However, in 2001, Universal Studios released the hit action film The Fast and the Furious, which brought the import tuner culture to mainstream audiences. Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (along with Need for Speed: High Stakes and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2) also allowed players to play as the cops stopping the racers III even began a popular sub-series of NFS entries focusing heavily on the police pursuits.

With the exceptions of Need for Speed II and the Porsche-focused Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, the games often involved police chases to spice up the action. The first era of Need for Speed, consisting of the first six entries in the franchise, followed a simple premise to give players the opportunity to race some of the world's most exotic sports cars in a variety of scenic environments.

As of 2020, Criterion Games, the developers of the Burnout franchise and two NFS entries, are the franchise's current primary developers. Although at least 150 million copies of NFS games have been sold, making it the best-selling racing game franchise to date, it has seen multiple changes throughout the years and no less than three reboots. However, when the franchise was taken over by Ghost Games in 2013 (with the release of Need for Speed Rivals), new games in the series are now released biennially in odd-numbered years. From Need for Speed's second iteration in 1997 until 2013, the series has seen new releases every year ( except 2001), usually aimed at the holiday period, reflecting the game's broad popularity. The series is characterized by an arcade approach to the racing genre, often featuring police chases, street-style car customization and humorous, over-the-top characters.

Need for Speed was created by Canadian developer Distinctive Software before an EA buyout in 1991. Need for Speed is a multi-platform racing game franchise developed by Electronic Arts.

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