Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He began his tenure at EA in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years collaborating with Criterion, the studio behind Burnout and Need for Speed, which EA acquired in 2004.
In early 2023, however, Webster teamed up with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant to launch an independent UK studio called Fuse Games. Fast‑forward three and a half years, and Fuse is on the verge of releasing 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 mainstream spotlight.
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. Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has pivoted its focus toward the Battlefield franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced there is a viable audience for a Star Wars racing experience.
“We clearly believe there’s an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re not the only ones thinking that, and the reaction we get from people watching our videos and reading our articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that gaming genres tend to be cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other types of games inevitably rise again. “As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches find a larger audience,” Webster added.
Webster argues that modern players crave fresh, compelling experiences they haven’t encountered before, and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The team set out to capture the instant gratification of classic arcade racers while also asking, “What can we do once we’re no longer bound by tyres and tarmac?” The answer, according to Webster, is tracks that climb the side of an active volcano, courses that feel like roller‑coasters, and other gravity‑defying set‑pieces that would be impossible in a realistic driving simulator. Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer seeks to upend long‑standing conventions of the racing genre. For the past two decades, most racers have revolved around a car‑collection model—players earn or purchase new vehicles, then race with them.
“Let’s rip that up and steal from other genres,” Webster says. The game introduces meaningful consequences for player actions, especially crashes. In many contemporary racers, a rewind button erases the penalty for a mistake.
Fuse decided to restore risk: crashing too often forces the player back to the start, though a portion of meta‑progression carries over, giving a sense of gradual empowerment. This design draws inspiration from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire, which emphasize infinite replayability and strategic decision‑making. The consequence system is meant to make each mistake feel weighty. “When you’re on your last crash and your systems are critical, you literally lean forward and think about the risk you’re taking,” Webster explains.
This approach marks a bold departure from the hand‑holding that has become common in many AAA releases, and it reflects Fuse’s desire to stand out in a crowded market, especially in a year slated for blockbuster launches like GTA 6. Galactic Racer is scheduled for release on October 6, comfortably ahead of GTA 6’s November 19 launch but close to other high‑profile titles such as Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall, both arriving on September 24.
Webster acknowledges the crowded pre‑holiday window, recalling past industry chatter about “September being busy” and the legendary “Murderers’ Row” of October releases. He remains confident, however, noting that Fuse maintains a “healthy sense of confidence” tempered by a realistic outlook on how the market might respond. The conversation naturally turns to the broader industry climate, especially the wave of layoffs that has swept through studios in recent years.
Webster, a veteran of more than three decades, reflects on a similar layoff cycle fifteen years ago. “Great teams make great games, and great games find an audience,” he observes. He sees the current risk‑averse environment as an opportunity for studios willing to take calculated bets.
“If you’re not willing to risk, you limit your own opportunities,” he adds. Starting a new studio in 2023 has not been without challenges. Funding, in particular, proved elusive.
“People told me I was brave to launch an independent studio now,” Webster recalls. After thirty‑two years at EA, he stepped out of a corporate bubble into unfamiliar territory. He leaned on core principles he’d learned over his career: assemble a talented team, crystallize a clear creative vision, and devise a disciplined yet flexible plan—always aware that the plan will evolve. Engaged, motivated talent, he argues, is the engine that drives exceptional games.
Fuse Games remains relatively small for a project of AAA scope, employing roughly 75 people. This size is intentional; the studio avoids the industry’s typical pattern of rapid expansion followed by contraction. Instead, Fuse relies heavily on external development partners to fill skill gaps.
“We’re not doing the grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink cycle,” Webster says. He envisions a future where a lean core team works permanently with trusted external studios that share the same values, scaling capacity up or down as needed.
External collaboration at Fuse ranges from pure outsourcing—transactional asset creation—to deep co‑development, where partner studios sit in Fuse’s daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and code repositories as if they were internal employees. The UK, with its mature game‑development ecosystem, proves especially fertile for such partnerships. “In the past, other companies helped you only grudgingly, but now there are firms hiring people who love to hop between projects, keeping the work fresh and exciting,” Webster notes.
Webster is convinced this hybrid model can deliver AAA‑level scope, scale and visual fidelity on a sustainable budget. The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer—just three and a half years from Fuse’s founding to a near‑finished product built on Unreal Engine 5—demonstrates the viability of the approach. Another noteworthy aspect of Fuse’s strategy is its emphasis on youthful talent. Alongside the Criterion veterans, the studio has recruited many younger developers, even hiring a producer with no prior game‑industry experience.
“The young talent we have is smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age,” Webster says. He observes that seasoned developers often prefer senior colleagues who need minimal guidance, which can stifle mentorship. By deliberately nurturing younger staff, Fuse has found a fresh source of energy and innovation. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an intern program to further cultivate emerging talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue.
He points to Criterion’s historic success with internship pipelines as a model to emulate, while acknowledging the costs associated with developing new talent. Reflecting on the era a half‑decade ago when the industry was flush with capital, Webster recalls how many developers who rode a hit game’s success into their own studios discovered how hard it truly is to build something from scratch. He criticizes the industry’s past fixation on the “singular creative visionary” as a myth.
“Games are made by collaborations of individuals,” he asserts, dismissing the notion that a single auteur can carry a project alone. As for Fuse’s next steps, the future remains open‑ended.
The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and while the studio has ideas for future projects, Webster emphasizes the need for flexibility and adaptability in the independent development landscape. "We’ll be talking to people about potential opportunities, and we have a sense of where we want to go, but independent studios today have to stay nimble," he concludes.