EA Black Box doing secret NFS game

EA Games marketing bigwig Keith Munro has told Eurogamer there is one more secret Need For Speed game in development beyond the three titles revealed earlier today.

"Black Box is currently working on a future action title in the franchise," said Munro, playing his car-cards close to his car-chest. [Are you phoning this in? - Ed]

Presumably this game will continue the street-racing series trend of late, as the newly-announced Need for Speed: Shift (PC, 360, PS3, PSP) moves towards simulation racing and away from urban culture. But otherwise, details are scarce.

That's four games. Could this be a case of EA playing safe in the face of the economic crises and milking a safe and proven brand?

Not according to Munro, who said the credit crunch had "not played any role" and that work began "long before" we all began feeling the pinch.

"This isn't about quantity, this is about crafting different games for different audiences and their unique tastes in the driving category," he explained.

"The motivation was purely driven by our understanding of racing gamers and their desire to experience different kinds of racing games. I would say that our strategy is the inverse of milking; it is an intentionally non-traditional approach."

"We took a consumer-first approach and spoke with the fans about what they would like from their Need for Speed. Player feedback was consistent - create custom simulation and arcade experiences but maintain the franchises' core values of street culture, attitude and beautiful licensed cars," he added.

Head over to our NFS: Shift, NFS: Nitro and NFS: World Online reveal story to find out more.