Car racing is one of the most adventurous and courageous sports out there. Although it can be dangerous, a pro definitely knows how to drive their way out. Over the years, the popularity of the sports has also substantially increased.
Car racing fans yearn to experience the thrill and adrenaline rush while driving some of the world’s most luxurious automobiles built for speed. And car racing games give them just that. PC gamers who love to experience the throttle behind their screens and take control of the steering virtually will be treated with multiple games that let them live the racing life on Steam.
Be it realistic simulator games to arcade-style racers, Steam offers some truly exceptional racing game experiences. Thus, whatever type of racing games the player chooses, they are sure to find a bunch of them on Steam.
Top 10 Racing Games on Steam
Below are some of the best racing games currently available on Steam that every racing game fan must check out.
Asseto Corsa
Asseto Corsa is a sim racing video game developed by the Italian video game developer Kunos Simulazioni, initially released for Windows back in 2014. The game is specifically designed to emphasize on offering a realistic racing experience supported by extensive customization and moddability.
The developers also released a second title, named Assetto Corsa Competizione, which was released on 29 May 2019. This title focuses on GT3 and GT4 cars, besides having the official license simulation of the 2018 and 2019 Blancpain GT Series season Sprint and Endurance Cups and the Total 24 Hours of Spa. The game enjoys a good 9/10 rating on Steam. Fans believe that this game is amazing, but adding mods to the game takes it to a whole new level.
iRacing
iRacing is a subscription-based online racing simulation video game which first released in 2008. It was developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations. All its in-game sessions are run on the publisher’s servers. The game simulates real-world cars, tracks, and racing events experience, enforcing rules of conduct modeled on real auto racing events.
Enjoying a rating of 9/10 on Steam, the game is highly praised for its similar-to-reality features.
Forza
Talking about car racing games and not mentioning Forza games would be a cardinal sin. The Xbox and PC exclusive title was first released in 2005 and was known as Forza Motorsport. The series is developed by Turn 10 Studios and focuses primarily on simulation racing around a combination of both real and fictional tracks.
Additionally, it also seeks to replicate the performance and handling characteristics of many real-life production, modified, and racing cars. The Motorsport series has a total of 8 installments released to date, with the latest being Forza Motorsport 8.
The Forza title also has another series under its banner named Forza Horizon. There are a number of differences between the two titles; however, their main passion for car racing is seen as a constant. The Forza Horizon series is developed by British developer Playground Games. It is based more on arcade-style racing while simultaneously maintaining a toned-down version of Motorsport’s simulation physics.
The Horizon series is set against a music festival called the “Horizon Festival” that features open-world environments set in fictional representations of real-world areas. Here, players can freely roam and participate in racing events at the music festival. The Horizon series has five installments, with the latest being Forza Horizon 5, released in 2021.
Colin McRae Rally and Dirt
Known as the pioneer of realistic rally sports racing games, Colin McRae Rally game was first released in 1998. After releasing five installments of the rally title, the developers, Codemasters, launched Colin McRae: Dirt in 2006. The Dirt Rally series has five installments, while another title, Dirt Rally, launched in 2015, has had two re-iterations so far.
Interestingly, the series is named after the World Rally Championship driver Colin McRae, who reportedly provided a lot of technical advice during the development of the game. Additionally, the devs have acquired the exclusive license to the World Rally Championship series in June 2020, which will begin as a five-year deal in 2023.
Wreckfest
Wreckfest is a racing video game that was developed by Bugbear Entertainment and published by THQ Nordic. First released for Windows in 2018, Wreckfest is considered to be the spiritual successor to the FlatOut series and a cross between FlatOut, Destruction Derby, and cult 1989 PC racer Street Rod. A remarkable feature of the game engine is the use of soft-body damage modeling, enabling location-based damage that affects the driving dynamics of vehicles in a realistic fashion.
The game involves a variety of gameplay features, such as banger racing and demolition derby. In fact, unlike other racing games, the races in Wreckfest themselves concentrate heavily on “vehicular combat”. Here players are required to find a balance between defensive tactics like avoiding or blocking opponents and more confrontational strategies such as ramming opponents and shunting them into barriers to eliminate them from the race and earn points.
GRID
The grid series is another legendary game series in the world of racing games. This came too is developed by Codemasters and published by Electronic Arts, and is a successor of the TOCA Race Driver series. The series consists of five different game installments, Race Driver: Grid, Grid 2, Grid Autosport, Grid and Grid Legends.
The latest installment, Grid Legends, was released in 2022.
Project CARS
First released in 2015, the Project CARS series has had three installments to date. The franchise was introduced in 2015 and received a sequel named Project CARS 2 in 2017, followed by Project CARS 3 in 2020. However, unfortunately, after Codemasters was acquired by Electronic Arts, the Project CARS IP was later shut down in 2021. However, it remains to be one of Steam’s best car racing games.
The series is positively rated on Steam owing to its realistic racing simulation, stunning graphics, extensive car and track selection, as well as active community support. Not to forget, it offers an immersive racing experience with frequent updates and modding capabilities, thus making it a fan-favorite on the platform.
Need for Speed
There is clearly no other racing title running as long as the popular Need for Speed franchise. Launched in 1994, the franchise has been successfully running for over 29 years now and has had as many as 25 titles released under its name.
Among the 25, a few, like 2012’s Need for Speed: Most Wanted, 2010’s Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, 2019’s Need for Speed Heat, and 2013’s Need for Speed Rivals, have been highly appreciated. The Need for Speed franchise is published by Electronic Arts and is currently developed by Criterion Games. Apart from the gaming titles, owing to its strong sales, the franchise has expanded into different forms of media, such as a film adaptation and licensed Hot Wheels toys.
F1
F1 is an iconic racing video game series starting in 2000. It was earlier made by Electronic Arts’ EA Sports division; however, in 2008, Codemasters acquired its license, thus starting the Codemasters independent era in F1. But that ended when EA acquired Codemasters in 2021 and started developing the game under its own banner again.
The series owns the official license of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Ever since 2000, a total of twenty-one games have been released in the F1 franchise.
The F1 series is undoubtedly among the highest-rated car racing games on Steam because of its authentic Formula 1 racing experience, featuring official teams, drivers, and tracks. In addition to this, its outstanding graphics, realistic physics, and immersive gameplay, along with regular updates and an active community, make it a leading choice for car racing fans on the platform.
Trackmania
TrackMania is a series of racing games developed by Ubisoft Nadeo and Firebrand Games. The most unique feature of TrackMania is that it does not follow the usual trend of choosing a set car and track to play the game. Instead, it lets players create their own tracks using a “building block” process similar to earlier games like the 1984 game Excitebike, the 1985 game Racing Destruction Set, and the 1990 game Stunts.
It was first released in 2003 and since then has 14 titles in the franchise. Interestingly, the TrackMania series was so popular that Guinness World Records awarded the game six world records in the Guinness World Records, namely, Gamer’s Edition 2008. These include “Biggest Online Race”, “Most Popular Online Racing Sim,” and “Largest Content Base of Any Racing Game”, with hundreds of thousands of user-created tracks and hundreds of unique cars available for download.
Honorable Mentions
Some honorable mentions for this list will be Burnout Paradise Remastered and Hot Wheels Unleashed and its sequel. Burnout was originally an “overwhelmingly positive” on Steam but the recent Remastered version changed that due to several changes by EA.
Hot Wheels Unleashed is a strong contender but is set in a miniature setting, not giving off the same feeling as a real-world racing game, however, it is a strong racing game in its own right.