EA Games president Frank Gibeau has confirmed that the next Need for Speed installment is in development. He also stated that due to the fact that the sales of ProStreet didn't live up to EA's hopes for the game, the franchise will go back to it's roots with a number of features, including open-world racing and a new highway battle mode.
So for those of you who were whinging about the lack of free-roam, you can stop cutting yourselves now. Although it's not confirmed, but if Wiki says that he said it, then you can be sure he said it.