Rank 01Why this
Shares car customization with Need for Speed Payback.
- $69.99 (Price checked Nov 5)
- Deck Playable
- 2020
Games like Need for Speed™ Payback
- 32 games
- Updated Oct 24, 2026
Players who liked Need for Speed™ Payback also play
The closest matches to Need for Speed™ Payback: Need for Speed™ Heat, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, The Crew Motorfest, DIRT 5, and Burnout™ Paradise Remastered. Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.
- Rank 01
Rank 02Why this
Same cinematic mood as Need for Speed Payback.
- Deck Playable
- 2010
Rank 03- $59.99 (Price checked Nov 5)
- Deck Verified
- 2024
Rank 04 
DIRT 5
Why this: Same epic mood as Need for Speed Payback.
Rank 05 
Burnout™ Paradise Remastered
Why this: Shares open world exploration with Need for Speed Payback.
Rank 06 
Forza Horizon 5
Why this: Shares car customization and open world exploration with Need for Speed Payback.
Rank 07 
Rank 08 
The full ranked list: top 24 games like Need for Speed™ Payback
Best match first, as plain text. The same list for AI assistants:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5Burnout™ Paradise Remastered
Shares open world exploration with Need for Speed Payback.
- 62% of 3,998 reviews
- 6Forza Horizon 5
Shares car customization and open world exploration with Need for Speed Payback.
- 89% of 90,035 reviews
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22Kanjozoku Game レーサー Online Street Racing & Drift
Genres: Sports, Simulation, Massively Multiplayer
- 81% of 1,660 reviews
- 23
- 24
- Released: 2020
- Developer: Ghost Games
- Price: $29.99checked Nov 4
- 85% of 7,361 reviews
- Genres: Action, Sports, Strategy, Adventure, Racing
- Metacritic 62
- Platforms: Windows
Players highlight
- Arcade handling is smooth
- Deep car customization
- Drifting feels insane
- Cinematic
- Epic
- Intense
More games like Need for Speed™ Payback, sliced differently
Reviewers mention these as similar to Need for Speed™ Payback
Surfaced from review text: when other players write 'if you liked X, try Y', we catch the name and resolve it back to a Steam game.
Need for Speed™
Why this: Shares car customization with Need for Speed Payback.
Heat
Why this: Same stressful mood as Need for Speed Payback.
Split/Second
Why this: Same cinematic mood as Need for Speed Payback.
Need for Speed™ Most Wanted
Why this: Also Combat Racing and Vehicular Combat, like Need for Speed Payback.
Need for Speed Undercover
Why this: Shares car customization and open world exploration with Need for Speed Payback.
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Need for Speed™ Payback at current Steam store prices.
FlatOut 2
Why this: Also Combat Racing and Vehicular Combat, like Need for Speed Payback.
Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced
Why this: Shares open world exploration with Need for Speed Payback.
Gas Guzzlers: Combat Carnage
Why this: Shares car customization with Need for Speed Payback.
CrashMetal - Cyberpunk
Why this: Shares car customization and open world exploration with Need for Speed Payback.
TrackMania² Stadium
Why this: Same intense mood as Need for Speed Payback.
Free alternatives
Free games the recommender matches to Need for Speed™ Payback, limited to titles with at least 500 Steam reviews and 80% positive.
TrackMania Nations Forever
Why this: Same intense mood as Need for Speed Payback.
Plays great on Steam Deck
Valve-Verified or Playable picks from the similar pool — ready to go on Deck out of the box.
The Crew Motorfest
Why this: Shares car customization with Need for Speed Payback.
DIRT 5
Why this: Same epic mood as Need for Speed Payback.
About Need for Speed™ Payback
The closest matches to Need for Speed™ Payback: Need for Speed™ Heat, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, The Crew Motorfest, DIRT 5, and Burnout™ Paradise Remastered. Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.
If Need for Speed™ Payback is your kind of game, the closest matches are Need for Speed™ Heat, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and The Crew Motorfest — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers describe it as cinematic, epic and intense, and single out its car customization and class based racing. Each pick is ranked by what players of this game also play, shared genres and tags, and review-mined similarity — not a generic popularity list.
Ghost Games delivers Need for Speed Payback, a class-based arcade racer set in Fortune Valley, a corrupt underworld of casinos and criminals. The game features heist missions, drift mechanics, cop pursuits, and off-road races alongside deep car customization and a lootbox upgrade system for progression. Players describe the arcade handling as smooth and the drifting as satisfying, while reviewers highlight the deep customization options and the heist sequences as memorable highlights. The campaign follows a crew reunited for revenge against a powerful cartel. The title carries an 85% positive rating from over 7,300 Steam reviews and is currently priced at $8.09 USD.
About Need for Speed™ Payback: 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.
Is Need for Speed™ Payback worth buying?
Players recommend it
A summary of what players say, not a promise you'll like it. Every signal is listed below.
- 85% of 7,361 Steam reviews are positive.
- Last 30 days: 87% positive across 163 new reviews, in line with its all-time score.
- Price: $29.99 (checked Nov 8).
- People who recommend it had played a median of 19 h when they wrote their review.
- Critics had played a median of 8 h before their negative review.
- Not supported on Steam Deck.
What fans praise · Themes mined from positive reviews
- Arcade handling is smooth
- Deep car customization
- Drifting feels insane
- Heists are fantastic
Top critical reviews
The most up-voted negative English reviews in our sample, quoted as written.
“This is by far the worst nfs I've played. The drifting mechanics are horrible. I've tried playing with the keyboard,controller and G29 Logitech steering wheel. Would not recommend to anyone who is really into racing games. I tried…”
People who play it also play: Need for Speed™ Heat, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, The Crew Motorfest
Frequently asked about Need for Speed™ Payback
Can I run it?
Does Need for Speed™ Payback work on Steam Deck?
Need for Speed™ Payback is currently rated Unsupported on Steam Deck. It may not launch or may have significant issues that block normal play.
How much does Need for Speed™ Payback cost?
Need for Speed™ Payback is listed on Steam at 29.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
Does Need for Speed™ Payback have multiplayer or co-op?
Yes — Need for Speed™ Payback supports multi-player play according to its Steam store listing (Multi-player, Online PvP, Online Co-op).
What games are most similar to Need for Speed™ Payback?
Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Need for Speed™ Payback are Need for Speed™ Heat, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, The Crew Motorfest.
Who developed Need for Speed™ Payback?
Need for Speed™ Payback was developed by Ghost Games and published by Electronic Arts.