PCGame

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted

Open-world arcade racing with police chases, crashes, and shortcuts

Criterion Games · Published by Electronic Arts · Released Jun 18, 2020

ActionAdventureRacing

Third-party account required DRM declared on Steam

Reviews
Mostly Positive
77% of 28K
Recent reviews
Mostly Positive
78% of 227 in 30 days
Players
134
daily peak, Nov 7, 2026
Steam Deck
Playable
Last update on Steam
3 years ago
Jan 27, 2023
Minimum PC
DirectX 10 GPU
2 GB RAM · 20 GB disk
Full requirements

Metacritic: 78/100 (critic reviews)

What is Need for Speed™ Most Wanted?

An open-world arcade racing game set on urban roads. You switch among licensed cars, explore for jumps and shortcuts, race rivals, evade police, and use nitrous and car technology. It supports solo play and competitive online event playlists.

For you if...

  • +you enjoy free-roaming cities between arcade races
  • +you prefer drifts, crashes, and police chases to simulation
  • +you want solo driving and competitive online events

Not for you if...

  • −you expect a story-driven remake of the original Most Wanted
  • −you want realistic handling and structured car progression

What players say

77% of 27,837 reviews are positive · 78% of 227 in the last 30 days

Players praise the free roaming, police chases, car sounds, and weighty arcade handling. Common complaints focus on EA app login and launch problems, controller and key-binding issues, and many cars requiring additional purchases.

Players over time

▼ -48% vs a month ago

Players online on Steam, one sample a day.

Highest since Sep 2026: 339 players on Sep 21, 2026.

Show the data
DayPlayers
Nov 7, 2026134
Nov 6, 202686
Nov 5, 202694
Nov 4, 202691
Nov 3, 202696
Nov 2, 2026101
Nov 1, 2026136
Oct 31, 2026129
Oct 30, 202690
Oct 29, 202680
Oct 28, 202675
Oct 27, 2026104
Oct 26, 2026129
Oct 25, 2026166
Oct 24, 2026173
Oct 23, 2026124
Oct 22, 2026105
Oct 21, 2026117
Oct 20, 2026116
Oct 18, 2026171
Oct 17, 2026168
Oct 16, 2026126
Oct 15, 2026139
Oct 14, 2026131
Oct 13, 2026151
Oct 11, 2026192
Oct 10, 2026212
Oct 9, 2026157
Oct 8, 2026204
Oct 7, 2026188
Oct 6, 2026191
Oct 4, 2026239
Oct 3, 2026226
Oct 2, 2026193
Oct 1, 2026171
Sep 30, 2026198
Sep 29, 2026169
Sep 27, 2026274
Sep 26, 2026249
Sep 25, 2026191
Sep 24, 2026202
Sep 23, 2026195
Sep 23, 2026222
Sep 22, 2026221
Sep 21, 2026339

Screenshots and trailer

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted screenshot 1

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted system requirements

Minimum: DirectX 10 GPU, 2 GB RAM, 20 GB of disk space.

As published by the developer.

Can my PC run Need for Speed™ Most Wanted?

Tell us your graphics card once and every game page will answer this for you.

Set up my PC →

Minimum

OS
Windows Vista (Service Pack 2 and all available windows updates) 32-bit
Processor
2 GHz Dual Core (Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHZ or Althon X2 2.7 GHz)
Graphics
DirectX 10.1 compatible with 512 MB RAM (ATI RADEON 3000, 4000, 5000 OR 6000 series, with ATI RADEON 3870 or higher performance)
Memory
2 GB RAM
Storage
20 GB available space

Recommended

OS
Windows 7 (Service Pack 1 and all available windows updates) 64-bit
Processor
Quad-Core CPU
Graphics
DirectX 11 compatible with 1024 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 or ATI RADEON 6950)
Memory
4 GB RAM
Storage
20 GB available space

Does Need for Speed™ Most Wanted have co-op or multiplayer?

Yes: PvP online. It also has a single-player mode.

Does Need for Speed™ Most Wanted run on Steam Deck?

Playable Playable: it runs on Steam Deck with some adjustments.

  • The launcher or setup tool may need the touchscreen or virtual keyboard
  • Sometimes shows mouse, keyboard or non-Deck controller icons
  • All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
  • In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
  • Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck
  • First time setup requires active internet connection
  • Singleplayer gameplay requires active internet connection
  • External controllers are not supported for the primary player

PC version details

DRM
EA on-line activation and Origin client software installation and background use required
Third-party account
EA Account (Supports Linking to Steam Account)
Controller
Keyboard and mouse
Platforms
Windows
Steam features
Trading cards
Languages
Full audio: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Russian. Text only: Czech, Dutch, Polish, Traditional Chinese.

Does Need for Speed™ Most Wanted use AI-generated content?

No AI-generated content is disclosed on the game's Steam page.

Self-reported by the developer under Steam rules: it covers AI content that ships in the game, not tools used to make it. Steam page checked on Nov 6, 2026. How to filter AI games on Steam

Tags

5 DLC available.

Games like Need for Speed™ Most Wanted