Need for Speed Rivals has just been announced. Coming to current gen and next-gen consoles later this year, Need for Speed Rivals is said to "destroy" the line between single and multiplayer experiences with its all new AllDrive feature. Basically, friends will be able to drop in and drop out of a game at-will, allowing players to go from single player to co-op to multiplayer, perhaps without even realizing it. Also, Ferrari is back! Ferrari is back!
Criterion Games is hard at work on another game, so EA had to put together an entirely new studio to keep Need for Speed games coming out every year. Introducing Ghost Games, whose first project will be Need for Speed Rivals. Marcus Nilsson, Executive Producer at Ghosts Games, had the following to say:

"The Need for Speed franchise has been an industry leader bringing social competition to the forefront in games. For the first time, players will have the freedom to seamlessly go from single player to co-op to multiplayer. In Need for Speed Rivals we are creating one game experience with one progression, where the freedom to play with friends is more fluid and accessible than ever before."

Basically, Need for Speed Rivals boils down to cops vs. robbers. Robbers run away and get points for escaping, while cops chase and get points for busting robbers. I'm sure there are many more details involved, as well as several trademarked terms and phrases, but yeah. Racing game about cops and robbers.
Here's a short list of features from the Need for Speed Rivals press release:

• Next-Gen Racing – Redview County is brought to life with stunning, next-generation detail
• Need for Speed Network Powered by Autolog – Gamers can compare stats and challenge their friends anytime, anywhere and then easily share their accomplishments with both friends and rivals.
• Personalization – Drivers customize their ride with fresh paintjobs, custom license plates, liveries decals and rims, as well as performance upgrades.
• Pursuit and Evasion Tech – White-knuckle racing explodes with 11 upgradeable gadgets including turbo boosts, jammers and EMPs for racers, and shockwaves, roadblocks and helicopters for cops.

Need for Speed Rivals is planned for release on Xbox 360 and PS3 November 19. It will also come to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 "later this year." We can probably assume the vagueness is due to the consoles not having a launch date yet. My best guess would be that the next-gen version will launch at the same time as the current-gen games.