The 13 Best Racing Games for PS5

Sony's first-party racing game IP has been and always will be development studio Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo. Since 1997, the series has maintained its relevance and increased in overall quality thanks to its amalgamation of a massive car roster, well-made tracks, and simulation-based gameplay for hardcore gearheads. Gran Turismo 7 maintains the high quality of the series with quality content in the form of worthwhile single-player and multiplayer content. "GT Simulation Mode" incredible suite of content and the PS5's out of 4K resolution and 60 frames per second with support for high dynamic range make GT7 a destination game for racing sim fans.

Redout 2 hits the same highs that the Wipeout games did when they were prospering on previous PlayStation hardware. You'll find the same super speedy, futuristic anti-gravity racing of that classic series, so you'll find plenty to love here. What you'll find across Redout 2's content suite are 36 tracks to race (which are reversible, by the way!), a wide range of hover ships to customize and race in, and 12-player online multiplayer competitions. Plus you'll get to bask in all the speed limit-breaking action Redout 2 entails to some fire EDM music from the likes of Giorgio Moroder, Zardonic, Dance with the Dead, and more.

The Grid series has been providing amazing racers across a ton of consoles since 2008 since spinning off from the TOCA Race Driver franchise. And the entry that you need to consider when you're on the lookout for the best racing games for PS5, you have to take a chance on GRID Legends. With 130+ tracks based on real-world circuits to race on, you'll have plenty of opportunities to take your favorite open-wheel car, stadium truck, drift car, electric vehicle, and more on the road. The surprisingly strong "Driven to Glory" single-player campaign is worth investing hours of playtime into right alongside the exhibition races you'll engage in during local/online multiplayer competitions.

It may have taken far too long to get an amazing Hot Wheels, but better late than never right? Hot Wheels Unleashed encapsulates everything we loved about those miniature collectible cars back in the day - this game is jam-packed with signature cars that you'll recognize from the toy line and several media properties and tracks that take place across those recognizable orange lanes within home-based locations. And as expected, each race you'll compete in will push you to the limit as you zoom across each track and do your best to avoid flinging yourself off the side of the road. You can create your own death-defying tracks that evoke that daredevil feeling for other players, by the way!

For those of you who enjoy racing on two wheels, then the MotoGP series is the most approachable pick on this list for you all. It's best if you hop into MotoGP 22, which looks incredibly lifelike and presents the most realistic sound and feel of motorcycle racing. What's great about this game's single-player content suite is how it gives historians the chance to play out the events of the legendary Grand Prix of the 2009 season. You'll also get to compete across everything featured in the 2022 season's real-world 120+ riders and 20+ official circuits, so you have plenty of motorcycle action to bask in here.

You can always rely on letting off some steam just by smashing everyone on the track in the fun and chaotic Destruction Derby and FlatOut games. The best and most recent way to get caught up in all that car-smashing bedlam is through our latest list entry, Wreckfest. While the actual races here are a good time, it's this game's bevy of vehicular combat-focused sessions that provide the most fun. The perfect marriage between clearly visible car damage and an excellent physics system is what makes Wreckfest such a must-play for gearheads that adore plentiful levels of vehicular destruction.

This super new and improved sequel to Impossible Road is one of the best non-traditional racing games we've ever been put onto. And because we love it so much, we think it's only right that we make you aware of its presence as well. So the name of the game here is racing above the stars in the solar system with futuristic spheres. And the biggest key to victory is by creating your own shortcuts to cheat the system, which Super Impossible Road actually encourages. Four-player local split-screen and eight-player online multiplayer races with crossplay enabled means you'll get plenty of bang for your buck from this distinctive racer.

The Dirt series is one of those racers that delves into both simulation and arcade-style racing, which places it in the unique position of being classified as a "simcade" game. Dirt 5 is certainly worth venturing into as it puts forth some quality off-road racing for fans to enjoy. The action unfolds with these selectable car classes at your disposal - rallycross, ice racing, Stadium Super Trucks, and off-road buggies. Dirt 5 will take you on an international racing tour during an extensive Career mode and let you enjoy the best of both worlds in local and online racing leagues.

The Need for Speed games has always done a good job of refreshing themselves via specific styles of racing and overall themes. NFS Unbound revisits the illegal street racing vibes of NFS Underground, which should make it approachable for everyone that played that sub-series to death during the 200s. In the case of this new NFS, you'll get to speed through a new open-world locale known as "Lakeshore City." And as you'd expect, you'll find plenty of races to win, graffiti to discover, exotic cars to add to your garage, and fierce cop cars to steer clear of. "heat system" from NFS Heat makes a return here, by the way - if you let it get too high, you'll definitely have a tough time getting back to your home base with all your post-race winnings fully intact.

Codemasters and EA Sports know a thing or two about producing the best racing games on the market, so it should be no surprise that one of its releases makes an appearance here on this list of the best racing games for PS5. F1 22 hits the road running with top-notch open-wheel single-seater formula racing. And that fan-favorite style of on-road competition comes with a tracklist made in conjunction with the 2022 Formula One World Championship. Formula One sprints also make their debut in this game, which presents another cool way to simulate the high-speed sport of rally racing. And from a visual standpoint, the hyperrealistic cars look and feel amazing.

WRC 10 FIA World Rally Championship aka WRC 10 is the officially playable representative of the real-world 2021 World Rally Championship. And to the surprise of no one that follows that specific racing league, this game is one of the best off-road simulators on PS5. The rallies that got added to the competition in 2021 (which include Estonia, Croatia, Belgium, and Spain) are available for play here. Plus you'll get to hop into some races across classic rallies that encompass Acropolis, San Remo, Germany. and Argentina. Enjoy the scenic routes as you utilize 20 of the finest offroad-enabled automobiles from the likes of Subaru, Ford, Mitsubishi, and more.

The official video game representative for the GT World Challenge is definitely worthy of being on this list of the best racing games on PS5. The real-world drivers, teams, cars, and circuits from that franchise are brought to life in Assetto Corsa Competizione and afford the game that much-needed air of authenticity. This sim-based racer sits comfortably next to the latest Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport as another best-in-class game with a realistic visual and mechanical feel. The big things (the weight of each vehicle and the physics engine) and the little things (the look/behavior of doors and windshield wipers) are given plenty of attention here, proving how much this game pushes for high levels of realism.

Inertial Drift adopts the best parts of arcade racers like Outrun and Ridge Racer to present a riveting experience that everyone will grow enamored with after just one play session. What's so dope about this racer is its twin-stick control scheme, which lets you steer your car with the left analog stick and drift to your heart's content with the right analog stick. Inertial Drift: Twilight Rivals Edition is the most feature-rich version of this retro-stylized racer as it comes with all the content featured in the base game and all of its DLC in the form of new story content, cars, tracks, and music to jam out to.