Highlights

• Steam offers a wide variety of racing games, from realistic sims to arcade-style racers and everything in between.
• The top-tier racing games on Steam are chosen based on factors like derived enjoyment, realism, style, and replayability.
• Some standout racing games on Steam include The Crew, Minit: Fun Racer, and Hot Wheels Unleashed.

PC gamers who enjoy their hobby via the Steam gaming service are treated to a cornucopia of racing games. From realistic sims to arcade-style racers and everything in between, Steam houses some truly exceptional racing experiences. Racing games cover a wide variety of themes and styles with some opting for a photo-realistic type of experience, and others bringing a more cartoon-like aesthetic or arcade-style vibe.

Whatever type of racing games you are into, you are sure to find a plethora of them on Steam, however, not all of them will cross that finish line in first place. If you are looking to burn some rubber, put the pedal to the metal, and blaze across myriad racing environments, then be sure to check out the following top-tier racing games on Steam.

We've considered a variety of factors in collating a collection of fantastic racing games (in no particular order) that are available on Steam. Most notable are author enjoyment, a dedication to realism, an incontrovertible sense of style, and of course, high replayability.

Updated December 12, 2023 by Stephen LaGioia: As gaming PCs continue to rev up in terms of horsepower, so too does the growing lineup of flashier, thrilling racers. There is no shortage of epic, realistic racers and driving games to get immersed in, particularly in recent years.

However, there remain plenty of more stylistic, combat-focused, and arcade-style romps in the genre as well. Whatever your style, there are almost sure to be many options on Steam for you to test drive. And with such a vast, impressive lineup, we thought we'd revisit this roadmap outlining the best racers Steam has to offer.

19 Need For Speed Unbound

In many ways, this modern entry in the storied Need for Speed series is a culmination and celebration of the traits that make the racing IP so gripping. Returning are the flashy Fast and the Furious themes, a fairly detailed story mode, the exciting notoriety system that yields intense cop chases, and a slew of cool, customizable cars.

Set in a fictionalized Chicago called Lakeshore City, you can hit the ground running in a vibrant and vast open-world locale, as you bask in gameplay that's both familiar and fresh. In true Need for Speed fashion, the game stresses street races and an arcade flair compared to the more experimental entries in the series. There's much to get lost in here — even when just experimenting with the range of cosmetics and interchangeable parts; like removable bumpers and body kits.

18 The Crew

Steam is regarded for its seamless and robust online support, and these traits fit this online Ubisoft racer like a glove. With its online-only format, you'll need to hope the servers remain populated to get the most out of this one — even with the quite involved solo campaign of over 20 hours (rubberbanding is fairly prominent).

When the online realm of The Crew is bustling, though, the game brings a unique and dynamic role-playing experience to the genre. Despite its age, the game has a sense of vastness with its condensed rendition of the continental US as a large, seamless biome.

The game encourages exploration, yielding a slew of diverse tasks and missions across the map, which offer satisfying rewards and progression. For a title pushing a decade old, The Crew provides an impressive amount of fun, immersive content.

17 Assetto Corsa

Kunos Simulazioni's Assetto Corsa superbly rides that line of dynamic elegance and thrilling, accessible gameplay with its 2014 racing sim. The game strives to adhere to realistic physics and detail, holding an authenticity that only the likes of Gran Turismo and a handful of others have matched.

You can take the wheel up-close-and-personal in nearly 180 distinct vehicles (including the DLC), each with its own handling and feel. With some fine-tuned mechanics, lush environments, and a diverse lineup of tracks, Assetto Corsa is simply a joy to experience. This is especially the case when strapping in an immersive VR display or delving into online matches.

With an expansive list of customizable settings, a full-fledged campaign, and solid online support, this racer manages to feel fresh long after you've strapped in. While this can be played on PS4 and Xbox One, it's better experienced on a stout gaming PC — with typically smoother performance and modding support.

16 PalmRide

Remember the '80s? Even for those of us who weren't even born in that decade, the media has given us a pretty full picture of what it was like and what kinds of content were available back then. In terms of video games and TV shows, PalmRide captures the essence of both effectively.

It has a retro arcade style with all the vibrant color that defines the '80s. It sticks to the aesthetic closely while keeping it modern with tight controls, smooth movement, and some detailed pixel art on the cars and the environments. You get to drive a nice-looking sports car and racing is only one of the things you can do.

The main mode lets you drive endlessly along an infinite road where you try to find new roads, make and race rivals, or just really fast endlessly even if you don't have a destination in mind. Random gameplay elements can pop up on a dime to keep things exciting, and you can crash around if that's more your speed.

15 Road Redemption

There's a clear idea of what motorcycle gangs can be like, but most of those ideas revolve around what the gangs do when they're off their bikes. The response to this is a game about motorcycle gangs that spend most of their lives (however short they end up being) on their bikes called Road Redemption.

It's an odd mix of roguelite, racing, and combat that works very well. You're the leader of a biker gang surviving in a post-apocalyptic world where peace has been maintained between the gangs through a truce. However, when a big gang leader is killed, the hunt is on to get the killer and collect the bounty.

Choose your biker and your bike as you race off through different enemy gang territories and tear through their members with melee weapons, firearms, and explosives to be the toughest and fastest biker out there.

14 Shipped

Boating is not as easy to do or as accessible in real life as it is in video games. Even so, games tend to represent boating as a slow-paced activity that takes a lot of time whether you're voyaging or fighting, but Shipped has managed to simplify it while making it faster and more enjoyable.

This is what you could call a ship-based party game. The top-down view gives you a lay of the sea and your opponents while the stylized graphics allow for quick processing and amusing gameplay. True to a party game, there are a lot of activities that you and your friends can undertake. This can be hunting for treasure, navigating an obstacle, racing across the sea, or straight up trying to sink each other. It seems that even naval competition can bring people together... or tear them apart.

13 Minit: Fun Racer

Minit is a very strange game with strange characters in a strange world with one strange rule: Get as far as you can in one minute before your progress resets. No one guessed that this would provide enough substance to expand the universe into another genre, leading to the creation and release of Minit: Fun Racer.

It should be noted that this game was made with the intent to provide money for charity which makes its price even more worthwhile. To make things better, it's a cute and entertaining game that's more about the experience than about winning a race.

You've got a long and busy ride to drive your scooter along with places to see and things to collect. If you're going for completion, there is a list of goals to achieve and plenty of items to buy from the friendly shopkeeper to change up your short but sweet drive.

12 Hot Wheels Unleashed

It's pretty impressive just how polished, fluid, and fun Hot Wheels Unleashed is. Developer and publisher Milestone hit a homerun with this arcade-inspired game that fans of the genre and Hot Wheels, in general, can get behind. If for some reason you haven't tried Unleashed yet then just know you are in for a treat with a massive selection of real-world Hot Wheels vehicles, a plethora of wacky and over-the-top tracks, and a suite of enjoyable gameplay modes.

Since many of us grew up cobbling together orange track pieces around our houses to make the course of our dreams, it's utterly delightful that Unleashed features a fully customizable track creator. Being able to make the most outrageous tracks to share with the community makes this game a real winner in the genre.

11 CarX Drift Racing Online

For those of you looking to scratch that racing itch but want the intensity of online competitive multiplayer then look no further than the hit Steam racing game, CarX Drift Racing Online. As you might imagine, this realistic racing sim is all about the thrill of the drift in tangent with the competition. Taking place across a host of real-world cities and locations, CarX Drift Racing Online has something for everyone.

The name of the game here is intricacy and customization. You are able to choose from a roster of gorgeous cars that can be fine-tuned and customized before taking them to the tracks. The online modes will keep you glued to the PC monitor as you try to inch ahead of the brutal opponents. Just make sure to wipe the sweat off of your brow before the next race.

10 Need For Speed Heat

Need for Speed Heat is one of the better, more robust entries in the long-running arcade racing franchise. Need for Speed Heat is all about the thrills of street racing. You must start from the bottom and work your way up in this fictitious, Miami-inspired (Palm City) street racer. Separated into two distinct areas of play, you are able to street race legally during the daytime Speedhunter Showdown to earn fame and reputation.

However, it's at night when things get really wild. The illegal street races in Palm City really heat up (pun very much intended) when night falls, and this is where the true competition comes out. Need for Speed Heat keeps the same high-octane arcade racing feel and adds in a bunch of awesome vehicle customization options to ensure your ride is wholly your own.

9 Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 takes what made the previous Horizon games, namely, wide-open driving expanses, hundreds of vehicles, and plenty of in-game challenges, and then dials everything up to eleven. Taking place in a Mexico-inspired location, Forza Horizon 5 sees you driving around beaches, deserts, jungles, and volcanoes.

The arcade-style racing feels instantly familiar to anyone who played the previous iterations, however, the content here on offer is at times, overwhelming, but, in the best way possible. The mixture of lust biomes and racing events makes Forza Horizon 5 an utter joy to play. And with a near-endless stream of rotating events and new content, there will always be something fun and exhilerating to take part in when playing.

8 Wreckfest

Combining the best of off-road racing and demolition derbies, Wreckfest is a game brimming with style and substance in equal measures. The whole goal of Wreckfest is to take your hefty vehicles and smash them into other vehicles. Yes, it's as fun and simple as it sounds. However, this game also relishes in all things off-road, with plenty of mud and dirt thrown around.

What makes Wreckfest such a special game for racing fans is that almost every aspect of Wreckfest can be customized and tinkered with, in order to make each race or derby feel different. This is high-octane racing gameplay at its finest.

7 Project Cars 2

For those of you who want your racing experience to feel a bit more challenging and realistic then look no further than Project Cars 2. This follow-up to Project Cars provides you with hundreds of real-world cars, finely tuned vehicle handling, and a lengthy career mode to progress through.

Project Cars 2 seeks to immerse you into its racing game world with dynamic weather effects, a full day/night cycle, and plenty of championships to keep you driving forward. If the sheer graphical prowess of this game doesn't suck you in then its breadth of content offerings surely will.

6 Burnout Paradise Remastered

The original Burnout Paradise (before its remastered moniker) sought to reclaim the crown that the immaculate Burnout 3: Takedown held so dearly. The Burnout series is known for intense high-speed arcade racing through finely tuned tracks. Of course, when things don't go your way, you can always smash into your rivals for even more shenanigans.

Burnout Paradise Remastered continues the incredible driving that was made possible in Burnout 3, but this time takes place on the open-world streets of Paradise City. One aspect that made this game unique and ahead of its time was that each intersection acted as a new event or racing start point. These details helped the game to feel seamless and dynamic, and its held up quite well as a result.

5 Redout: Enhanced Edition

For something completely different yet still incredibly enticing, look no further than Redout: Enhanced Edition. While a sequel in the form of Redout 2 is now available, it's the original incarnation that stands the test of time for fans of sci-fi racing games like Wipeout, F-Zero, or Extreme-G.

Redout: Enhanced Edition sees you blazing across sci-fi and cyberpunk-style tracks with immense speed, again, hearkening back to early arcade racers. Fans of arcade racers will really enjoy Redout since it provides a tight-handling model that is easy to get to grips with but takes a good deal of time to master.

4 Team Sonic Racing

Fans of high-speed racers, kart racers, and cartoon-like games should look no further than Team Sonic Racing. This Sonic-themed racer is simply a blast to play, especially in multiplayer, which is what the game seems to be designed around. In Team Sonic Racing, you will guide Sonic and his pals through a host of colorful and wacky environments while trying to take out your rivals with unique offensive and defensive pickups.

The team element comes into play all throughout a race since winning doesn't just depend on your racing prowess alone but on the entirety of your racing team. You can even customize your vehicle to make it fit your preferred style.

3 Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered

The Need for Speed series as a whole has really gone through some highs and lows, however, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit from 2010 was easily one of the best in the entirety of the franchise. While not necessarily needing a remaster, EA went ahead and refreshed this beloved arcade racer in the form of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, to great success.

The gameplay here blends two distinct styles, namely, playing as an outlaw driver or playing as a cop. While both roles required you to master the top-notch driving controls, it felt completely different playing as an outlaw trying to evade the cops and vice versa. The sense of speed in this game is incredible and this remaster shows why the Need for Speed franchise might still have some life left in it.

2 Grid Legends

Grid Legends is one of those unique racing games that seeks to tell a globe-trotting immersive narrative while still offering a blend of simulation and arcade-style racing. Story modes in racing games can be somewhat hit or miss, however, Grid Legends shows that a compelling narrative is, in fact, possible.

The highlight of Legends is easily the robust career mode that sees you take your racer through a host of intense races all across the world. Your goal is to make your racer the ultimate victor in the sport, something that will require patience and dedication.

1 Dirt 4

While many of the mainline, numbered Dirt games could go on this list, it's Dirt 4 that truly stands above the rest. For the uninitiated, Dirt 4 is an off-road rally racing game that eschews the punishing simulation focus of the Dirt Rally series in favor of an accessible arcade-style rally racing game.

Dirt 4 immerses you right away with its intricate yet accessible driving and handling model, host of wonderful and globe-spanning locations, and, of course, incredible rally cars. The game does feature a career mode, but you can also enjoy races independently with plenty of customization along the way.