Grid Legends set to launch in 2022

The long-running Grid racing series is returning with Grid Legends, a new story-centric entry coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, and PC in 2022. 

EA and Codemasters announced the ambitious sequel during today's EA Play Live stream, with the above launch trailer previewing a fairly dramatic-looking story mode and plenty of intense, tire-shredding racing.

EA describes the story in Grid Legends as a "classic underdog tale," pitting you against the ever-dominant Ravenwest Motorsport team and entangling you in politics from within your own team. The "blockbuster" story mode is brought to life by an eclectic cast that includes Ncuti Gatwa, who you'll recognize for his starring role as Eric Effiong in the Netflix original series Sex Education.

Of course, if you just want to burn some rubber without navigating internal politics and complex personalities, you can always head to Dirt Legend's new race creator mode that lets you design your own personal dream race combining all sorts of different vehicles.

Speaking of which, Grid Legends brings more than 100 customizable vehicles including big rigs, stadium trucks, drift cars, open-wheelers, muscle cars, electric cars, and hyper cars like the lightning-quick Aston Martin Valkyrie. And yes, you can make races happen with any combination of vehicles, as dangerous as that is to imagine.

There are over 130 tracks on the way in Grid Legends, including real-life routes such as Brands Hatch and Indianapolis, as well as classic Grid city circuits like San Francisco and Paris. EA showed off two brand new tracks as well: a beautiful London circuit with fireworks bursting in the sky, and a frosty Moscow course.

"Grid Legends combines everything our players love and adds more exhilarating race features, including our new epic story mode," director Chris Smith said. "We're giving players more variety and choice, whether that's creating their ultimate races using our race creator or bringing back the community-requested Drift mode. This is just the start of the journey, and we can't wait to reveal more in the coming months."

If you're in awe of the photorealistic visuals and true-to-life animations in the Grid Legends launch trailer, Codemasters senior game designer Becky Crossdale attributes that to extended-reality tech, which has been used in Disney Plus' The Mandalorian. 

While we wait for Grid Legends, these are the best racing games out there now.

Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

Read more
JDM Japanese Drift Master
The Initial D-inspired open-world racing game that took over Steam Next Fest in 2023 finally launches this March
A decorated purple car speeding head-on down a road in Toyko Xtreme Racer
Tokyo Xtreme Racer is a novel throwback to classic PS2 racing games like Midnight Club, and I can't get enough of it
Tokyo Xtreme Racer
Cult classic racing series returns 18 years after its once-final entry on Xbox 360 to 95% overwhelmingly positive Steam reviews
A Mafia member sitting on the front of an old-fashioned car in Mafia: The Old Country
Mafia: The Old Country is one to watch for anyone who plans to obey traffic laws in GTA 6
Forza Horizon 5 the real deal reasonably priced car seasonal championship volvo 850 R racing
Forza Horizon 5 is the latest Xbox game to make the leap to PS5, and it's launching this spring with all of the same content and DLC
Need For Speed Unbound
The Need For Speed series is pumping the brakes as "Criterion are joining their colleagues working on Battlefield" instead of tuning more cars
Latest in Racing
A decorated purple car speeding head-on down a road in Toyko Xtreme Racer
Tokyo Xtreme Racer is a novel throwback to classic PS2 racing games like Midnight Club, and I can't get enough of it
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Nintendo knows you're waiting for Mario Kart 9, but it still wants you to run a million laps in Mario Kart 8 first
Wheel World
The spirit of Burnout Paradise lives on in this fabulous bicycle racing game from the makers of my favorite indie fighting game – a true Steam Next Fest gem
Sonic Racing CrossWorlds
Sonic Racing CrossWorlds announcement trailer proves Sega is coming for Mario Kart 9's throne with transforming cars and a closed beta this month
Need For Speed Unbound
The Need For Speed series is pumping the brakes as "Criterion are joining their colleagues working on Battlefield" instead of tuning more cars
Forza Horizon 5 the real deal reasonably priced car seasonal championship volvo 850 R racing
Forza Horizon 5 is the latest Xbox game to make the leap to PS5, and it's launching this spring with all of the same content and DLC
Latest in News
Jurassic Park Survival
As Jurassic Park Survival, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, and the Star Wars KOTOR remake remain MIA, Saber CEO promises "everything that we have talked about is still in development"
Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Zero Dawn star Ashly Burch responds to Sony's controversial AI Aloy by pushing for actor protections: "You have to compensate us fairly, and you have to tell us how you're using this AI"
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f's ESRB rating has zero chill: "Faces ripped apart," "a character burned alive inside a cage," and "entrails and sinew displayed on serving platters"
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f writer says many of the franchise's female characters experience "a great deal of suffering," so he wants his protagonist "to be able to make her own decisions, for better or for worse"
Starship Troopers
District 9 filmmaker Neil Blomkamp is working on a Starship Troopers reboot that goes back to the original 1959 novel
Nova's helmet sitting among rubble
Jonathan Hickman will "revolutionize Marvel's galactic canon" in a new event that brings in the Hulks, Black Panther, Nova, and more