Best PS5 Racing Games 2026

Gran Turismo 7 was one of the first games I bought when I got my PS5, four years ago, and I'm still playing it. That says something about how deep the content goes. The roster runs past 400 cars, the handling rewards real steering input over button mashing, and PS VR2 support puts you close to actually sitting in the cockpit. People ask me whether GT7 or Forza Horizon 5 is better. I don't have a clean answer. They do different jobs. GT7 is the one for players who want to feel a car's weight through the DualSense triggers. The license tests up front ask for patience, but the payoff is the deepest solo career on PS5.

Horizon 6 isn't out on PS5 yet, so Forza Horizon 5 keeps the open-world crown here, and it earns that spot on its own merits. Mexico's map mixes volcanoes, jungle, desert, and colonial towns, and the rotating seasonal events keep the festival from feeling static. I've lost entire evenings just driving between events without picking one. That's not something I say about many open-world games. The handling sits closer to arcade than GT7, forgiving enough for anyone to hop in, with real tuning depth underneath for players who want it. The one knock is age. It launched in 2021, and even with constant content drops, the freshest paint has worn a little thin.

Nothing beats Mario Kart, and pretending otherwise here would be dishonest. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds gets closer than anything else on PS5, though, close enough that I'd hand a controller to my kids without hesitation. Split-screen supports four players locally, and the CrossWorlds gimmick, tracks that morph and connect mid-race, keeps repeat laps from feeling stale. Item chaos is real. A well-timed hazard can undo a fifteen-second lead in an instant, which is exactly what a family kart racer should do. It won't replace Mario Kart in my house, but it's the PS5 game that gets closest, and that's a genuinely hard thing to pull off.

Wreckfest is a LAN party staple in my group. We've had it running on a folding table more times than I can count. There's no split-screen, so it's not a couch game, but network four laptops together and something clicks that nothing else on this list replicates. The crash physics are the whole point. Panels crumple, wheels detach, engines catch fire mid-corner, and every hit changes how the car handles afterward. My favorite moment, every session, is the whole group quietly agreeing to gang up on whoever is leading. Not subtle. If your idea of a good racing night involves more contact than corners, this is the one game here built entirely around that idea.

I picked up The Crew Motorfest because it landed on PS Plus and I had a free evening. It's good. It's just not Forza Horizon 5 good, and being the second-best open-world racer on PS5 is still a real compliment. The island setting is split into themed playlists, JDM night runs, rally stages, vintage muscle, and hopping between them keeps the pace varied in a way a lot of open-world racers don't bother with. The online-dependent structure is the one thing that nags at me, since it means the game's future is tied to Ubisoft keeping servers on. For now, though, it's a genuinely good time, and if you've already burned through Horizon 5's map, this is the next stop.

F1 25 is the one to buy if you want this year's grid rather than last year's. The latest-installment rule matters more here than almost anywhere else on this list, since drivers change teams and liveries change every season. Braking Point, the scripted story mode, is back, and it's a decent way in if pure qualifying laps don't grab you. I don't have the reflexes for a full 90-minute Grand Prix anymore, so I lean on shortened race lengths and driving assists, and the game doesn't punish you for it. The handling model rewards smoothness over aggression, and finding that rhythm through a clean lap is satisfying in a way arcade racers never replicate. A must-play if you actually follow the real sport.

Rally is the one motorsport where the co-driver's callouts matter as much as your own reactions, and EA Sports WRC nails that tension better than anything else on PS5. Stages are point-to-point rather than laps, so a single mistake on a blind crest can end your run in a way circuit racing rarely does. I like that stages run four to six minutes each, short enough to fit an actual evening rather than a dedicated block of time. The physics reward reading the road ahead through the co-driver's calls, not memorizing a track from repetition. It's rougher than GT7 or Forza. Menus feel dated. For players who specifically want rally over circuit racing, nothing else on PS5 comes close.

Bikes lean, cars don't, and that difference makes MotoGP 25 feel unlike anything else on this list. I came into this after years of car racers, and the first few hours humbled me completely. Braking too late doesn't just cost you the corner, it puts you on the ground. Once the muscle memory kicks in, threading a late apex on the brakes at Mugello is satisfying in a way no car game replicates. The career mode covers a full MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3 season with real riders and calendars, which matters if you follow the sport. Accessibility takes a hit here. There's no arcade mode to fall back on, so expect to live in the assist settings before races stop ending in gravel traps.

I still don't have a spare room big enough for a proper playseat, and Assetto Corsa Competizione is the game that makes me want one anyway. This is GT3 and GT2 racing built for people who care about tire temperature, aero balance, and fuel strategy, not just lap times. There's no rewind button holding your hand and no arcade assist package to lean on. The DualSense doesn't get any special treatment here, a missed opportunity on hardware that supports it. If you've got a wheel, this is the most convincing GT racing on PS5, full stop. Without one, the default controller settings ask real patience before the car stops fighting you. It's a specialist's game, and it knows it.

My kids' toy box has Hot Wheels cars in it, so watching the PS5 version of that orange track snap together on screen, loop-de-loops and boost pads included, got a bigger reaction than most racing games manage. The track editor lets you build elaborate courses, and the campaign has more structure than a licensed toy game has any right to. Handling is simplified but not shallow. Drifting through a loop feels different from a straight boost run, and there's real skill in chaining boost pads without losing the car. Split-screen works, and four controllers is a fun way to spend a rainy Saturday. It won't hold an adult's attention for years the way GT7 does, but as a pick-up-and-play family racer, it earns its spot.