After winning a couple of street races, Yaz has a disagreement with Rydell over a car and grows tired of being stuck in the same job daily, and wishes to do something better.
She tells the player she was contacted by her friend in the foster system, Alec about some jobs involving delivering vehicles, challenging the authority of the city's police force under the control of Mayor Morgan Stevenson (voiced by Debra Wilson).
Yaz suddenly shows up and the player discovers that she is part of the crew that stole the rides and is responsible for the resurgence of street racing in Lakeshore.
Tess records the interaction and ensures that Yaz accepts the condition of relinquishing the car on the final race, and the video goes viral.
Tess informs both of them that Alec wants to cut a deal with all three where neither the player nor Yaz wins but both will be paid handsomely for throwing the race.
Reconciling for the moment, Yaz proposes relieving Alec of all his car collection, which he acquired illegally through Tess and the player, including the ones stolen from Rydell's garage, and delivering them to their rightful owners.
It features an open world environment and gameplay similar to that of previous entries in the series, being mainly focused around street racing.
[5] Additionally, the game features various forms of customization such as installing various body kits, adding a splitter, and even completely removing the front or rear bumpers.
The game was originally going to be released in 2021 but was pushed back to 2022 as the team was temporarily reassigned to assist the development of Battlefield 2042.
[13] Additionally, fans also noticed that promotional images of the game had been released early on the Japanese retailer Neowing's website.
[18] Unbound also received a special collaborative deluxe release with UK-based streetwear and lifestyle brand Palace.
Its final content update, "Volume 9: Lockdown", released on 25 November 2024, adding drivable motorbikes for the first time in the franchise with the BMW S1000RR.