Building Need for Speed: Bryn Musselwhite, Speedhunter
2015-07-29
Electronic Arts
Finding rare cars all over the world
Need for Speed is shaped by a community of urban car culture enthusiasts called Speedhunters. See how their unique perspectives are influencing the game in our ongoing series.
Speedhunters aren’t made, they’re born. But sometimes they’re made before they’re born.
Bryn Musselwhite’s father had a special request for his wife before Bryn came into the world.
He asked her to hurry up and give birth to Bryn on a Friday so he could load his race car for a meeting the very next day.
“That kind of set the tone,” says Musselwhite.
Indoctrinated into car culture at such an early age, Musselwhite doesn’t even remember his first experience on a track. “I was in a pram,” he says. “But I can remember a lot before I was ten when I'd be wandering around the pits of a race track climbing trees or generally touching stuff or doing something I shouldn't.”
Those early years led him to become a liaison of sorts to the world of underground car culture. As a Speedhunter influencing the development of Need for Speed, Musselwhite travels the world connecting car experts to the dev team.
His biggest contribution was securing all the vehicles and stunts for the live action segments in the game. That took five weeks of wrangling all over the world.
Besides arranging the vehicles for each shoot, Musselwhite also travels to Ghost Games in Sweden to provide regular feedback on the cars in the game, as well as the overall game narrative. He’s even connected studio heads with key players in the world of cars at SEMA, the premier automobile specialty-products tradeshow on the planet.
Musselwhite’s open-mindedness and global experience help shape his contribution to Need for Speed.
“There's not one segment of car culture that doesn't interest me,” he says. “If it's not something I've had experience with before, then I need to know more just in case I'm missing out. You will never experience it all, but I'm set on trying my best.”
Learn more about Musselwhite and his adventures on the Speedhunters site.
Look under the hood of Need for Speed here.
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