Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a 2005 open-world racing video game, and the ninth installment in the Need for Speed series. Developed by EA Canada and EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts, it was released on November 11, 2005, for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance and Xbox 360. An additional version, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0, was released in the same year for PlayStation Portable. The game focuses on street racing-oriented gameplay involving a selection of events and racing circuits found within the fictional city of Rockport, with the game's main story involving players taking on the role of a street racer who must compete against 15 of the city's most elite street racers to become the most wanted racer of the group, in the process seeking revenge against one of the groups who took their car and developing a feud with the city's police department.
Most Wanted brought in many notable improvements and additions over other entries in the series, its major highlight being more in-depth police pursuits. Certain editions of the game were also packaged with the ability for online multiplayer gaming. Upon its release, the game received positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success, selling 16 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best entries in the series as a result. Its success later led to a collector's edition, Black Edition, which provided additional content for the game.
The game was later succeeded by Need for Speed: Carbon in 2006, which provided a sequel to Most Wanted's story, with a virtual edition being made available for PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store in May 2012, until it was discontinued the following year. A reboot of the game, developed by Criterion Games, was released in October 2012.
The cover car for the game is a customized version of the BMW M3 GT-R racecar, which has since become one of the most iconic hero cars in the franchise and made return appearances in many succeeding titles.
