Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He began at EA in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years developing iconic franchises such as Burnout and Need for Speed while at Criterion, the studio EA acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster, together with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant, decided to strike out on their own and launch the independent UK studio Fuse Games.
Three and a half years later the fledgling studio is poised to release its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, under the banner of the newly independent publisher Secret Mode. Galactic Racer arrives roughly 24 years after the last Star Wars‑themed racing game, 2002’s Racer Revenge, and it does so at a moment when the racing genre has generally slipped out of the spotlight. Recent industry news underscores this trend: Amazon abandoned a publishing agreement with UK studio Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating that the market simply didn’t have room for another racing game. Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has pivoted away from the genre entirely to focus on the Battlefield franchise.
Despite these signals, Webster is convinced there is still a hungry audience for a Star Wars racing experience. “We clearly believe there’s a market for a Star Wars‑based racer,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re not the only ones who think that, and the response we get from our videos and articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that gaming tastes are cyclical. “We went through a phase where shooters dominated everything, but that’s not the only genre that can capture players’ imaginations.
As more people play video games, even the tiniest niche can grow into a sizable audience.” Webster argues that modern gamers are searching for “fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before,” and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The team set out to capture the instant‑gratification of classic arcade racers while also exploring what becomes possible when a game is no longer tied to the constraints of real‑world tyres and tarmac.
“We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” he explains. “Sometimes it feels more like a roller‑coaster than a traditional circuit.” Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer aims to upend long‑standing conventions of the racing genre. For two decades, most racers have been built around a car‑collection model—players earn new vehicles, upgrade them, and gradually build a garage. Webster wants to tear that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres.
The game incorporates consequential decision‑making, especially around crashes. In many contemporary racers, a rewind button erases any penalty for a mistake, but Fuse wants crashes to matter. “If you crash too often you’re sent back to the start, but you keep some meta‑progression that makes you a bit stronger,” he says.
“When you’re on your last allowed crash, the tension is real, and you start weighing the risk of each maneuver.” The design philosophy draws heavily from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire—games built for infinite replayability. “Racing thrives on replayability, so marrying it with roguelike loops feels like a match made in heaven,” Webster notes. Each run in Galactic Racer is meant to feel fresh, with procedural elements, persistent upgrades, and a constantly shifting set of challenges that keep players coming back for more.
Launching the game on October 6 places it in a crowded autumn window, sandwiched between blockbuster releases like Control: Resonance (September 24) and Silent Hill: Townfall, and a few weeks ahead of the highly anticipated GTA 6 slated for November 19. Webster acknowledges the competitive landscape but remains confident. “The market has always been busy.
I remember the ‘Murderers’ Row’ era when September was packed, and October was just as full. We have a healthy sense of confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things might turn out.” The conversation also touches on the broader industry climate, especially the wave of layoffs that has swept through major studios. Webster reflects on his long tenure and recalls a similar downsizing period fifteen years ago. “Great teams make great games, and great games find an audience,” he says.
He warns that a prevailing aversion to risk can stifle innovation, but also creates openings for studios willing to take calculated bets. Funding an independent studio in 2023 has been anything but easy. “People told me I was brave to start an indie studio now,” Webster recalls. After thirty‑two years at EA, he was stepping out of a comfortable bubble into a world where securing capital is a constant challenge.
His guiding principles have remained the same: assemble a talented team, refine a clear creative vision, and maintain disciplined planning—while accepting that any plan will evolve. “Engaged, motivated talent produces great work, so it’s our job to keep them inspired.” Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core team of about 75 people—small for a title that aspires to AAA‑level scope, fidelity and polish.
This deliberate size allows the studio to avoid the boom‑and‑bust staffing cycles that plague many larger developers. Instead, Fuse leans on external partners to fill gaps, employing a hybrid model that blends pure outsourcing (transactional asset creation) with co‑development (external studios participating in daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and even sharing the code base). Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a key advantage, noting that today’s studios are eager to collaborate across projects rather than guarding their own silos. According to Webster, this approach demonstrates that a AAA‑ambitious game can be built on a sustainable budget when a small, permanent core is augmented by trusted external teams that share the same values.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer—starting Fuse in January 2023 and delivering a finished product in just three and a half years, using Unreal Engine 5 despite the team’s initial unfamiliarity—serves as proof of concept for this model. Another noteworthy aspect of Fuse’s journey is its infusion of youthful talent. While the studio’s leadership includes veteran Criterion alumni, many of the developers working on Galactic Racer are newcomers to the industry, and one producer had never set foot in a game studio before joining.
“The young talent we’ve recruited is incredibly smart and effective—often more so than I was at their age,” Webster says. He observes that seasoned developers sometimes prefer senior colleagues who need little guidance, but that nurturing younger staff can be just as motivating for the veterans themselves. This insight has led Fuse to pivot its hiring strategy toward cultivating fresh perspectives. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to continue attracting emerging talent, though he acknowledges that Fuse is still pre‑revenue and must be realistic about the costs involved.
He reflects on a period a few years ago when the industry was flush with cash, and many successful developers received funding to launch their own studios—only to discover that running a studio is far more challenging than anticipated. He criticizes the lingering myth of the “lone creative visionary,” calling it “bullshit.” In his view, games are the product of collaborative effort, not the vision of a single auteur. As for Fuse’s next steps, the studio remains flexible. While the launch of Star Wars: Galactic Racer marks a major milestone, Webster emphasizes that the post‑launch period will be just the beginning.
“We’ll be talking to partners about future opportunities, and we have ideas about where we want to go next,” he says. “Independent developers need to stay adaptable, and we’re ready to evolve as the market changes.”