The Big Star Wars: Galactic Racer Interview — Why It's Not Open World, How Its Story Mode Works, and When It's Set

Following past week's Star Wars: Galactic Racer gameplay trailer reveal, I sat down with the game's makers for an in-depth chat revealing its caller systems and communicative mode, and a due treatment connected wherefore this marks the triumphant instrumentality of track-based racing, aft truthful galore unfastened satellite games.

Galactic Racer is the archetypal task from British workplace Fuse Games, which was founded successful 2023 by a halfway of erstwhile colleagues from Criterion, the beloved set down Burnout and aboriginal Need for Speed titles, earlier it got gobbled up to go portion of Battlefield Studios.

Now, arsenic Fuse Games' squad races towards a postulation far, acold away, I caught up with its CEO and laminitis Matt Webster, positive originative manager Kieran Crimmins, for an intriguing chat connected what's to come.

Obviously you've been announced for a small portion now, but I've been looking guardant to seeing much from the infinitesimal Fuse Games was announced, considering your agelong practice astatine Criterion. And the crippled looks great, from what I've seen of it.

Matt Webster: Was it on the lines of what you imagined?

Well, I retrieve you did that GI interview and you were benignant of hedging your bets connected what genre of crippled you were going to beryllium moving on... And I was like, 'they're intelligibly making a racing game, I don't adjacent cognize wherefore they're pretending.'

Kieran Crimmins: [Laughs] We've made spaceship worldly before, truthful that was possible. It's not [what we're making] but possible. Who were we kidding!

Maybe you were moving connected different Battlefield game! But astir apt not.

Crimmins: [Laughs] Yeah, just enough.

I had tons of questions astir what benignant of racer you guys were readying to marque — unfastened satellite oregon not, and we'll get onto that. But erstwhile you made that announcement astir archetypal mounting up, did you person an outline of what you wanted to make? What was that travel similar from leaving Criterion to the announcement of Star Wars?

Webster: We thought we were going truly fast, but we're 3 years aged now.

Crimmins: That's brainsick it, you've made full games successful that clip before. [But] we've ne'er acceptable up studios successful that time.

Webster: That is true. Where this comes from is, archetypal of all, a shared emotion of racing and a shared emotion of Star Wars. But erstwhile there's a caller studio, caller team, caller tech, caller creative... each clip there's new, you've got an constituent of risk. So erstwhile we're reasoning astir it astatine workplace level going, 'well, okay, good however bash you mitigate immoderate of those risks?' We tin mitigate tech hazard by utilizing Unreal oregon technologies that exist. We tin mitigate radical hazard by moving with immoderate folks that we already cognize and we tin mitigate immoderate originative hazard by playing successful immoderate things that we already know. So I conjecture it's a substance of those two, but the much you deliberation astir it, you past say, 'okay, wherefore hasn't determination been a Star Wars racing crippled for truthful long?'

"We ever play to our strengths..."“

Crimmins: Yeah, I mean evidently we kicked astir a clump of concepts due to the fact that that's bully crippled making. You privation to deliberation astir what you're doing. We ever play to our strengths. We've got a definite sensibilities of however we similar to marque games. I'm definite if you've played immoderate of what we've worked connected that DNA is going to beryllium contiguous here, arsenic it is successful everything we do. And that's 1 of the things that the workplace is based, that communal knowing and agelong past of shared emotion for definite types of mechanics and experiences astir thrilling, accelerated arcade racing games. [And past determination was that] shared emotion for the Star Wars universe... we were like, 'oh my gosh, ideate each the things that we emotion but really transferred into determination arsenic good arsenic the practice of the movies with podracing oregon each the racing experiences successful there.

Anyway, erstwhile you enactment that together, it was reasonably evident that was astir apt going to beryllium the champion crippled we could marque for our archetypal game. It would conscionable beryllium the champion crippled that we could marque afloat stop. And past we took that to our partners successful Lucasfilm, due to the fact that we worked with them before, we cognize them, truthful we could say, 'Hey guys, what bash you deliberation of this thing?' And they fundamentally said the aforesaid happening backmost to america wherever they were like, 'yeah, we are truly excited astir this stuff. We emotion that worldly that you doing. That perfectly makes consciousness for us.' And arsenic soon arsenic you person that benignant of communal excitement, it's like, we've got to marque this happen.

It sounds similar determination was a benignant of communal appreciation determination from Lucasfilm.

Webster: Well, we've got a shared history. I deliberation our archetypal [time connected Star Wars was] erstwhile we were astatine Criterion, I retrieve the folks astatine DICE were like, 'we deliberation it's an intolerable mission, but if anyone tin bash it, you can,' and it was speeder bikes done Endor, conscionable that fantasy. We've each got it successful our heads. And truthful we conscionable approached that arsenic we would bash delivering connected immoderate fantasies. Our erstwhile fantasies utilized to beryllium sports car fantasies. Well, the champion mode astir the country for maine was ever each 4 wheels smoking and sideways with a large grin connected your face. We enactment connected those levels, and arsenic Kieran was saying earlier, there's that shared appreciation of the benignant of acquisition we privation to do, but that past conscionable means something.

And past done to the [Star Wars Battlefront Rogue One] X-Wing VR ngo [a escaped VR add-on to Star Wars Battlefront], which was 1 of our astir favourite things to bash and was truly wonderful. There's intelligibly an appreciation of the enactment and that goes a agelong way. So I deliberation there's the gathering of those 2 things together, radical with an knowing of however some sides work, a communal respect of 1 different and a tendency to spell and execute connected thing that looks similar a fantastic opportunity. It's a large starting point.

You mentioned a question determination that I'd emotion to inquire backmost to you, which is: wherefore hasn't determination been a Star Wars racer successful truthful long? Is it that you guys weren't free, you were engaged making Battlefield?

Webster: Maybe! I dunno, the evident answers are lone evident erstwhile they exist, I suppose. For america astatine least, there's that happening of 'can we marque a Star Wars racing game?' And past there's the 'okay, good what should we do?' Because I deliberation we wanted to bash things a small otherwise oregon we wanted to bash thing different, and that extends to what you are racing. Some of the mechanics wrong racing we privation to bring immoderate caller beingness into, arsenic good arsenic it being a Star Wars racing experience. I can't reply the question of however travel nary 1 other has thought astir it? Maybe it's a question of timing. But erstwhile we had that, it was like, 'okay, however tin we bash thing antithetic with racing and Star Wars?'

Crimmins: Yeah, it's funny. I spot it much similar the clip was close present alternatively than the clip was incorrect before. You're close we were connected different projects, we were talking astir different things and I'm definite determination were different teams moving different things, but it's that weird happening of some luck and timing. Whenever you marque a video game, it's a substance of truthful galore elements. It's a small spot hard to get the lightning successful the bottle, but erstwhile we did this little and we got this together, we were like, 'this is the cleanable clip to marque this thing.' And I judge we're the cleanable workplace to marque it.

You mentioned wanting to bash things successful a Star Wars racer that haven't been done before. We got a look astatine gameplay past week but what much tin you accidental astir what you are doing, and besides however radical acquainted with your past enactment mightiness consciousness that DNA successful this?

Webster: Well, you'll beryllium the champion justice of that. It should travel done instantly what we're aiming for present successful presumption of the experience, [addressing] that successful immoderate ways HD players person been a small spot underserved by conscionable immoderate kickass way racing experiences. We emotion those types of games. We emotion making them, we emotion playing them, but we wanted to bring a modern presumption connected what that acquisition could be. You touched connected it a small spot earlier astir unfastened world, but we wanted to really travel backmost to tracks. There's a batch of large worldly astir tracks successful that I replay, my mastery of a circuit comes from replayability, and we decidedly are leaning into that from a crippled operation perspective. That designation and the repetition and the familiarity of racing circuits, gets you extracurricular immoderate of the compromises you mightiness marque erstwhile you bash an unfastened satellite racing game. We knew we wanted to travel backmost into delivering that benignant of acquisition for a modern subordinate astatine 4K 60 with conscionable truly ace beardown visuals successful a postulation far, acold away.

But similar I said, we privation to bash things differently. So however tin we breed immoderate innovation successful racing? We're doing that successful a mates of ways we tin interaction into. One is the mechanical boost system. Boost has been successful and astir racing games forever. Press the button, spell fast, devour the boost, and you've got a benignant of a tactical decision-making going connected there. But we wanted to bash thing more. So we person a two-phase boost system. The 2nd signifier is thing called a ramjet, which conscionable goes really, really, truly fast, but it's got a effect excessively — it generates a load of heat, and if tally it for excessively long, you're going to explode. So you've got effect there. You've got a 2nd signifier of tactical determination making going on. And much importantly, it ties into Star Wars locations. So erstwhile we deliberation astir wherever we contention successful Star Wars, the locations are characters successful amongst themselves.

"So we person a two-phase boost system..."“

We each cognize them by sanction — Hoth, Endor, Jakku, Tatooine — and we truly wanted to bring that successful arsenic an integral portion of the game. So the situation has a tactical portion to play successful presumption of your racing, and it plays its portion successful the ramjet. So successful Lantaana — a lush, tropical rainforest vibe connected an progressive volcano land satellite — we've got rivers of lava and rivers of water, blistery and cold. And truthful you person those decisions — the biology vigor helps get my ramjet up to operating temperature, but it's evidently going to get it hotter, quicker. I tin besides chill the ramjet, moving it for longer implicit the colder water. And that's conscionable a small illustration of a mechanical alteration that we're getting radical reasoning otherwise astir [as they're making] their racing enactment choices astatine a 2nd to 2nd level.

Crimmins: Yeah, this is astir apt the archetypal crippled we've made wherever the racing enactment tin beryllium that adaptable depending connected the conveyance you're driving, the benignant of physique you've got wrong that vehicle, and the environment. This is simply a crippled wherever determination isn't conscionable 1 racing line, there's the 1 for your existent situation, which means each clip you be the galactic circuit it's a antithetic acquisition and a antithetic acceptable of things that you're reasoning about. There's rather a batch determination and we're not talking astir each of it now, but precocious level, we privation to marque an arcade racing acquisition that's richer than it's ever been earlier with much options and much things to bash than ever before. I truly deliberation we've got immoderate absorbing worldly successful this crippled that I've surely ne'er done successful a video game, and I don't deliberation I've seen it successful different racing games either.

Webster: While not losing that essence of delivering a racing aviator phantasy from 2nd one, [where you] prime up the path, person a large time, but due to the fact that you'll cognize from our past and the mode we spell astir engineering things, you've got a beauteous precocious accomplishment ceiling determination for players that truly privation to thrust for mastery truthful we tin enactment a truly wide scope of play motivations.

You've fixed immoderate large reasons for this to beryllium a way racer, but I wanted to get your thoughts connected unfastened satellite racing, which you've got a batch of past with too. It was truly absorbing to spot the statement astir it going connected past twelvemonth — sparked by Mario Kart World, which evidently is simply a precise antithetic benignant of racer — but I saw a batch of radical travel retired and suggest determination was a nostalgia for a track-based experience. Have you noticed that too? Did it assistance you consciousness much emboldened with your approach?

Crimmins: [Laughs] I didn't announcement that, but I would accidental this... I did play each those games and felt each those things. I perfectly emotion making unfastened satellite races. I've made a bunch, there's plentifulness much successful me, I look guardant to doing immoderate of those astatine immoderate point. I perfectly emotion way basal races, immoderate of my favourite aboriginal games way based races, and I deliberation there's fantastic experiences to beryllium had there.

Has unfastened satellite reached a constituent wherever it's conscionable been done a lot?

Crimmins: I don't deliberation it's arsenic elemental arsenic that overall. I deliberation there's large fun, innovation and things to bash successful some of those spaces. And I certainly, if I spell to plan a crippled oregon representation a game, I'm going to prime the mentation that does the happening that we privation the champion alternatively than I privation this 1 oregon I privation this one. In this crippled we truly wanted thing that was truly replayable, thing that truly had that large replay loop, thing that each clip you replayed it, you felt similar you got thing caller retired of it.

It is weird, I can't retrieve who wrote it but determination was an nonfiction astir 'why aren't racing games similar shooters, wherefore is the innovation different?' I deliberation it's due to the fact that racers, you conscionable request much worldly to bash successful the contention successful the second-to-second. We talked astir the tactical furniture of the ramjet strategy and however that works with the boost, but I deliberation that goes crossed the committee with the full genre. It utilized to beryllium a very, precise innovative genre, but it's hard to propulsion innovation successful a abstraction wherever your cognitive load is reasonably tiny due to the fact that you're successful a benignant of dynamic strategy of wherever you're moving around. Getting that close is simply a batch harder than different games. I conscionable similar to spot really, truly large experiences that truly tighten focus. Then that's what we privation to marque here.

The crushed we're a track-based racer is due to the fact that we wanted to person that replayability loop that expands implicit time. All those benefits radical larn successful the tracks, the much they play, learning the handling, that familiarity getting them amended alternatively than conscionable a monolithic smorgasbord of a thing, which is simply a somewhat antithetic benignant of 'play with the toys' experience. This is precocious consequence, precocious action, precocious replayability and thing that creates subordinate stories that you wouldn't person seen successful different games. And I don't deliberation we could bash that if we would spell successful and say, okay, we're besides going to bash this unfastened satellite thing. That's a full acceptable of antithetic challenges.

Webster: You're right, and you tin besides say, well, this is the Galactic League, right? This is sport, and we've seen racing arsenic an enactment and arsenic a athletics successful Star Wars has been astir successful galore forms, right? Episode 1's podracing we each cognize and love, Bad Batch's riot racing successful Season 2 was conscionable awesome. Star Wars Resistance has got the Aces and low-altitude starfighter racing. Racing arsenic a athletics and enactment is thing that's wrong Star Wars, and tracks lend themselves to that truly good astatine an enactment level. And the different happening we recognize much broadly is we are wrong Star Wars. And Star Wars fans crave the characters and a story.

So we wanted to spell determination arsenic well, successful a mode that frames the racing action. So, you play arsenic a quality who is racing, arsenic opposed to it being a racing game. We've made plentifulness of racing games wherever you're conscionable a faceless silhouette successful a car. Now you're inhabiting Shade, you're a canonical caller Star Wars character. You locomotion down 1 of the shots successful the trailer, you're walking down the ramp of your starship, you're going into a paddock. And this is truly absorbing summation present wherever the paddock gives america a place, a debased strength abstraction wherever we tin get up adjacent with our Star Wars stuff, we tin determination a communicative on, we tin spot characters wrong there. It gives america a debased strength abstraction arsenic a counterpoint and a opposition to the ace precocious strength racing. And I deliberation it's a truly important favoritism for america present arsenic we telephone this a racing adventure.

In the trailer, we spot Shade interacting with different characters successful that area. So to beryllium clear, it's not conscionable a spot for cutscenes betwixt races. There is an country wherever you tin locomotion astir alternatively than thrust astir and interact with characters.

Crimmins: In those spaces, yeah, you tin locomotion around, interact with characters, you tin physique rivalries, you tin upgrade your plethora of skimmers and person immoderate bully quality moments arsenic well, due to the fact that arsenic Matt said, this is the communicative of the Galactic Racing League and Shade coming to that and to archer that story, we needed immoderate clip with the characters arsenic well.

It is funny, I wasn't reasoning astir it arsenic a cardinal innovation due to the fact that it's benignant of a no-brainer. This is simply a Star Wars racing game, and we wanted to person a due single-player mode successful determination wherever we could really archer a communicative successful this satellite of what this Galactic Racing league is and immerse radical successful the authentic Star Wars satellite with some acquainted characters and a plethora of caller characters arsenic well. We had to person a abstraction wherever you're capable to bash that and we're a gameplay archetypal studio, truthful we didn't privation that to beryllium a cut-scene space.

"We learned making Burnout: you tin lone walk truthful agelong with your eyes connected stalks astatine 200 miles an hr — oregon successful our case, 400 miles an hour"“

We've shown podracers, but these things are similar 7 oregon 8 meters agelong and they're enormous, but you don't truly get that consciousness of standard unless you are walking astir them arsenic a quality and looking astir astatine each this beauteous item that we built into them. That abstraction serves truthful galore purposes for america successful presumption of arsenic an immersion space, arsenic a little intensity. We learned portion making Burnout: there's lone truthful agelong you tin walk with your eyes connected stalks astatine 200 miles an hr — oregon successful our case, 400 miles an hour. You request a decompressed moment. And the paddock does a superb occupation of allowing america that mechanics for america to bash each of those things.

I'm moving retired of time, but we've present seen Ben Quadinaros and Sebulba. Are determination immoderate much acquainted faces successful there?

Crimmins: There's going to beryllium a bully premix of acquainted faces and caller characters. Obviously we privation to get that premix right, truthful nary substance what benignant of Star Wars media you've engaged with, whether it beryllium a movie oregon game, there's a clump of familiarity successful determination erstwhile it comes to the space. Otherwise it wouldn't consciousness similar an authentic Star Wars experience.

Are you utilizing immoderate benignant of play walk model?

Webster: No. This is simply a premium release, right? We person our run and we person arcade mode and we person multiplayer, and it's a self-contained thing. But what we besides admit is that the scenery of Star Wars evolves and changes implicit clip and truthful bash games arsenic they go. So we spot an accidental for america to pat into much Star Wars oregon caller Star Wars implicit time, but successful presumption of america outlining what we deliberation station motorboat is going to look like, that's not thing that we see. The lone crushed I accidental a unsighted nary to it is, successful my head, play walk is connected to free-to-play games, and that's not what we are making.

Crimmins: Our mindset close present is simply a premium release, to effort and get an astonishing acquisition retired the box. Obviously we wouldn't adjacent the doorway to doing thing later, but that isn't what we are truly reasoning astir close now. We conscionable privation it to beryllium the precise champion crippled it tin be, and we privation it to beryllium implicit erstwhile it comes out.

People person been avidly moving retired erstwhile the crippled takes spot successful canon and according to Wookiepedia it's decidedly aft 5ABY due to the fact that of the crashed Star Destroyers pursuing the Battle of Jakku. How overmuch are you playing into the established canon? We've already seen Sebulba — and I accidental that was a astonishment to maine that he'd made it done the events of the trilogy alive. Will we find retired precisely erstwhile it's acceptable oregon does that not truly matter?

Webster: I don't deliberation it truly matters. As you say, you're connected Jakku aft the events of Return of the Jedi, the galactic civilian warfare is implicit and that's wherever athletics becomes a much absorbing opportunity. I don't deliberation we're ever circumstantial astir timeline beyond that.

I emotion Sebulba's beard, I conscionable wanted to say.

Crimmins: Old Bulba!

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social