Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at EA in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years contributing to the legendary Burnout and Need for Speed series through Criterion, the studio EA acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster, together with fellow Criterion alumni Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant, decided to strike out on their own and founded the independent UK studio Fuse Games.
Just over three years later the fledgling studio is on the brink of releasing its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, published by the newly autonomous label Secret Mode. The timing is striking.
Galactic Racer will be the first Star Wars‑themed racing game since 2002’s Racer Revenge, a gap of roughly 24 years. In the intervening period, the racing genre has struggled to maintain mainstream appeal. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis noting that the market simply didn’t seem to fit the project.
Criterion itself has pivoted away from pure racing, focusing instead on the Battlefield franchise. Yet Webster remains convinced that a demand exists.
“We clearly think there’s an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re not the only ones who feel that way, and the response we get from our videos and articles suggests we’re not alone.” Webster argues that video‑game genres are inherently cyclical.
“We went through a phase where shooters dominated everything, but that’s not the only viable genre,” he said. “As more people play games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger audience.” He believes players are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before," and he sees Galactic Racer as delivering exactly that. The team set out to capture the instant‑gratification of classic arcade racers while also exploring what’s possible when you’re no longer limited by realistic tyres and tarmac. “We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” Webster explained.
“Sometimes it feels like a roller‑coaster.” Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer seeks to upend long‑standing conventions of the racing genre. Traditionally, racing games have relied on a car‑collection model that has remained largely unchanged for two decades. Webster wants to tear that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres.
One of the most radical changes is the introduction of meaningful consequences for crashing. In many modern racers, a rewind button nullifies mistakes, removing any real penalty.
Fuse Games wants to restore stakes: “If you crash too many times, you’re sent back to the start, but you keep some meta‑progression that puts you in a stronger position,” Webster described. “When you’re on your last crash, you feel the pressure and have to weigh the risk of pushing further.” The design philosophy draws heavily from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire, which are built around infinite replayability. "Racing thrives on replayability, so combining it with roguelike loops feels like a match made in heaven," Webster noted. Each run in Galactic Racer is intended to feel fresh, with procedural elements and a persistent progression system that rewards perseverance without guaranteeing success.
Releasing the game in October also reflects a strategic market calculation. The launch date—October 6—places it comfortably before the highly anticipated GTA 6 release on November 19, yet after other major titles like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall, both slated for September 24. Webster acknowledges the crowded pre‑holiday window but points out that the industry has long endured busy September and October slots. "Someone said September looks busy, but I remember the ‘Murderer’s Row’ era where October was packed with releases," he recalled.
"We have a healthy confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things may turn out." When asked about the wave of layoffs sweeping the industry, Webster reflected on his own long tenure. He remembers a similar downsizing period fifteen years ago and emphasizes that great teams create great games, which in turn find audiences.
He sees the current risk‑averse climate as an opening for studios willing to take calculated bets. "If you’re not willing to risk, you limit opportunity," he warned. Funding an independent studio in 2023 proved challenging.
After three decades at EA, Webster found himself stepping out of a comfortable bubble into a world where securing capital required a different mindset. "People said, ‘You’re brave starting an indie studio now,’" he said. His response was to lean on core principles: building a strong team, refining a clear creative vision, and maintaining disciplined planning while staying adaptable.
He stresses that an engaged, motivated team is the engine behind any great product. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core—about 75 people—by design. Rather than expanding and contracting staff in the classic “grow‑shrink‑grow” cycle, the studio relies on external partners to fill skill gaps. This hybrid model blends transactional outsourcing for asset creation with deeper co‑development relationships where external studios join daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and even share the codebase.
Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as especially conducive to such collaboration, noting that today’s studios are eager to work across multiple projects, keeping talent fresh and excited. Webster believes this approach demonstrates that a AAA‑scale game—by scope, visual fidelity and ambition—can be produced on a sustainable budget when a small permanent team partners with trusted external contributors.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer showcases the model’s viability: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and three and a half years later they have delivered a full‑featured game built on Unreal Engine 5, a technology none of the founders initially mastered. "It feels like an achievement, and we’ve done it in a healthy, sustainable way," he said. The studio’s talent mix also leans heavily on youth. In addition to the Criterion veterans, many of the developers are recent graduates, and one producer had never worked in games before joining the project.
"The young talent we’ve got is smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age," Webster remarked. He observes that seasoned developers often prefer senior colleagues who need little guidance, which can stifle growth. By contrast, nurturing younger staff creates a dynamic where both mentors and mentees are motivated. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to cultivate fresh talent, though he cautions that the studio is still pre‑revenue.
He points to Criterion’s historic success with its own intern pipeline as an aspirational model, acknowledging that developing talent carries costs that must be recognized upfront. Reflecting on a period a few years ago when the industry was flush with cash, Webster recalls how many teams received funding simply because they had delivered a hit, only to discover that running a studio is far harder than it appears. He criticizes the industry’s lingering obsession with the “single creative visionary” myth, calling it "bullshit" and emphasizing that games are fundamentally collaborative endeavors.
As for Fuse’s next steps, Webster admits the future is still taking shape. The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and the studio remains open to new opportunities and ideas. "Independent developers need to stay flexible and adaptable," he concluded. "We have a sense of where we want to go, but we’ll let the market and our own growth guide us forward."