Star Wars: Galactic Racer is the debut title by Fuse Games, an independent studio based in Guildford, founded by former Criterion Games staff who worked on Burnout and Need for Speed. Since 2023, the team has been working on Star Wars: Galactic Racer, the first Star Wars racing game since 2002’s Racer Revenge.
For an independent studio, landing an IP as seismic as Star Wars as their debut project must be a dream come true.
However, the team is no stranger to Lucasfilm’s space saga. At Criterion, the team supported DICE, developing the vehicle sections for EA’s Battlefront shooter series. This experience helped forge links between Fuse and Lucasfilm.
“We thought, we share a love of racing and Star Wars – why has there not been a Star Wars racing game in so long?” CEO Matt Webster explained to Traxion.
“Fortunately, we spent some time working on Star Wars games in the past, so we have relationships there and we can ask those sorts of questions. Which leads us to where we are now.”
“It’s quite a privilege being able to ring up Lucasfilm and be like, hey, we think this is a cool thing,” Creative Director Kieran Crimmins added. “One, they’ll pick up the call, and they’ll take us seriously because of the pedigree.”
“From their point of view, you’re looking to partner up with people who know what they’re doing in a particular genre. So, folks who know what they’re doing inside racing taking on a Star Wars racing game is very attractive,” said Webster.
“We wanted to breathe some new life into racing”
Before joining Fuse, Crimmins was the creative director of Need for Speed Unbound at Criterion, and worked on numerous games in the franchise, including Hot Pursuit and the 2012 Most Wanted game.
Webster, meanwhile, started working with Criterion as an Executive Producer for Burnout 3: Takedown at EA when the developer was being acquired by the publisher. With EA publishing the title and a switch in focus to takedowns, the third entry saw the series’ popularity soar.
“I’ve got a theory that three is the magic number,” Webster reflected on Burnout 3. “If you look through gaming history, the third game has generally been the breakout with GTA 3, Assassins 3, SSX3 and Burnout 3.
“With game one, the team is finding itself. With game two, you’re finding your feet. You know what’s hooked with people. Game three is where those things coalesce.
“Sometimes you don’t see game one and two, so a game that feels like it’s come out of nowhere hasn’t really. There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Generally, it’s people that have been working away at their craft for years. You just don’t get to see it.”
Burnout Paradise took the series to new heights, introducing an open world long before Forza Horizon popularised the genre.
“It was bonkers,” said Webster. “It was really difficult to make that because we were mad. With every game, we wanted to make it bigger and innovate.”
It may not be set in a sprawling open world like Burnout Paradise, but Star Wars: Galactic Racer looks set to be the team’s most ambitious game yet. It introduces deep customisation, multiple boosting systems that utilise the environment, and an intriguing, roguelite-style campaign structure.
Burnout’s DNA can be seen in the takedowns and spectacular crashes. But if you wreck too many times in the campaign, you must restart the current tour, using credits and tuning points earned in events to improve your vehicle for the next run.
“We wanted to breathe some new life into racing,” Webster explained about this unconventional structure. “It’s largely been car collection structures for the last 10 or 15 years. Racing games thrive on replayability.”
“You’ve got consequential decision-making and consequence in the racing. That’s something that’s been missing in racing games for a while,” he continued. “Even crashing itself has been largely inconsequential in a racing experience. We had that spectacle when we did Burnout and Need for Speed, but it largely ends there.”
For more on Star Wars: Galactic Racer, check out our full hands-on preview.