Need for Speed: High Stakes
Need for Speed: High Stakes, released as Need for Speed: Road Challenge in Europe, is a 1999 racing video game developed by EA Canada and EA Seattle and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It is the fourth game in the Need for Speed series and a follow-up to Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. The game features more realistic elements than its predecessors and introduced a damage system that allows cars to take damage when colliding with objects, affecting their appearance and performance. It also introduced a series of economy-based tournaments, awarding players with a cash prize that can be spent on repairing, purchasing, or upgrading cars for subsequent races. The game's Hot Pursuit mode, which was introduced in Hot Pursuit, was expanded with more options, allowing players to control police pursuits attempting to stop racers.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
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- Released
- 1999
- Developer
- EA Vancouver
- Platforms
- 1 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 1 January 1999 |
|---|---|
| Developer | EA Vancouver |
| Publisher | Electronic Arts |
| Platforms | PlayStation |
| Genres | Racing |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q1309459, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Need for Speed: High Stakes? How long to beat it
Total play time for Need for Speed: High Stakes is about 28.2 hours to do everything, and around 17.9 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 17.9h | 27 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 21.4h | 24 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 28.2h | 9 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Need for Speed: High Stakes sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Need for Speed: High Stakes lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 58ahead of 12% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 47ahead of 85% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Need for Speed: High Stakes
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
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Where Need for Speed: High Stakes appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Need for Speed: High Stakes qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
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Part of the Need for Speed series
Need for Speed: High Stakes is one of 21 Need for Speed games we track. See the whole series ranked by the GamingPickz Score, plotted on the grid, and listed in release order:
Need for Speed: High Stakes head to head
See Need for Speed: High Stakes compared side by side, on score, price, specs and more:
More Need for Speed: High Stakes comparisons: vs Need for Speed Undercover, vs Need for Speed: Shift, vs Need for Speed: Nitro, vs Need for Speed: The Run, vs Need for Speed Rivals, vs Need for Speed: No Limits, vs Need for Speed Payback, vs Need for Speed Heat, vs Need for Speed, vs Need for Speed Most Wanted, vs Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, vs Need for Speed Unbound
Common questions about Need for Speed: High Stakes
What platforms is Need for Speed: High Stakes on?
Need for Speed: High Stakes is available on PlayStation. It first released in 1999.
Who made Need for Speed: High Stakes?
Need for Speed: High Stakes was developed by EA Vancouver and published by Electronic Arts.
How long does it take to beat Need for Speed: High Stakes?
about 17.9 hours for the main story, 21.4 hours with the main extras, 28.2 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.