This dystopian world has been overrun by mutants called the OD, short for Overcharge Drinkers. Players navigate a metropolis called Sunset City in the year 2027. Sunset Overdrive is an action-adventure game set in a third-person perspective. The game's world, Sunset City, is portrayed with vibrant colors. In Sunset Overdrive, players can grind rails to navigate the game's world. The game was supported with multiple pieces of downloadable content, including the story-based The Mystery of the Mooil Rig and Dawn of the Rise of the Fallen Machine, after the game's release. It received numerous nominations, including Best Xbox Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications. However, the game was criticized for the lack of a compelling story or innovative quest design. The game received generally positive reviews, with praise for its visuals, traversal system, combat system, and humor. A Windows version, developed by Blind Squirrel Games, was released in November 2018. It was announced at E3 2013, and released worldwide for Xbox One in October 2014. Sunset Overdrive uses Insomniac's internal engine, previously used in Fuse. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic future, but the team depicted it as an 'awesomepocalypse' that turns the game's initial world depiction into a 'playground' for players. Insomniac described the game as a 'celebration of games', as the team took inspiration from different sources, including Prince of Persia, Jet Set Radio and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, though at its early stage of development the team took inspirations from DayZ instead.

After the project was green-lit internally, the studio partnered with Microsoft Studios, which helped fund the game and allowed Insomniac to keep the rights to the franchise. The development of the game began in 2011 when Insomniac completed Resistance 3. As the game puts emphasis on momentum, the game does not feature any cover system. The game also has a cooperative multiplayer mode called Chaos Squad, which tasks players to complete a series of missions with seven players. In the dystopian Sunset City, the player character can wall-run, use zip-lines, and grind rails to swiftly navigate through it, with a large arsenal of weapons to use. The player controls an employee of FizzCo, who has to fight off the OD, short for Overcharge Drinkers: humans who have turned into mutants after drinking FizzCo's energy drink beverage. The game is set in 2027, in a fictional metropolis called Sunset City. Sunset Overdrive is an action-adventure shooter video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Microsoft Studios.