Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed Announced — Family-Friendly Arcade Fun or Another Tie-In?

Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed Is Coming – Here’s What Actually Matters

Mattel and GameMill are bringing Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed to Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on October 24, 2025. This one is based on the Netflix series (not Milestone’s excellent Hot Wheels Unleashed games), which immediately set off two thoughts in my head: good news for families who watch the show, and a big question mark for everyone who fell in love with Unleashed’s finely tuned physics and massive content pool.

• Release date: October 24, 2025; £34.99/€39.99 base, £39.99/€49.99 Deluxe.
• Local four-player split-screen confirmed; no mention of online play.
• 12 tracks at launch, a track builder, and boss showdowns.
• Developed by Bamtang Games, published by GameMill – expectations should be calibrated.

Breaking Down the Announcement

This is a straight-up arcade racer built around the Let’s Race cartoon: you can play as Coop, Spark, Mac, Brights, Axle, and Cruise; drive Hot Wheels icons like GT-Scorcher, Super Twin Mill, Roger Dodger, and Duck N’ Roll; and blast through 12 over-the-top tracks pulled from the show. There are boss battles (Professor Rearview’s giant cobra and a fire-breathing dragon), which sounds like a throwback to Diddy Kong Racing/Crash Team Racing-style set pieces – potentially awesome if tuned well, a rubber-banding nightmare if not.

Modes include Racing Camp (sounds like a story/campaign), Cup Champ (championship cups), Speed Trials (time trials), Track Builder, and Free Races. Four-player local split-screen is confirmed, which I genuinely love — couch chaos is perfect for Hot Wheels. But here’s the red flag: there’s no mention of online multiplayer or even track sharing online. In 2025, that omission speaks volumes unless clarified later.

The Real Story: Who Is This For?

Everything about the pitch screams family-friendly and kid-first. That’s not a dig — sometimes “accessible” is exactly what a game needs to be. Bamtang has experience with kid-focused racing tie-ins (notably the Nickelodeon Kart Racers series), and when they keep scope manageable, they can deliver straightforward, playable fun. If your household is into the Netflix show, being able to jump in as Coop and crew with pick-up-and-play handling could be a win.

But if you’re coming from Hot Wheels Unleashed and Unleashed 2, temper your expectations. Milestone’s physics, robust creation suite, and online ecosystem were the secret sauce — plus dozens of tracks at launch. Ultimate Speed has 12 tracks out of the gate. That’s thin by 2025 standards unless those tracks are dense with shortcuts, alternate routes, and remix variants, and unless the track builder truly picks up the slack. The press materials don’t say anything about sharing tracks online, which could make the editor more of a local toy box than a community hub.

Price, DLC, and the GameMill Factor

The base price lands at a mid-tier £34.99/€39.99, with a Digital Deluxe at £39.99/€49.99 that includes the High Voltage Speed DLC Pack (extra cars, track parts, decals). You can also buy that DLC standalone for £12.99/€14.99 at launch. Day-one DLC raises eyebrows, especially when the base game lists only 12 tracks. If “track parts” are gated behind a DLC paywall, that stings for builders right out of the box. On the flip side, the entry price is lower than full retail, which softens the blow — a fair trade if the core racing feels great and the campaign modes have legs.

We also have to talk about GameMill. The publisher’s catalog is all over the place. They’ve shipped some fun crowd-pleasers for fans, and they’ve also shipped licensed clunkers. The safe takeaway: wait for hands-on impressions. I want to see whether the Switch version holds a stable frame rate (even 30fps is fine for a family racer if it’s locked) and whether PS5/Series X|S deliver 60fps. If the marketing is touting “fast, fluid controls,” performance targets matter.

What Gamers Should Watch For

• Online features: Are there online races, leaderboards for Speed Trials, or online track sharing? Silence here is not reassuring.
• Handling model: Is it truly pick-up-and-play for kids while offering enough nuance to keep parents engaged? Assist options would help.
• Content density: With 12 tracks, are there mirrored variants, weather, or dynamic hazards? Boss encounters should add variety, not padding.
• Split-screen performance: Four-player couch play is only fun if the frame rate doesn’t crater.
• Track builder depth: Can you actually create the wild loops and boosters Hot Wheels fans expect without paying for DLC parts?

There’s plenty to like on paper — a kid-approved cast, classic Hot Wheels rides, and a builder that could keep creative racers busy. I’m cautiously optimistic about the boss battles adding flavor and the Racing Camp mode giving families a structured progression path. But without clarity on online and creation sharing, and with a relatively small track list, the ceiling here might be “solid weekend fun” rather than a long-term staple.

TL;DR

Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed looks like a family-friendly arcade racer aimed squarely at fans of the Netflix series. Local four-player and a track builder are promising, but only 12 tracks and no stated online features give me pause. At a mid-tier price with day-one DLC, this could be a good pick for younger players — everyone else should wait for reviews and performance details.