Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a 2010 racing video game developed by British games developer Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Wii, iOS, Android, webOS and Windows Phone. The Wii version was developed by Exient Entertainment. Hot Pursuit is the sixteenth Need for Speed title and was released in November 2010, with digital download versions released within December 2010.

Hot Pursuit's gameplay is set in the fictional Seacrest County, in which players can compete in several types of races. Players can also compete online (except in the Wii version), which includes additional game modes such as Hot Pursuit, Interceptor and Race. The game features a new social interaction system called "Autolog", which is a network that connects friends for head-to-head races and compares player stats for competition. The game also features paid downloadable content in the form of new cars, new race and pursuit events, and new trophies/achievements. As of 07/30/2012, the Web Dashboard for Autolog was shutdown for all games except Need for Speed: Most Wanted.[8]

Hot Pursuit was well received by critics at E3 2010 and was most notably awarded with "Best Racing Game" from the 2010 Game Critics Awards as well as several other media outlets. Upon its release, Hot Pursuit was met with high critical acclaim averaging 90% on both review aggregate websites Metacritic and GameRankings, making it the highest-rated game in Need for Speed series history and one of the seventh generation's highest-rated racing games. It won several Best Racing Game awards, including Best Driving Game at Spike’s 2010 Video Game Awards. The game also won a BAFTA Award for its Autolog multiplayer component. Critics praised the game’s graphics, visuals, crashes, sound and soundtrack, excellent presentation, dramatic races, high-speed chases as well as the new Autolog feature and that it brought the series back to its roots.