Hot Pursuit's gameplay is set in the fictional Seacrest County, which is based on the American states of California, Oregon and Washington,[7] in which players can compete in several types of races.

Players can 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.

[9] The game takes place in a fictional location known as Seacrest County based on the West Coast subregion of the Western United States.

"[22] The title was confirmed to be in development by EA's chief operating officer, John Pleasants, at a Stock meeting in June 2009, where he stated: "We've taken the Burnout team and combined it with our Need for Speed franchise.

[25] EA's COO, John Schappert, said that the Q4 NFS title was, "a new action based Need for Speed from our Criterion Studio," in a post-financial report conference call.

[26] The title was officially revealed as Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit at EA's Media Briefing during E3 2010, with a trailer which showed a high-speed police chase involving three different racers.

The trailer was followed by a live demo of the game on stage between creative director Craig Sullivan as a cop and producer Matt Webster as a racer.

[28] In August 2010, before Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was set to take center stage at EA's press conference during Gamescom, it was announced by art director Henry LaBounta that Criterion collaborated with Battlefield creators EA Digital Illusions CE (DICE) in building the massive open world of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

"[31] EA stated that the combination of acclaimed developer Criterion Games, a socially-focused online mode and official car licences makes the franchise more accessible than before.

The game's musical score, which is usually played during the police pursuit events, was composed by Marios Takoushis and Vanesa Lorena Tate.

[36] As well as optionally using songs from the player's hard drive, several categories of licensed music are available for the game's racing, menu screens, and the photo mode.

The idea behind the challenge was that if the Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit launch trailer received one million views on YouTube by 12 December 2010, a free downloadable content (DLC) pack would be released with three new cars.

[42][43][better source needed] Criterion released the official second update for the consoles on 15 February 2011, addressing some minor issues and glitches.

The SCPD Rebels Pack, adds seven new cars previously available only in police variants to the Racer line-up, including the Audi R8 5.2 FSI and Aston Martin DBS.

The EA Crew Edition includes seven bonus racer cars; Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Edition, Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Lamborghini Reventon, Bugatti Veyron 16.4, Aston Martin DBS, and Audi R8 5.2 FSI (these vehicles were later released in the SCPD Rebels Pack).

[68] Notably, three vehicles that were in the original game, the 722 Edition and Stirling Moss models of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, and the Carbon Motors E7 Concept, are missing.

It then continued to Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin and Miami, ending with the Hot Pursuit launch party in Los Angeles.

[108] The third developer diary, released on 6 November 2010, details the specifics of Seacrest County's terrain and climate, as well as explaining day and night cycles.

[109] It was also released two video early in November that featured the game's Designer, he gave some tips on how to succeed in the Dark Horse and Roadsters Reborn events in the demo.

The cars and environments are gorgeous, the crashes are spectacular, and the new Autolog feature breathes new life into the time-honored tradition of video game competition among friends.

Reviewer Tom Bramwell said "It's stuffed with content but rarely for the sake of it, and knowing Criterion it will be handsomely supported for months to come, even though it's already the best pure arcade racing game since Burnout Paradise.

The reviewer stated Hot Pursuit was "excellently crafted, letting you take the world's fastest cars across miles of stunning landscapes.

Chases are exhilarating from either perspective, and the autolog feature completely changes how you compete with friends, keeping you hooked until you've wrecked all of their scores.

Chris stated that "with so many modes and diverse rewards to uncover in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, it almost feels like 2.5 games in one package.

"[133] Reviewer Tom Orry of VideoGamer gave the game 8 out of 10, and stated "the core driving is never anything but exhilarating, visually it's almost flawless and the Autolog features are genre leading.

"[151] GameSpot awarded the game 8.5 out of ten and said "This fast-paced racer keeps you glued to the TV and on the edge of your seat regardless of which side of the law you're playing on.

[159][160] In the US, Hot Pursuit was ranked number seven on NPD's sales charts for November 2010, outselling Sony's racing juggernaut Gran Turismo 5, which launched about a week later.

[167][168] "It's on a sharp uptick the last couple of years as we've driven high-quality titles ever higher in the charts, particularly in Europe but also in North America," John Riccitiello, EA CEO, said during the publisher's overnight Q3 earnings call.

[170] Early in November, analyst Mike Hickey also said he believed EA's Hot Pursuit could sell 4.2 million copies during the 2010 Christmas period.