BitSnark

Hot on the heels of the red-hot unveiling of Criterion’s Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit at this year’s E3 2010, comes the announcement that the next installment in the franchise will be Need For Speed: Shift 2 and is due out sometime late next year.

Heralded by many as a high-point for a series struggling to find it’s identity, 2009’s Need For Speed: Shift seemed to hit the sweet spot for the long running racing series; boasting superb visuals, customisable cars, greatly improved handling and a well constructed race progression system.

Hopefully next years title will capitalise on those solid foundations and give us a racer credible enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Gran Turismos and Forzas of this world.

No other details, including destination platforms, are known at this point.