Choose Need for Speed™ Payback
Choose Need for Speed™ Payback if you want a Strategy and Adventure game with Online Co-op and Co-op. On Steam, it has co-op, so you can bring a friend. 7,361 Steam reviews back the pick.
Need for Speed™ Payback vs Ascent: Rivals
Need for Speed™ Payback and Ascent: Rivals both land in Action, Sports, Racing on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Action, Sports, Racing on Steam. Need for Speed™ Payback (2020) is 6 years older than Ascent: Rivals (2026). Need for Speed™ Payback has co-op; Ascent: Rivals does not. No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Ascent: Rivals
Choose Ascent: Rivals if you want an Indie game with DualShock Controller Support. On Steam, it's the newer release (2026) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Ascent: Rivals launched in 2026.
Both Need for Speed™ Payback and Ascent: Rivals sit in Action, Sports, and Racing on Steam and both list Multi-player, Online PvP, and PvP, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 Need for Speed™ Payback |  Ascent: Rivals | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2020 | 2026 |
| Genres | Action, Sports, Strategy, Adventure, Racing | Action, Sports, Indie, Racing |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, Linux |
| Steam Deck | Deck Unsupported | Unrated |
| Price | 8.09 USD | Price unknown |
| Steam reviews | 85.2% positive (7,361 reviews) | — |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Online Co-op, Co-op | Multi-player |
| Developers | Ghost Games | GENUN Games |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Sports, Racing on Steam.
- Need for Speed™ Payback (2020) is 6 years older than Ascent: Rivals (2026).
- Need for Speed™ Payback has co-op; Ascent: Rivals does not.
- Need for Speed™ Payback is Deck Unsupported on Steam Deck; Ascent: Rivals has no Deck rating yet.
Need for Speed™ Payback vs Ascent: Rivals — FAQ
- Should I play Need for Speed™ Payback or Ascent: Rivals first?
- If you want chronology, Need for Speed™ Payback (2020) came out before Ascent: Rivals (2026). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Need for Speed™ Payback and Ascent: Rivals similar?
- They overlap on Action, Sports, Racing on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.