Computed from player tags · Not ranked by quality
24 games like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2026)
Every game below overlaps with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit on things players said about it rather than on our opinion of what feels alike. Each entry shows what it matched on, so you can throw out the ones matching on the part you did not care about.
The short version
- Closest match: Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, which both open world and crime.
- Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is tagged Racing, Driving, Open World, Combat Racing, Multiplayer, Competitive, Vehicular Combat, Action by Steam players. Those tags are what the matching runs on.
- 24 games qualify, each with at least fifty player reviews behind its sentiment figure.
- 4 are from the same studio: Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Burnout Paradise, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box.
How these were matched
Steam tags carry the most weight, because players apply them and they describe how a game feels rather than how it was filed. Souls-like, Atmospheric and Cozy exist as tags and as nothing else, which is exactly the vocabulary this question needs. Formal genres count for less, themes and a shared studio for more.
Tags carried by more than a third of the catalogue are thrown out before matching. Nearly everything is tagged Singleplayer, so matching on it is matching on nothing. That cutoff is computed from the catalogue rather than fixed, so it moves as the catalogue grows.
All 24, closest first
- 1
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 15 player tags including Racing, Driving and Combat Racing; published by the same company.
Feel the thrill of the chase and the rush of escape behind the wheels of the world’s hottest high-performance cars in Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit Remastered– a heart-pumping, socially competitive racing experience.
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered at a glance Released 2020 Studio Stellar Entertainment Limited Player sentiment 81% positive of 14,925 Price $29.99 RacingDrivingCombat RacingCompetitiveVehicular CombatAction-AdventureCrimeRealistic
- 2
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Why it matched: made by the same studio, Criterion Games; both open world and crime; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Driving and Competitive; released around the same time (2012).
The open-world action in Need for Speed Most Wanted gives you the freedom to drive your way. Hit jumps and shortcuts, switch cars, lie low or head for terrain that plays to your vehicle’s unique strengths. Fight your way past cops and rivals using skill, high-end car tech and tons of nitrous.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted at a glance Released 2012 Studio Criterion Games Player sentiment 77% positive of 27,838 Price $19.99 RacingDrivingCompetitiveCombat RacingVehicular CombatThird PersonCrime
- 3
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Why it matched: made by the same studio, Criterion Games; both open world and crime; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Driving and Competitive.
The open-world action in Need for Speed Most Wanted gives you the freedom to drive your way. Hit jumps and shortcuts, switch cars, lie low or head for terrain that plays to your vehicle’s unique strengths. Fight your way past cops and rivals using skill, high-end car tech and tons of nitrous.
Need for Speed Most Wanted at a glance Released 2020 Studio Criterion Games Player sentiment 77% positive of 27,849 Price $19.99 RacingDrivingCompetitiveCombat RacingVehicular CombatThird PersonCrime
- 4
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Driving and Competitive; published by the same company.
The open-world action in Need for Speed Most Wanted gives you the freedom to drive your way. Hit jumps and shortcuts, switch cars, lie low or head for terrain that plays to your vehicle’s unique strengths. Fight your way past cops and rivals using skill, high-end car tech and tons of nitrous.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted at a glance Released 2005 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 77% positive of 27,838 Price $19.99 RacingDrivingCompetitiveCombat RacingVehicular CombatThird PersonCrime
- 5
Burnout Paradise
Why it matched: made by the same studio, Criterion Games; both open world; shares 5 player tags including Racing, Driving and Destruction; released around the same time (2008).
Burnout Paradise Remastered provides the ultimate driving playground for you and your friends to play online. This remaster includes all add-ons from the Year of Paradise, including the Big Surf Island update, meticulously recreated and ready to wreck in 4K.
Burnout Paradise at a glance Released 2008 Studio Criterion Games Player sentiment 63% positive of 8,576 Price $19.99 RacingDrivingDestructionThird PersonCombat Racing
- 6
Driver: Parallel Lines
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 5 player tags including Racing, Driving and Classic; released around the same time (2006).
You were the fastest wheelman on the street. You were a legend. You were money. Until they set you up and sent you down. Twenty-eight years inside for someone else's crime. Now you're getting out. Guess what? You got a new job, it's called getting revenge.
Driver: Parallel Lines at a glance Released 2006 Studio Ubisoft Reflections Player sentiment 90% positive of 1,563 Price $9.99 RacingDrivingClassicCrimeThird Person
- 7
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box
Why it matched: made by the same studio, Criterion Games; both open world; shares 4 player tags including Racing, Destruction and Driving; released around the same time (2009).
Download Burnout™ Paradise: The Ultimate Box today. Paradise City is the largest and most dangerous setting yet for the best-selling Burnout series. The massive setting gives players an open-ended world to explore, as they race their vehicles through hundreds of miles of roads and underground passages with more than 70 different cars.
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box at a glance Released 2009 Studio Criterion Games Player sentiment 87% positive of 13,473 Price Not listed RacingDestructionDrivingThird Person
- 8
Need for Speed Rivals
Why it matched: both open world; shares 5 player tags including Racing, Driving and Combat Racing; published by the same company; released around the same time (2013).
Erase the line between single player and multiplayer in this street-racing rivalry between Cops and Racers. Seamlessly join a world where your friends are already racing and chasing
Need for Speed Rivals at a glance Released 2013 Studio EA Gothenburg Player sentiment 76% positive of 10,553 Price $19.99 RacingDrivingCombat RacingThird PersonDestruction
- 9
Need for Speed Heat
Why it matched: both open world; shares 5 player tags including Racing, Driving and Combat Racing; published by the same company.
Hustle by day and risk it all at night in Need for Speed™ Heat Deluxe Edition, a white-knuckle street racer, where the lines of the law fade as the sun starts to set.
Need for Speed Heat at a glance Released 2019 Studio EA Gothenburg Player sentiment 84% positive of 153,208 Price $69.99 RacingDrivingCombat RacingThird PersonDestruction
- 10
Flashing Lights - Police, Firefighting, Emergency Services (EMS) Simulator
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 5 player tags including Driving, Crime and Realistic.
Play solo or in up to 10-player multiplayer co-op! Flashing Lights is an open world police, firefighting and EMS simulator game with plenty of opportunity for role-play or more relaxed fun with friends. Become the law or save lives! Discover leagues of player-created mods!
Flashing Lights - Police, Firefighting, Emergency Services (EMS) Simulator at a glance Released 2023 Studio Nils Jakrins Player sentiment 79% positive of 18,679 Price $3.74 DrivingCrimeRealisticDestructionThird Person
- 11
Need for Speed
Why it matched: both open world; shares 5 player tags including Racing, Driving and Destruction; published by the same company.
Ready to own the streets? Get behind the wheel of iconic cars and floor it through Ventura Bay, a sprawling urban playground. Explore overlapping stories as you build your reputation – and your dream car – and become the ultimate racing icon.
Need for Speed at a glance Released 2020 Studio Ghost Games Player sentiment 69% positive of 29,486 Price $29.99 RacingDrivingDestructionThird PersonCombat Racing
- 12
BeamNG.drive
Why it matched: both open world; shares 5 player tags including Driving, Realistic and Destruction; released around the same time (2013).
A dynamic soft-body physics vehicle simulator capable of doing just about anything.
BeamNG.drive at a glance Released 2013 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 97% positive of 416,293 Price $24.99 DrivingRealisticDestructionRacingThird Person
- 13
Mafia II (Classic)
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 4 player tags including Crime, Third Person and Driving; released around the same time (2011).
Vito Scaletta has started to make a name for himself on the streets of Empire Bay as someone who can be trusted to get a job done. Together with his buddy Joe, he is working to prove himself to the Mafia, quickly escalating up the family ladder with crimes of larger reward, status and consequence… the life as a wise guy isn’t quite as...
Mafia II (Classic) at a glance Released 2011 Studio 2K Czech Player sentiment 94% positive of 58,640 Price $29.99 CrimeThird PersonDrivingClassic
- 14
Mafia II
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 4 player tags including Crime, Third Person and Classic; released around the same time (2010).
War hero Vito Scaletta becomes entangled with the mob in hopes of paying his father’s debts. Vito works to prove himself, climbing the family ladder with crimes of larger reward and consequence.
Mafia II at a glance Released 2010 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 74% positive of 38,540 Price $29.99 CrimeThird PersonClassicAction-Adventure
- 15
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 4 player tags including Third Person, Crime and Driving; released around the same time (2010).
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City includes both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony together and does not require a copy of the original Grand Theft Auto IV to play.
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City at a glance Released 2010 Studio Rockstar North / Toronto Player sentiment 74% positive of 10,072 Price Not listed Third PersonCrimeDrivingRacing
- 16
FlatOut 2
Why it matched: shares 6 player tags including Racing, Combat Racing and Destruction; released around the same time (2006).
Experience the drive of your life as you throw yourself around on and off the track causing fences to shatter, tyre walls explode, water tanks and barrels fly across the track into other cars.
FlatOut 2 at a glance Released 2006 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 96% positive of 22,116 Price $9.99 RacingCombat RacingDestructionVehicular CombatDrivingThird Person
- 17
Teardown
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 4 player tags including Destruction, Realistic and Driving.
Prepare the perfect heist in a fully destructible, simulated voxel world. Tear down walls with vehicles or use explosives to create your own shortcuts. Shape the environment to your advantage in the most creative ways you can imagine. Play solo or with up to 12 players in multiplayer.
Teardown at a glance Released 2022 Studio Tuxedo Labs Player sentiment 96% positive of 135,539 Price $29.99 DestructionRealisticDrivingReplay Value
- 18
Mafia
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 4 player tags including Crime, Classic and Third Person.
It’s 1930. After an inadvertent brush with the mafia, cabdriver Tommy Angelo is reluctantly thrust into the world of organized crime. Initially, he is uneasy about falling in with the Salieri family, but soon the rewards become too big to ignore.
Mafia at a glance Released 2002 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 88% positive of 16,301 Price $14.99 CrimeClassicThird PersonRacing
- 19
Wreckfest
Why it matched: both open world; shares 5 player tags including Racing, Destruction and Driving.
Wreckfest is a demolition derby themed racing game with soft-body damage modeling, sophisticated driving dynamics and in-depth vehicle upgrading, featuring both demolition derbies and more traditional track races. It’s all about fun, breakneck racing and over-the-top crashes.
Wreckfest at a glance Released 2018 Studio Bugbear Player sentiment 88% positive of 41,452 Price $29.99 RacingDestructionDrivingRealisticThird Person
- 20
Mafia: Definitive Edition
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 4 player tags including Crime, Third Person and Classic.
An inadvertent brush with the mob thrusts cabdriver Tommy Angelo into the world of organized crime. Initially uneasy about falling in with the Salieri family, the rewards become too big to ignore.
Mafia: Definitive Edition at a glance Released 2020 Studio Hangar 13 Player sentiment 87% positive of 110,615 Price $39.99 CrimeThird PersonClassicRacing
- 21
Need for Speed Payback
Why it matched: both open world; shares 4 player tags including Racing, Combat Racing and Third Person; published by the same company.
Set in the underworld of Fortune Valley, you and your crew were divided by betrayal and reunited by revenge to take down The House, a nefarious cartel that rules the city’s casinos, criminals and cops. In this corrupt gambler’s paradise, the stakes are high and The House always wins.
Need for Speed Payback at a glance Released 2017 Studio EA Gothenburg Player sentiment 85% positive of 32,277 Price $29.99 RacingCombat RacingThird PersonVehicular Combat
- 22
RIDE 4
Why it matched: both open world; shares 5 player tags including Racing, Third Person and Driving.
Are you ready to live the best gaming experience that a motorcycle fan can get? RIDE 4 will spark your competitive soul with hundreds of bikes, dozens of tracks and a whole new level of realism.
RIDE 4 at a glance Released 2020 Studio Milestone S.r.l. Player sentiment 83% positive of 12,391 Price $39.99 RacingThird PersonDrivingCompetitiveRealistic
- 23
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition
Why it matched: both open world and crime; shares 4 player tags including Crime, Action-Adventure and Third Person.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: It’s the early ’90s. After a couple of cops frame him for homicide, Carl ‘CJ’ Johnson is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition at a glance Released 2023 Studio Rockstar Games Player sentiment 80% positive of 16,017 Price $59.99 CrimeAction-AdventureThird PersonClassic
- 24
Project CARS
Why it matched: both open world; shares 4 player tags including Racing, Driving and Realistic; published by the same company.
THE ULTIMATE DRIVER JOURNEY delivers the soul of motor racing in the world’s most beautiful, authentic, and technically-advanced racing game.
Project CARS at a glance Released 2015 Studio Slightly Mad Studios Player sentiment 79% positive of 14,438 Price Not listed RacingDrivingRealisticThird Person
Common questions
What game is most like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit?
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, on the evidence we have. It both open world and crime. That is a statement about overlap, not a promise you will like it as much: two games can share every tag and still feel different to play.
How is "similar to Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit" decided?
By overlap on the tags Steam players applied to each game, the formal genres, the themes both sit in, and whether the same studio made them. Tags carry the most weight because players write them, so they describe how a game feels rather than how it was filed. Tags carried by more than a third of the catalogue are ignored: matching on "Singleplayer" is matching on nothing. Every entry below shows exactly what it matched on.
Are these ranked by quality?
No. They are ordered by how much they overlap with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Where two games overlap equally, the better received one goes first, but that only moves a game a place or two. Each entry shows its own player sentiment so you can weigh that separately.
What else did the makers of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit do?
Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Burnout Paradise, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box are also from Criterion Games, and appear in the list below for that reason as well as on tag overlap.
Do you get paid for these recommendations?
No. The order is computed from tag and genre overlap and nothing else. No placement here can be bought, and a game appearing high on this page is a statement about resemblance rather than an endorsement.