The Game Census
Need for Speed™ Most Wanted cover art

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted

Criterion Games · Electronic Arts · 2020-06-18

SteamEpic Games StoreXboxAmazonMicrosoft Store

ActionAdventureRacing

Franchise: Need for Speed · Modes: Single player, Multiplayer

Releases: Nov 15, 2012 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Nov 15, 2012 (Xbox 360), Nov 02, 2012 (PlayStation 3)

The open-world action in Need for Speed Most Wanted gives you the freedom to drive your way. Hit jumps and shortcuts, switch cars, lie low or head for terrain that plays to your vehicle’s unique strengths. Fight your way past cops and rivals using skill, high-end car tech and tons of nitrous.

256
playing now
77%
positive of 28k reviews
Mostly Positive
steam rating
1,000,000–2,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
85/100
critic score (15 outlets, IGDB)
73/100
IGDB user rating (446 ratings)
20h
to beat · rushed 20h · completionist 32h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$19.99
steam price (US)

256 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 01:00 UTC (census sample)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a 2012 racing game developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. Most Wanted is the nineteenth title in the Need for Speed series and was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, iOS and Android, beginning in North America in 2012. A Wii U version, under the title Need for Speed: Most Wanted U, was released in 2013. Like its predecessor, 2010's Hot Pursuit, the game is a revival of the original 2005 Most Wanted title.

Health check

Healthy
  • · 256 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 2,643 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~330/week).
  • · Review velocity up 11% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 6% of 10,710 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-27

Estimated sales: 556k–1.3M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 27,792 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Microsoft Store$0.00
Epic Games Store$1.99-90%
lowest across shops (ITAD)$19.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $1.99 at EA Store (2020-06-04)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $19.99 · on sale 28 of 42 observed days · at its all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
1.4k1.4k20202026Week of 2020-06-01: 339 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 143 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 312 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 84 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 288 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 88 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 131 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 29 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 241 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 75 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 1,408 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 180 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 783 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 166 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 349 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 114 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 201 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 40 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 138 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 131 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 39 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 158 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 56 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 257 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 74 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 136 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 30 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 194 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 51 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 166 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 43 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 212 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 44 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 190 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 583 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 185 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 623 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 191 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 297 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 72 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 230 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 75 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 158 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 36 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 170 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 50 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 211 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 51 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 175 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 46 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 156 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 41 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 156 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 61 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 177 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 97 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 196 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 79 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 190 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 64 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 213 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 61 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 97 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 114 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 34 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 101 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 29 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 88 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 104 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 129 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 29 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 114 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 31 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 456 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 154 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 217 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 65 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 333 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 89 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 433 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 146 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 385 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 126 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 377 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 136 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 448 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 154 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 253 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 68 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 367 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 116 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 231 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 76 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 317 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 108 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 398 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 163 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 273 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 81 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 197 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 52 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 254 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 80 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 442 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 139 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 279 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 77 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 268 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 73 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 467 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 167 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 217 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 56 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 272 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 94 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 205 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 83 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 228 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 68 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 264 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 82 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 247 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 73 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 177 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 66 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 191 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 58 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 262 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 89 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 260 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 76 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 240 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 56 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 274 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 104 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 202 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 79 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 258 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 65 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 241 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 73 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 289 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 75 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 725 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 288 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

1.3k2072026-08-06 21:00 — 1,014 players2026-08-07 05:00 — 600 players2026-08-07 13:00 — 1,148 players2026-08-07 21:00 — 963 players2026-08-08 05:00 — 647 players2026-08-08 13:00 — 1,212 players2026-08-08 21:00 — 1,020 players2026-08-09 05:00 — 673 players2026-08-09 13:00 — 1,254 players2026-08-09 21:00 — 959 players2026-08-10 05:00 — 499 players2026-08-10 14:00 — 979 players2026-08-10 22:00 — 765 players2026-08-11 06:00 — 453 players2026-08-11 14:00 — 980 players2026-08-12 21:00 — 757 players2026-08-14 05:00 — 365 players2026-08-15 13:00 — 708 players2026-08-16 21:00 — 563 players2026-08-18 04:00 — 248 players2026-08-19 12:00 — 366 players2026-08-20 19:00 — 461 players2026-08-22 03:00 — 264 players2026-08-23 10:00 — 388 players2026-08-24 18:00 — 409 players2026-08-26 02:00 — 212 players2026-08-27 10:00 — 261 players2026-08-28 17:00 — 440 players2026-08-30 01:00 — 256 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$24.99$0.002015-01-012026-08-272015-01-01 — best price $9.992015-01-23 — best price $18.582015-03-17 — best price $13.992015-04-24 — best price $7.552015-05-18 — best price $4.992015-06-11 — best price $19.992015-07-07 — best price $6.582015-08-09 — best price $9.992015-11-09 — best price $6.432015-12-18 — best price $9.992016-02-24 — best price $9.992016-05-16 — best price $6.792016-08-16 — best price $9.992017-01-02 — best price $19.992017-12-20 — best price $4.992018-11-09 — best price $9.992019-04-11 — best price $4.992019-11-26 — best price $4.992020-04-09 — best price $4.992020-08-18 — best price $19.992020-11-12 — best price $4.992021-01-18 — best price $19.992021-08-10 — best price $19.992021-12-23 — best price $1.992022-06-06 — best price $19.992022-11-29 — best price $19.992023-11-02 — best price $19.992024-03-07 — best price $1.992024-07-11 — best price $19.992024-11-27 — best price $1.992025-02-10 — best price $2.992025-06-19 — best price $4.992025-09-11 — best price $4.992025-12-18 — best price $3.992026-02-23 — best price $19.992026-06-20 — best price $4.992026-08-10 — best price $1.992026-08-20 — best price $19.992026-08-27 — best price $0.00
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

6713202026-05-29 — 457 pageviews2026-06-01 — 368 pageviews2026-06-04 — 347 pageviews2026-06-07 — 411 pageviews2026-06-10 — 339 pageviews2026-06-13 — 410 pageviews2026-06-16 — 404 pageviews2026-06-19 — 358 pageviews2026-06-22 — 374 pageviews2026-06-25 — 362 pageviews2026-06-28 — 429 pageviews2026-07-01 — 334 pageviews2026-07-04 — 382 pageviews2026-07-07 — 466 pageviews2026-07-10 — 408 pageviews2026-07-13 — 436 pageviews2026-07-16 — 368 pageviews2026-07-19 — 403 pageviews2026-07-22 — 388 pageviews2026-07-25 — 362 pageviews2026-07-28 — 352 pageviews2026-07-31 — 539 pageviews2026-08-03 — 455 pageviews2026-08-06 — 580 pageviews2026-08-09 — 503 pageviews2026-08-12 — 469 pageviews2026-08-15 — 440 pageviews2026-08-18 — 437 pageviews2026-08-21 — 417 pageviews2026-08-24 — 425 pageviews2026-08-26 — 445 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Details

WindowsSingle-playerMulti-playerPvPOnline PvPSteam Trading Cards5 DLC

10 supported languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Czech, Dutch, Japanese, Polish, Russian

Player tags

ActionArcadeRacingDrivingAdventureControllerOpen WorldCompetitiveMultiplayerFirst-Person

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Players also track

Split/SecondNeed for Speed™

Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗Official site ↗