Computed from player tags · Not ranked by quality
24 games like Need for Speed Rivals (2026)
Every game below overlaps with Need for Speed Rivals 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 Heat, which made by the same studio, EA Gothenburg.
- Need for Speed Rivals is tagged Racing, Driving, Open World, Multiplayer, Combat Racing, PvP, Action, Arcade 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.
- 1 are free to download, so you can test the resemblance yourself at no cost.
- 2 are from the same studio: Need for Speed Heat, Need for Speed Payback.
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 Heat
Why it matched: made by the same studio, EA Gothenburg; both open world and atmospheric; shares 11 player tags including Racing, Driving and Combat Racing.
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 RacingOnline Co-OpThird PersonArcadeSportsPvP
- 2
Need for Speed Payback
Why it matched: made by the same studio, EA Gothenburg; both open world and atmospheric; shares 8 player tags including Racing, Combat Racing and Sports; released around the same time (2017).
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 RacingSportsPvPArcadeThird PersonFirst-PersonOnline Co-Op
- 3
Need for Speed
Why it matched: both open world; shares 9 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 RacingDrivingDestructionArcadeThird PersonCombat RacingFirst-PersonOnline Co-Op
- 4
Need for Speed Unbound
Why it matched: both open world and atmospheric; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Driving and Combat Racing; published by the same company.
Race to the top, definitely don’t flop. Outsmart the cops, and enter weekly qualifiers for The Grand: the ultimate street race. Pack your garage with precision-tuned, custom rides, and light up the streets with your style.
Need for Speed Unbound at a glance Released 2022 Studio Criterion Games Player sentiment 60% positive of 60,177 Price $69.99 RacingDrivingCombat RacingArcadeOnline Co-OpSportsSplit Screen
- 5
Project CARS
Why it matched: both open world and atmospheric; shares 6 player tags including Racing, Driving and Sports; published by the same company; released around the same time (2015).
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 RacingDrivingSportsFirst-PersonThird PersonArcade
- 6
Battlefield 3
Why it matched: both open world, war and atmospheric; shares 5 player tags including First-Person, PvP and Destruction; published by the same company; released around the same time (2011).
Enjoy total freedom to fight the way you want. Explore 29 massive multiplayer maps and use loads of vehicles, weapons, and gadgets to help you turn up the heat. Every second of battle gets you closer to unlocking tons of extras and moving up in the Ranks. So get in the action.
Battlefield 3 at a glance Released 2011 Studio DICE Player sentiment 72% positive of 19,290 Price $39.99 First-PersonPvPDestructionWarOnline Co-Op
- 7
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box
Why it matched: both open world; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Destruction and Driving; published by the same company; 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 RacingDestructionDrivingArcadeSportsThird PersonOnline Co-Op
- 8
BIGFOOT
Why it matched: both open world, horror, psychological and atmospheric; shares 4 player tags including Online Co-Op, PvP and Psychological Horror; released around the same time (2017).
You are a Bigfoot hunter with an important mission: to put an end to rumours once and for all and prove to yourself that Bigfoot is not just a myth or an invention of the mind...
BIGFOOT at a glance Released 2017 Studio CyberLight Game Studio Player sentiment 82% positive of 22,335 Price $19.99 Online Co-OpPvPPsychological HorrorFirst-Person
- 9
Forza Horizon 4
Why it matched: both open world and atmospheric; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Driving and Online Co-Op.
Dynamic seasons change everything at the world’s greatest automotive festival. Go it alone or team up with others to explore beautiful and historic Britain in a shared open world.
Forza Horizon 4 at a glance Released 2021 Studio Playground Games Player sentiment 91% positive of 303,167 Price Not listed RacingDrivingOnline Co-OpPvPArcadeSportsFirst-Person
- 10
Forza Horizon 5
Why it matched: both open world and atmospheric; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Driving and Arcade.
Explore the vibrant open world landscapes of Mexico with limitless, fun driving action in the world’s greatest cars.
Forza Horizon 5 at a glance Released 2021 Studio Playground Games Player sentiment 89% positive of 279,979 Price $23.99 RacingDrivingArcadeFirst-PersonOnline Co-OpSportsPvP
- 11
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Why it matched: both open world; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Driving and Arcade; published by the same company; 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 RacingDrivingArcadeCombat RacingFirst-PersonThird PersonSplit Screen
- 12
The Crew 2
Why it matched: both open world and atmospheric; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Driving and Arcade.
Take on the American motorsports scene as you explore and dominate the land, air, and sea across the entire USA. New: play The Crew 2 offline or online with the new Hybrid mode, available now!
The Crew 2 at a glance Released 2018 Studio Ivory Tower Player sentiment 78% positive of 99,588 Price $29.99 RacingDrivingArcadeOnline Co-OpFirst-PersonThird PersonSports
- 13
Battlefield 1
Why it matched: both open world, war and atmospheric; shares 4 player tags including War, First-Person and PvP; published by the same company; released around the same time (2016).
Battlefield™ 1 takes you back to The Great War, WW1, where new technology and worldwide conflict changed the face of warfare forever.
Battlefield 1 at a glance Released 2016 Studio DICE Player sentiment 86% positive of 226,777 Price $39.99 WarFirst-PersonPvPDestruction
- 14
Hand Simulator
Why it matched: both open world, horror, psychological, war and atmospheric; shares 2 player tags including Psychological Horror and First-Person; released around the same time (2017).
There are many different levels where you can play with spinners, plunge into the subtleties of handling weapons, milk a cow, take part in a Mexican duel with your friends, have a good time fishing, play chess or simply chat in an anonymous club.
Hand Simulator at a glance Released 2017 Studio HFM Games Player sentiment 84% positive of 36,213 Price $1.49 Psychological HorrorFirst-Person
- 15
DiRT 4
Why it matched: both open world and atmospheric; shares 5 player tags including Racing, Driving and Sports; published by the same company; released around the same time (2017).
DiRT 4 is all about embracing fear. It’s about the thrill, exhilaration and adrenaline that is absolutely vital to off-road racing. It’s about loving the feeling of pushing flat out next to a sheer cliff drop, going for the gap that’s too small and seeing how much air you can get. Be Fearless.
DiRT 4 at a glance Released 2017 Studio Codemasters Player sentiment 80% positive of 16,257 Price Not listed RacingDrivingSportsArcadeOnline Co-Op
- 16
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Why it matched: both open world; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Driving and Arcade; 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 RacingDrivingArcadeCombat RacingFirst-PersonThird PersonSplit Screen
- 17
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Why it matched: both open world; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Driving and Arcade; 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 2020 Studio Criterion Games Player sentiment 77% positive of 27,849 Price $19.99 RacingDrivingArcadeCombat RacingFirst-PersonThird PersonSplit Screen
- 18
Professional Fishing
Why it matched: both open world, horror, psychological and atmospheric; shares 4 player tags including Sports, Online Co-Op and First-Person.
Are you falling asleep with a rod? Never again! Professional Fishing will never let you fall asleep! Play an amazing fishing simulator and feel like a real angler! Create your own fishing club and compete with others!
Professional Fishing at a glance Released 2018 Studio MasterCode Player sentiment 76% positive of 4,260 Price Free SportsOnline Co-OpFirst-PersonPsychological Horror
- 19
Burnout Paradise
Why it matched: both open world; shares 7 player tags including Racing, Arcade and Driving; published by the same company.
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 RacingArcadeDrivingDestructionThird PersonFirst-PersonCombat Racing
- 20
Spec Ops: The Line
Why it matched: both horror, psychological, war and atmospheric; shares 3 player tags including War, Third Person and Psychological Horror; released around the same time (2012).
A Third-Person modern military Shooter designed to challenge players' morality by putting them in the middle of unspeakable situations.
Spec Ops: The Line at a glance Released 2012 Studio YAGER Player sentiment 93% positive of 56,315 Price Not listed WarThird PersonPsychological Horror
- 21
The Evil Within 2
Why it matched: both open world, horror, psychological and atmospheric; shares 3 player tags including Psychological Horror, Third Person and First-Person; released around the same time (2017).
Detective Sebastian Castellanos has lost everything, including his daughter, Lily. To save her, he must descend into the nightmarish world of STEM. Horrifying threats emerge from every corner, and he must rely on his wits to survive. For his one chance at redemption, the only way out is in.
The Evil Within 2 at a glance Released 2017 Studio Tango Gameworks Player sentiment 92% positive of 30,959 Price $39.99 Psychological HorrorThird PersonFirst-Person
- 22
Hitman: Contracts
Why it matched: both open world, horror, psychological and atmospheric; shares 3 player tags including Third Person, First-Person and Psychological Horror; released around the same time (2014).
Enter the world of a HITMAN - a world of crime, sin and greed. Delve into the mind of Agent 47 and encounter his greatest adversaries, completing the work that made him so brutally efficient and shaped him as an assassin. Eliminate your targets by any means necessary. There are no rules... only the contract, signed in blood.
Hitman: Contracts at a glance Released 2014 Studio Io-Interactive A/S Player sentiment 87% positive of 3,658 Price $8.99 Third PersonFirst-PersonPsychological Horror
- 23
Battlefield 4
Why it matched: both open world and war; shares 5 player tags including War, First-Person and PvP; published by the same company; released around the same time (2013).
Embrace unrivaled destruction in Battlefield 4™. Revel in the glorious chaos of all-out war packed with rewarding, tactical challenges in an interactive environment.
Battlefield 4 at a glance Released 2013 Studio DICE Player sentiment 85% positive of 81,609 Price $39.99 WarFirst-PersonPvPDestructionOnline Co-Op
- 24
Assetto Corsa Competizione
Why it matched: both open world and atmospheric; shares 6 player tags including Racing, Driving and Sports.
Assetto Corsa Competizione, the official GT World Challenge videogame. Thanks to the extraordinary quality of simulation, you will experience the atmosphere of the GT3 championship. Compete against official drivers, teams, cars and official circuits reproduced to the highest quality ever seen.
Assetto Corsa Competizione at a glance Released 2019 Studio Kunos Simulazioni Player sentiment 93% positive of 48,018 Price $39.99 RacingDrivingSportsOnline Co-OpFirst-PersonPvP
Common questions
What game is most like Need for Speed Rivals?
Need for Speed Heat, on the evidence we have. It made by the same studio, EA Gothenburg. 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 Rivals" 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 Rivals. 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 Rivals do?
Need for Speed Heat, Need for Speed Payback are also from EA Gothenburg, 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.