Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He began his tenure at EA back in 1990 and spent almost twenty years developing titles for Criterion, the studio behind Burnout and Need for Speed that 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 establish the independent UK studio Fuse Games.
Just over three years later, the fledgling studio is poised to launch its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which will be published by the newly independent label Secret Mode. Galactic Racer arrives roughly 24 years after the last Star Wars‑themed racing game, 2002’s Racer Revenge. In the intervening decades, the racing genre has lost some of its mainstream shine.
Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a forthcoming driving title called Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the project didn’t fit the current market. Meanwhile, Criterion itself has shifted focus away from pure racing, devoting its resources to the Battlefield franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced there is still a hungry audience for a Star Wars racing experience. “We clearly think there’s a market for a Star Wars‑based racer,” 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.” He points out that gaming trends are cyclical. “Shooters dominated for a while, but that’s just one phase. As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches can find a sizable following.” Webster believes gamers are craving fresh, compelling 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 asking, “What could we do if we weren’t limited by real‑world tyres and tarmac?” The answer, he says, includes tracks that climb the sides of active volcanoes and courses that feel more like roller‑coasters than traditional circuits. Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer aims to upend long‑standing genre conventions. Most racing games have relied on a car‑collection model for the past two decades. Webster wants to tear that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres.
One of the most striking innovations is the emphasis on meaningful consequences for player actions, especially crashes. In many modern racers, a “rewind” button can erase mistakes, but Fuse wants crashes to matter. If a player wrecks too often, they are sent back to the start of the run, though they retain some meta‑progression that puts them in a stronger position the next attempt.
This risk‑reward loop forces players to weigh each maneuver carefully, especially when they’re on their last allowable crash. The game’s design is heavily inspired by roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire—games built around infinite replayability. “Racing thrives on replayability,” Webster notes, “so marrying it with roguelike principles feels like a match made in heaven.” The result is a title that encourages players to keep trying, learning from each failure, and gradually unlocking new abilities or shortcuts that make subsequent runs feel both familiar and fresh. Launching on October 6, Galactic Racer lands a month before the highly anticipated GTA 6, which is slated for November 19.
It also follows other major releases like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall, both scheduled for September 24. Webster acknowledges the crowded launch window but reminds us that the industry has weathered busier periods before.
“People used to call September ‘murderers’ row,’ and October was always packed,” he says. “We have a healthy confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things might turn out.” The conversation inevitably turns to the wave of layoffs sweeping the industry. Having been in the business for decades, Webster recalls a similar bust fifteen years ago. “Great teams make great games, and great games find an audience,” he reflects.
He argues that the current climate shows an aversion to risk, which paradoxically creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets. “If you’re too cautious, you limit yourself,” he adds.
Funding, however, remains a challenge for new independents. Webster recounts how colleagues questioned his decision to start a studio in 2023, after a 32‑year stint at EA. “It was a bubble I’d been in.
Building a studio from scratch required me to lean on core principles: assemble a talented team, sharpen a creative vision, and stay disciplined while accepting that plans will always be imperfect.” He stresses that an engaged, motivated workforce is the engine behind any successful project. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core—about 75 people—by design.
Rather than inflating and deflating staff numbers as projects come and go, the studio relies heavily on external development partners. This hybrid model blends pure outsourcing for asset creation with deeper co‑development relationships where external studios join daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and even the codebase. Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaborations, noting that today’s studios are more eager to work together than in the past, when partnerships were often grudging and driven solely by financial necessity.
According to Webster, this approach proves that a AAA‑scale game can be delivered on a sustainable budget when a small, permanent core team is supplemented by trusted partners who share the same values. The rapid pace of Galactic Racer’s development—starting in January 2023 and reaching a launch‑ready state in just three and a half years—serves as evidence that the model works. Another noteworthy aspect of Fuse’s journey is the infusion of young talent. While the studio’s leadership includes veteran Criterion alumni, many of the developers on Galactic Racer are newcomers to the industry, and at least one producer had never worked on a game before joining the team.
Webster praises this fresh perspective, saying the younger crew often outperforms more senior hires in creativity and efficiency. He observes that seasoned developers sometimes prefer to work with peers who require minimal mentorship, which can stifle growth.
By deliberately nurturing junior staff, Fuse hopes to build a pipeline of skilled professionals. Looking ahead, Webster envisions an intern program to further cultivate emerging talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue and must be cautious about the costs involved. He draws on Criterion’s successful internship initiatives as a model for what could be possible once the studio achieves financial stability. Reflecting on a period a few years ago when the industry was flush with capital, Webster recalls how many successful developers were handed funding to launch their own studios, only to discover the reality was far tougher than expected.
He criticizes the industry’s lingering fixation on the “lone visionary” myth, calling it “bullshit.” In his view, games are always the product of collaborative effort, not solitary genius. As for what lies beyond Galactic Racer, Webster admits the roadmap is still taking shape. The launch is just the beginning, and the team remains open to exploring new opportunities and ideas. For an independent studio in today’s volatile market, flexibility and adaptability are essential, and Fuse Games intends to keep iterating on its model of a small core team augmented by reliable external partners while continuing to push creative boundaries in future projects.