Fact Check: Is Need for Speed Unbound's Palace Edition pay-to-win?

Like all modern AAA titles in recent years, Need for Speed Unbound comes with both standard and special editions. The latter is called the Palace Edition this time around and comes with a bevy of perks and features over the base game.

Thankfully, Need for Speed Unbound’s Palace Edition is not at all pay-to-win, which might delight potential buyers. Most of the content in the title is easily obtainable via grinding through either the multiplayer or single-player campaign.

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What are the actual benefits of buying the Palace Edition of Need for Speed Unbound

The Palace Edition costs players $80 and comes with exclusive vinyl art among other cosmetic benefits to unlock inside the game.

Exclusive Palace Edition Vinyl for the four cars (Image via Electronic Arts)

While the Palace Edition does come with four exclusive brandings for the cars, they offer no gameplay advantage to the players. As such, it is easily skippable as the decals offer no competitive edge whatsoever.

Gamers with either of the two editions can obtain these cars fairly easily and level them up the same way.

Uncertain gamers can always pick up the base game and save themselves another $10 if they are not interested in these graphical effects.

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What are the perks of the Palace Edition in Need for Speed Unbound?

The Palace Edition of the game comes with a variety of bonuses. They include:

• Exclusive banner artwork and stickers.
• A brand new driving effect.
• An exclusive ‘Palifornia’ license plate.
• 20 items from the Palace Clothing Pack.
• Palace specific decals.
• Palace specific exclusive driving effects.
• A Tri-Ferg character pose.
• Palace skin for the Mercedes AMG GT Black Series (2020).
• Palace skin for the Volkswagen Golf GTI (1976).
• Palace skin for the BMW M3 Evolution II E30 (1988).
• Palace skin for the Mercedes AMG G 63 (2017).

The main perks of the Palace Edition, listed (Image via Steam)

To unlock these benefits, players must first clear several objectives past the prologue over the course of the campaign. However, these additions are unlocked from the start in the multiplayer mode of the game and are labeled Lakeshore Online. Gamers only need to spend in-game cash to unlock these goodies.

Need for Speed Unbound is the 25th entry in the long-running franchise. This game features a return to the traditional underground street-racing roots with intense police chases and all-new graffiti-art-inspired visuals.

Need for Speed Unbound is developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It was officially released worldwide on December 2, 2022.