Need for Speed: World is a massively multiplayer online racing game developed by EA Black Box and EA Singapore, published by Electronic Arts for PC in 2010. The fifteenth entry in the long-running Need for Speed franchise, it was the series' first foray into the freemium MMO format, allowing players to race across a persistent open world environment. Structured around online competition and progression, the game offered free-to-play access with optional purchasable content. A Starter Pack was available ahead of the general launch on July 27, 2010, granting early access beginning July 20. The title shared a free-to-play model with other EA online games of the era, including Battlefield Heroes and FIFA World. EA shut down the game's servers on July 14, 2015, along with those other titles, ending online play permanently.