The defining feature of Driver: San Francisco is Shift, an ability that allows protagonist Tanner to teleport instantly between any vehicle in the game world without interrupting active missions. Inspired partly by the concept behind Google Earth's seamless zoom, Shift was conceived as a way to return the series to its vehicle-focused roots. Earlier entries had introduced the ability to exit and enter vehicles on foot, but the developers felt that mechanic had become ubiquitous across action games and chose to replace it entirely with something more distinctive.
The game world represents a fictionalized San Francisco and the Bay Area, featuring recognizable geography including the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The map encompasses approximately 208 miles of roads. Players drive a roster of 140 licensed, fully damageable vehicles drawn from manufacturers including Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Dodge, Ford, Lamborghini, McLaren, and Pagani. The game runs at 60 frames per second.
Multiplayer, appearing for the first time in the Driver series, supports both split-screen and online play across 19 game modes. The game also includes a film director mode for recording and sharing gameplay footage.
The Wii edition features a separate storyline set as a prequel to the original Driver, replacing the Shift mechanic with on-the-road gunplay. Players can wield an SMG, pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, and RPG while driving, each upgradeable across clip size, reload speed, and damage. The Wii version also supports local multiplayer for up to four players and a unique DS-connectivity feature allowing a second player to assist via download play using a Nintendo DS, DSi, or 3DS.
The main storyline follows John Tanner, a San Francisco police detective who falls into a coma after a devastating traffic crash while pursuing escaped criminal Charles Jericho. Within the coma, Tanner discovers he can inhabit the bodies of other drivers across the city, retaining his own memories while taking on another person's appearance. He uses this ability to investigate Jericho's plan from within a dream world that mirrors real events. The story blends police procedural and psychological thriller elements in a manner unusual for a driving game, with the Shift power serving both as a gameplay mechanic and as a narrative device.
The game was in development for approximately five years. A new Driver project was confirmed in production at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show, and Ubisoft later acquired the series from Atari. Development was led by Reflections, with contributions from Ubisoft studios in Vancouver, Kyiv, Shanghai, and Montreal. Series founder Martin Edmondson returned to Reflections for the project after having temporarily left the games industry in 2004.
The audio was mixed at Pinewood Studios and includes 60 licensed songs alongside an original score by Marc Canham, who also produced a new version of the classic Driver theme. The soundtrack spans funk, hip hop, electronic, alternative rock, and hard rock.
Driver: San Francisco was released on 30 August 2011 in North America for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with the Windows version following on 27 September. A Mac OS X port arrived in March 2012. A collector's edition available in PAL territories included a die-cast replica of Tanner's 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, a city map, and exclusive multiplayer and single-player content.
Driver: San Francisco received generally favorable reviews, earning nominations and awards including Best Driving Game at E3 2010 from Ripten and Best Racing Game at E3 2011 from Machinima. Ubisoft reported in its fall 2011 quarterly financial report that sales had exceeded internal targets.
Critics praised the game's inventive Shift mechanic and its commitment to a distinctive vision. The Daily Telegraph awarded the Xbox 360 version four out of five stars, noting that the game "works because it's daft, rather than in spite of it." The Guardian similarly awarded four stars, describing it as "a joyous sandbox in which you can drive like a lunatic."
On 9 December 2016, Driver: San Francisco was delisted from digital storefronts after its vehicle licenses expired, making it unavailable for purchase online. A fan petition has sought to have Ubisoft restore the game's availability, though no action had been taken as of its removal.