The game was released in North America in June 2009 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows.

[4] In the free roaming mode, the game features the ability to drive anywhere in the game world without incurring loading times, but crashing a vehicle – or invoking the reset function to return to the road – does invoke a loading screen.

[4] Fuel is an open world racing game set in a Mad Max-like post-apocalyptic world ravaged by extreme weather fueled by global warming, with players experiencing varying weather effects such as occasional tornadoes and sandstorms, as well as an accelerated day-night cycle.

Fuel evolved from a game Asobo Studio announced in 2005, called Grand Raid Offroad.

[23][24] In Japan, where the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were ported for release on 17 September 2009,[16][29] Famitsu gave it a score of one eight, one six, one eight, and one six for a total of 28 out of 40,[15] while Famitsu X360 gave the latter console version two sevens, one eight, and one seven for a total of 29 out of 40.