Need for Speed Rivals
Erase the line between single player and multiplayer in this street-racing rivalry between Cops and Racers. Seamlessly join a world where your friends are already racing and chasing
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Need for Speed™ Payback on Steam
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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.
Need for Speed™ Payback is a racing, open world and multiplayer game
developed by Ghost Games
and published by Electronic Arts.
Released on June 18th 2020 is available only on Windows
in 11 languages: English, French, Spanish - Spain, Italian, German, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
It has received 27,475 reviews of which 23,354 were positive and 4,121 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.3 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 29.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Need for Speed™ Payback into these genres:
Racing
Open World
Multiplayer
Controller
Combat Racing
Sports
PvP
Sandbox
Arcade
Third Person
First-Person
Strategy
Simulation
Offroad
Vehicular Combat
Co-op
Atmospheric
Online Co-Op
Singleplayer
Action
Here is the detailed breakdown of supported languages for Need for Speed™ Payback:
| UI | Subtitle | Audio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | |||
| German | |||
| French | |||
| Italian | |||
| Spanish - Spain | |||
| Simplified Chinese | |||
| Traditional Chinese | |||
| Russian | |||
| Japanese | |||
| Polish | |||
| Portuguese - Brazil |
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Need for Speed™ Payback through various videos and screenshots.
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS *: 64-bit Windows 7 or later
- Processor: Intel i3 6300 @ 3.8GHz or AMD FX 8150 @ 3.6GHz with 4 hardware threads
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon™ HD 7850 or equivalent DX11 compatible GPU with 2GB of memory
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 30 GB available space
Steam Price & Best Deals
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Story and Characters While playing this game, I felt like I was inside a Fast & Furious movie. I mean this in a good way because it has a fun story. The plot generally revolves around Tyler, who wants revenge. We also shouldn't forget Mac and Jess, who help our main character, Tyler. I mean, of course there is a story, but it is not legendary like the stories in the old NFS games. In my opinion, one of the things that made old NFS stories so strong was how easily we connected with the game. The presentation + atmosphere supported the story very well. Eddie's Skyline from NFS Underground is in this game, which is a nice and subtle detail. EA actually knows the value of its old games, but for some reason, they just never bring a REMAKE to the old ones... The story is good and sufficient, but it might not satisfy those expecting something truly great. Fortunately, where the story falls short, the mechanics support the gameplay. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3691389994 Gameplay and Mechanics One of the strongest sides of the game is customization and variety. It proves once again that it is the best of this genre when it comes to the abundance of cars and customization options. There are tons of licensed kits like Liberty Walk, Rocket Bunny, LOMA, and RTR. Another strong side of the game is the mechanics. Especially the drift mechanics took me back to the Carbon days. It has an extremely smooth and enjoyable mechanic. The only annoying part here is the non-destructible environment despite having such mechanics. Crashing into poles that you expect to break down hurts a bit. Especially not even being able to drive onto some curbs felt ridiculous. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3683940727 The class system was a good idea. Due to missions, the Runner class uses heavier armored vehicles and takes turns harder. The Rally and Drift classes are perfect for more precise and fast reflexes. Drag class cars do not turn at all :d As the name suggests, they are for drag races, but sometimes missions require us to drive 4-5 miles with drag cars. By the way, bringing back the DRAG races from the old games was very good. Although the races have plenty of content, after a point, they start repeating themselves and get boring. If you ask me, the biggest reason for this is the runner missions. In silly missions where we deliver packages or gather intel, very little time is given and we constantly have to drive while checking the map. After a while, it starts to get extremely boring. Lastly, earning money, customization, and performance parts through the Shipment mechanic and mini-events on the map was sensible and enjoyable. Graphics and Atmosphere The game's map is large and successful. From deserts to the city center, it offers a great visual feast. With neon lights in night races and all... it took me back to NFSU2. I didn't see any issues with the game's optimization. While playing on 4K Ultra settings, I didn't experience any drops or anything. The atmosphere was sufficient for the story. I think many of us already know this game from the Mustang scene. Missions in that style made the gameplay much more fun. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3683954947 Overall A successful title that combines the series' core passion for customization with modern action. Even though it gets repetitive at some points, it makes up for this flaw with its enjoyable driving feel and atmosphere. It holds a little bit of the old NFS spirit inside. If only the old ones would get a REMAKE or REMASTER... Yonderly Score | A+ (82) [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45377045/] Follow My Curator Page For More Reviews
I played the OG, Most Wanted, Heat and Payback, and going into payback i saw alot of negative reviews and hate talk about the game mechanics and control. I personally enjoyed it, was it the best nfs? No, did it have a few eh and mhmm reactions from me, yes. But at the end of the day it was still enjoyable and a fairly easy 100%, plus for a racing game the story was well worked on imo, others may call it cringe, but you cant please all.
TLDR: a pretty fun open world experience overall with a couple of caveats. The handling is worlds better than 2015. Starting with the things I DIDN'T like. And this game has quite a few flaws. * Always online when it doesn't have to be. The single player campaign has 2 features that require internet connection. Autolog challenges that don't matter since they do not give you literally anything. And community wraps. Don't really need those either. * Share usage data is on by default. How about no? Shady practices from EA don't surprise anymore, but it doesn't make it right. * The cutscenes are kinda funny looking. 720p overcompressed and poorly upscaled type of quality. * Some of the checkpoints are not obvious enough. Had to restart the first speedcross event and watch all of the cutscenes multiple times because of the missed checkpoint. Some checkpoints even in normal city races are small enough to not even cover the whole road. Nitpicking here of course, but come on. * GPS can be bit broken at times. * Customisation options are limited and, more importantly, locked behind challenges which makes me want to bother with them even less when I don't give a hoot already. * To reiterate, watching cutscenes every time you restart an event is not fun and shouldn't be a thing. Just let me skip. * The game crashed 2 times in 40 hours, which is not too terrible, I guess. * When you replay events with actual opponents in the race (e.g. race, offroad) they scale based on your car level. And the difficulty, it feels like, gets too steep too quickly. My mismatched 350 build got destroyed by npcs in offroad in particular. A few of the roaming racers have crazy builds-cars-AI too. The game is pretty easy until it suddenly isn't which feels quite jarring. * Hated the drift zones. Probably the hardest thing in the entire game. Granted, you don't actually need to do it. Still, the contrast is crazy when you compare it to the campaign and even the other optional challenges. * Hated double jumps. This is where you need to jump once, land on another platform and jump again. Stupid mechanic. There were only 2 of those. Should've been none. * Almost went bald trying to collect the casino chips in the air. Had to use the widest, longest and tallest car I had just to have a chance of hitting these things. I wonder if anyone tested it with anything smaller than Ford F150. Absolutely miserable experience there. * It also takes the game a surprisingly long time to update the map after the challenge is complete. Maybe to give you time to breathe a little and regain your sanity. * Didn't really like RACING racing in a drag car. Which is a funny thing because it was pretty easy to beat some of the speed challenges with it later on. * Drag racing itself feels underutilized. Only 2 chapters, so like, 10 races total. Idk, a wasted opportunity there. * The game also has no reset button. Don't really know why. * Gacha system for performance upgrades is better than grinding events until you go mad, true. And you get a lot of free packs anyway. But yeah, their attempt to monetize the game is kind of pathetic. All of the special cars are nonsense. Everything you could buy with real money you shouldn't. * And now, the biggest offender of them all. The TRAFFIC!? The game has an absolutely RIDICULOUS number of cars on the roads in free roam. Anywhere too. I can understand it in the city or on a highway. But... Desert roads in the middle of nowhere? Feels like 5 cars on the screen at any given time. Winding mountain roads? Yeah, time to send a GRABAGE TRUCK to the observatory??? Oh and a box truck please! Missing on some supplies or something, smh. Makes completing some of the challenges infuriating. Like WTAF all of these cars are doing there is beyond me. A big oversight from the developers. It gets a bit better at night, but the roads are never empty. The campaign is better though. Free roam traffic is a crime. * Oh, there are also trucks with ads on them. And billboards too. Shouldn't be a thing in a game you pay money for. And the things that I enjoyed: * The the story is pretty engaging and honestly a lot of fun. Overall pretty ridiculous of course, but this hardly matters if it's nice to play; and it is. The intro is longer than I'd prefer though. * Drifting is still odd, but definitely an improvement compared to the previous title. * Despite break to drift being a very counterintuitive mechanic it works much better in Payback. There quite a few fast roads that feel rather satisfying to drift on. * The handling on the whole is a huge improvement. It isn't ideal by any stretch of imagination, but it is better than 2015. * A lot of different styles of racing. The game actively pushes you to try new things. It can be fun, if a little grindy. Loved the story offroading the most. * A decent car selection. Great car detail. Maybe a bit of a downgrade compared to 2015. Still looks nice and the game runs better. * Live tuning exists. TFG! * Better default key bindings. No page up/down nonsense. * What's more, you don't have to go to garage to change your car every time you switch between the event types. Just press E to change your car. Getting better and better. * Limited fast travel that motivates you to drive a little and explore the map to find more fast travel spots and make it even more effective. I'd call it a good balance. * Had some fun tracking down derelicts. Great mechanic. Ended up abandoning most of my derelict builds in favour of some achievement cars in the end though. * The music is good. Great stuff for the most part. * Good attention to details. The character moves when turning the wheel and looks back when reversing. Loved that. * There is a night/day cycle, which is honestly pretty impressive. The skybox is dynamic and you can see the stars moving at night. Really impressed by it. * Another interesting bit is that cars get dirty when you drive them offroad. * The damage model is purely cosmetic, but looks pretty cool IMO. Glass breaks, metal bends, plastic cracks. Good stuff. * The crashes are much less annoying than in 2015. Much harder to actually crash out too. * Loved racing different crews, loved the throwbacks. * Challenging roaming racers should've been a reward based system. Gives you absolutely nothing other than the achievement. Well, and the unique dialogue. Still had good time doing most of these. * The dialogue is nice too. Feels natural enough to me. Obviously corny and silly sometimes, but good. * A lot of unique npcs with personalities and all. Annoying too. I am talking about you Natalia! * You can in fact fast travel somewhere and the game will automatically pause the call and continue playing afterwards. Talking real QOL here. It will cancel if you enter events/garage though. * Had a blast 'playing' different characters too. I personally found it very fresh after being 'yourself' or a random faceless dude in all? of the previous titles. Each with their unique personality and dialogue and stuff. Great addition. * Unlimited car storage is great. And the game is pretty generous with money so you can try out new cars much easier. * I kind of liked the bait crate mechanic. Allows you to interact with the police at least somewhere outside the story and gives you an alternative to farming events for parts. Win-win in my book. * I think that the performance upgrade system is fine. You have multiple ways to get the parts. It gives you a reason to replay the events, other than just to get money. Can't be mad at that. Not a big fan of the lottery side of it, but hey. Overall, a huge improvement over 2015. Will probably return one day to replay the story.
Most Underrated Need For Speed Game I seriously don't understand hatred for Payback, sure gameplay is more arcady but it's in a good way, why should every NFS Game be copy pasted version of realistic driving and end up losing its own identity? Payback builds its own identity in long going series & the story is pretty decent for a NFS Game. I ignored this game in my library for 4 years, but this time I finally decided to finish the story, and I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I went in with very low expectations and ended up having a great time. I loved doing Runner Quests with playing as Jess, and Tyler as the central protagonist made the overall experience even better with top tier Voice Acting. Highly Recommended : 8/10
The story is average but from previous titles prob the best one. The world has cool atmosphere and player is not forced to perma racing in the cities. Infinite slot garage after buying all 4 is a big deal for me so def a cool feature. But rng drop cards for perfomance lvl to get your set which you want is pretty dumb for SP part of the game but if u grind enough you can get it aswell at some point. Generally better title from the franchise can recommend to play
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Frequently Asked Questions
Need for Speed™ Payback is currently priced at 29.99€ on Steam.
No, Need for Speed™ Payback is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 29.99€ on Steam.
Yes, Need for Speed™ Payback received 23,354 positive votes out of a total of 27,475 achieving a rating of 8.34.
😎
Need for Speed™ Payback was developed by Ghost Games and published by Electronic Arts.
Yes, Need for Speed™ Payback is playable and fully supported on Windows.
No, Need for Speed™ Payback is not playable on MacOS.
No, Need for Speed™ Payback is not playable on Linux.
No, Need for Speed™ Payback is not playable on Steam Deck.
No, Need for Speed™ Payback is not playable on Steam Machine.
No, Need for Speed™ Payback does not support VR.
Need for Speed™ Payback offers both single-player and multi-player modes.
Need for Speed™ Payback offers both Co-op and PvP modes.
Yes, there are 4 DLCs available for Need for Speed™ Payback. Explore additional content available for Need for Speed™ Payback on Steam.
No, Need for Speed™ Payback does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
No, Need for Speed™ Payback does not support Steam Remote Play.
No, Need for Speed™ Payback does not currently support Steam Family Sharing.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Need for Speed™ Payback.
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 24 September 2026 13:30 UTC |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 22 October 2026 18:13 UTC |
| Steam price | 26 October 2026 19:31 UTC |
| Steam reviews | 19 October 2026 05:54 UTC |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Need for Speed™ Payback, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Need for Speed™ Payback
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Need for Speed™ Payback concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Need for Speed™ Payback compatibility
Game modes
Multiplayer
Online players
204
Developer
Ghost Games
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Release
18 Jun 2020
Platforms