"Sunset Overdrive" was one of the first Xbox One exclusives shown at Microsoft's press conference at E3 2013. The first gameplay details were shown by gaming magazine "Edge" in May 2014. A gameplay demo and a release date announcement happened at E3 2014. On November 15, 2018, it was said that the game would be released for both Windows 10 and Steam on November 16, 2018 without the multiplayer. THQ Nordic published the game's retail version. Microsoft kept its digital publishing rights.