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NIGHT-RUNNERS™ PROLOGUE
Descend into the underworld of Japanese street racing. Set between 1990-2009, join the local street racing crews in their battle for territory control. Explore the real location open world(s), compete in wager races, battle other crews and upgrade your vehicles with detailed car customization.
View on Steam ↗ Free (US · as of 2026-07-26)What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
77 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“This better actually release. This is what all of us have been wanting. A single player retro vibe, real/arcade mix and attitude. This is something the gaming world needs. Well done All i want is for the dev to not…”
“I'm not even a car person. But I did play the older NFS games when I was a kid/teen and enjoyed them a lot and this is the first racing game that caught my attention in over a decade. This is just a demo but It's still…”
“for a guy who played more hours than some the game is neat still in development, its fun keeps you busy sadly all the real updates are from Patrion. dont invest to much since steam's new rules will be coming so…”
49 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“This better actually release. This is what all of us have been wanting. A single player retro vibe, real/arcade mix and attitude. This is something the gaming world needs. Well done All i want is for the dev to not…”
“I'm not even a car person. But I did play the older NFS games when I was a kid/teen and enjoyed them a lot and this is the first racing game that caught my attention in over a decade. This is just a demo but It's still…”
“This demo is an extremely detailed, almost obsessive brainchild of passion and interest. There is an impressive and uncommon depth of knowledge surrounding aero designs, fine detail modelling, and this specific fringe…”
22 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I'm not even a car person. But I did play the older NFS games when I was a kid/teen and enjoyed them a lot and this is the first racing game that caught my attention in over a decade. This is just a demo but It's still…”
“The game is top tier, the graphics, style and music are just wow, I am really impressed. The music is awesome and the visuals are great too, although if you play for a long time your eyes might start to get tired. But…”
“The sound design and sense of speed is actually insane. Looking forward to the full release.”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“It runs ok on low settings on my upgraded optiplex workplace pc. Iun and challenging for 5gb. Only complaint: map/waypoint UI could need an update.”
“very good game, gives that 90svibe and aesthetics. There are countless modification options. Can't wait for more cars and modifications to be available. Will happily pay a price for this.”
“How is this game free? It's literally amazing, please don't stop updating this game, its genuinely a incredible old Japanese 90s-2000s tuner scene game. My only gripe is maybe the UI can be a bit confusing at times &…”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“project dis rlyy godness. wit the latest changes its clear game growing in terms of content and storyline. looking forward to the finish version.”
“Never felt so fast in a racing game a day in my life. They absolutely nailed the speed, the atmosphere, and you can feel the love they put into this game. Cannot wait for the full release. Big props to the devs for…”
“honestly living my ps2 midnight club nostalgia through this impeccable game. Keep up the good work i am in love with ewverything”
17 of the 103 reviews raise this · 14 of them still recommend the game.
“100% style over substance, I can't figure out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing and there's near 0 feedback for anything. Aesthetics can be refined later in development but if you're missing game design basics…”
“Honestly this has potential like the other reviews say but there are so many things wrong or I just suck. The map is barely readable but I also understand that it’s accurate but there should be at least one more zoom…”
“game is very eary stages, no clear direction on where to go or what to really do. Concept is cool but very hard to play at the time being.”
10 of the 103 reviews raise this · 10 of them still recommend the game.
“the game is good itself its just they limit you to two cars and thats kinda trash like i saw a r34 in the game and i really wanna drive one around but you cant get it and i cant beat the r34 in a race bc my car limits…”
“Very cool game, I love the aesthetic, wish there were more cars to choose from, but other than that it's amazing, I will 100% be paying for the full release”
“love the game just wish i could buy the other cars in the auction”
7 of the 103 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“Love the game but truck-kun keeps on touching me without consent. 100/10 though, would still play it.”
“The game is top tier, the graphics, style and music are just wow, I am really impressed. The music is awesome and the visuals are great too, although if you play for a long time your eyes might start to get tired. But…”
“-scrolling through the stream page cant find no good games -sees this one and gets it -crashed first time -second crashed while trying to load into drive -didnt crash till it froze going 210km/hs”
7 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“100% style over substance, I can't figure out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing and there's near 0 feedback for anything. Aesthetics can be refined later in development but if you're missing game design basics…”
“Honestly this has potential like the other reviews say but there are so many things wrong or I just suck. The map is barely readable but I also understand that it’s accurate but there should be at least one more zoom…”
“up garage blow off valve customization import your own livery toll card reader on engine start drift mechanics vary whether you use ebrake or hydro custom exhausts you can tell the dev knows ball the only thing this…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“for a guy who played more hours than some the game is neat still in development, its fun keeps you busy sadly all the real updates are from Patrion. dont invest to much since steam's new rules will be coming so…”
“game is very eary stages, no clear direction on where to go or what to really do. Concept is cool but very hard to play at the time being.”
“great game just lacking on getting it finished been waiting for a while now to see this game complete”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 95.2% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“If you're looking for a [b] hidden gem[/b] in the racing genre, this is it. NIGHT-RUNNERS is a [b] massive sleeper hit [/b]that delivers a soul-satisfying underground experience. ABSOLUTE CINEMA https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails?id=3704938546”
— a player, Steam review · 0 hrs played“The potential for this game is immense. As of now, unpolished but entertaining.”
— a player, Steam review · 1 hrs played“Best VHS style Japanese street racing game I’ve played - if they implemented drifting it would easily beat most”
— a player, Steam review · 1 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 14:10 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Patch v1.3 (Car Launch Bug Fix, New Songs, Chassis Rake, +more)
FIXES: - Fixed car launch/kickflip bug - Added 2 new Dazegxd songs; "way 2 good(idc)" and "won't tell nobody" - Increased AI speed - Added red neon - Increased car paint reflection brightness and impr
Patch v1.0611 (Better Car Paint, More Music FX Settings, Less Pop-in, +more)
FIXES: - Car paint improvements - Increased brightness - Made brightness settings look better and work better - Fixed handbrake input being activated during phone calls on certain input maps - Fixed b
Patch v1.023 (Reshade, Remappable Controls, Lowered AI grip/weight, +more)
FIXES: - New Reshade in driving area and Tatsumi PA - Added remappable controls - Fixed fast travel not stopping speed sometimes - Lowered AI grip/weight - Increased AI 'player avoid' - Improved Handl
PATCH v0.9995 (GPS Navigation, New Handling, Difficulty Slider, +more)
FIXES: - New livery Import system that should fix windows 11 crash - Added cheat to change crew ownership -> pause game when in PA, press 'EnterLocation' button(Y,TRIANGLE, F). Crew will change when y
Mini Patch v0.9981
Small fix patch just for the crew attack bug and some of the new settings not saving correctly. Bigger patch coming in
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.
| Genres | Racing, Simulation |
| Player tags | Racing · 1990's · Automobile Sim · Arcade · Sports · Atmospheric · RPG · Driving · Cinematic · Exploration · Stylized · Noir (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Full controller support |
| Languages | English * * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Estimated owners | 500,000 – 1,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/night-runners/night-runners |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS: Windows 10 Processor: AMD Ryzen 3 1200, Intel i5-4460 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: 2 GB (AMD R9 270, NVidia GTX 750) DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 8 GB available space Additional Notes: 1080p, 60fps, Low/Medium Settings. SSD Recommended.