date, with sales of over $2.7 billion. EA says this makes it "the best-selling racing brand in the gaming world."

“Few videogame franchises ever reach the 100M units mark, so this is a huge honor. We have millions of fans to thank for driving us to this milestone,” said Frank Gibeau, president, EA Games Label. “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 debuted back in 1994 and since that time has launched 15 titles across 14 different platforms. It's been released in 22 languages in over 60 countries around the globe and its players have raced over 279 billion miles of roads & race tracks. EA pointed out that the franchise has "sold more games than all new passenger cars sales in the U.S since 1994," according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

In addition to the aforementioned NITRO, shipping on Wii and DS this November, EA is bringing Need for Speed to the free-to-play online market with Need for Speed World Online for the PC; World Online will begin the beta process in Taiwan this winter and will open to players around the world in fall 2010.