Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within Electronic Arts’ walls. He started at the company in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years on projects for Criterion, the studio behind Burnout and Need for Speed, which EA acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster, together with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant, left EA to launch their own independent UK outfit, Fuse Games. Just over three years later the fledgling studio is poised to ship 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 UK studio Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the market didn’t appear to have a clear fit for such a product. Meanwhile Criterion, once a racing powerhouse, has pivoted toward 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 an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re not the only ones who feel that way, and the reaction to our videos and articles suggests we’re not alone.” Webster points out that video‑game genres tend to be cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other types inevitably re‑emerge. “As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches find a bigger audience,” he explained.
He believes players are craving "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before," and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The team’s vision is to create something fresh, an arcade‑style racer that also pushes the boundaries of what a racing game can be when it’s no longer limited by realistic tyres and tarmac.
One of the most striking examples of this ambition is a track that spirals up the side of an active volcano, a setting Webster describes as “a roller‑coaster sometimes.” Beyond the high‑octane thrills, the game deliberately subverts long‑standing conventions of the genre. Traditional racing titles have relied on a car‑collection model for decades, a formula Webster says he wants to tear apart and borrow ideas from other genres. He cites roguelike influences such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire, noting that these games are built around infinite replayability—a quality that dovetails naturally with racing’s repeat‑play nature. Consequences are another area where Galactic Racer diverges from the norm.
In many modern racers a rewind button eliminates any penalty for crashing, but Webster wants crashes to matter. “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,” he explained. The tension of managing limited lives adds a strategic layer: on the final crash, players must weigh risk versus reward, a mechanic that re‑introduces genuine stakes into a genre that has grown accustomed to hand‑holding. Launching on October 6, the game lands a comfortable month before the highly anticipated GTA 6 release slated for November 19, yet it follows other major titles like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall, both due September 24.
Webster acknowledges the crowded release calendar but reminds us that the industry has weathered even busier windows before. “I remember the ‘murderer’s row’ era when October was packed with big releases,” he said. “We have a healthy confidence, balanced with a realistic view of how things may turn out.” When asked about the wave of layoffs sweeping the industry, Webster reflects on his long tenure.
He recalls a similar downsizing period fifteen years ago and stresses a timeless truth: great teams make great games, and great games find an audience. He warns that an aversion to risk is limiting opportunities, and that those willing to take calculated bets can thrive.
Funding an independent studio in 2023 has not been easy. “People said, ‘You’re brave doing an indie studio now,’” Webster recalled.
After thirty‑two years at EA, the transition felt like stepping out of a bubble. He leaned on principles he’d learned: assemble a talented team, refine a clear creative vision, and maintain disciplined planning—while accepting that plans are always provisional.
He stresses the importance of keeping the team engaged and motivated, believing that a passionate workforce is the engine of exceptional work. Fuse Games remains relatively small for a project of AAA scope, numbering about 75 core staff.
This size is intentional; the studio avoids the typical “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” cycle by leaning heavily on external partners. Rather than scaling the internal team up and down, Fuse contracts trusted studios to fill gaps, treating them either as transactional asset providers or as true co‑development partners who sit in daily stand‑ups, share Slack channels, and contribute directly to the code base. Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaborations, noting a cultural shift from reluctant outsourcing to enthusiastic partnership. He believes this hybrid model—small permanent core plus flexible external support—offers a sustainable path to AAA‑level quality without the ballooning budgets that have plagued many recent projects.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer illustrates the model’s efficacy: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and three and a half years later the team has built a studio, assembled a team, learned Unreal Engine 5 from scratch, and delivered a polished, high‑fidelity game. Another notable aspect of Fuse’s approach is its embrace of youthful talent.
Alongside the Criterion veterans, the studio has hired many younger developers, even bringing on 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 said. He observed that seasoned developers often prefer senior colleagues who require little guidance, but that nurturing younger staff creates a more dynamic and motivated environment.
The studio is already considering an intern program, inspired by Criterion’s successful internship pipeline, though Webster cautions that they are still pre‑revenue and must weigh the costs of talent development carefully. Reflecting on the industry’s past excesses, Webster recalls a time when successful games attracted ample funding for spin‑off studios, only for those ventures to discover how hard it truly is to build a sustainable business. He criticises the lingering myth of the “single creative visionary,” calling it "bullshit" and emphasizing that games are collaborative creations. "Unless you’re a solo developer, games are made by collaborations of individuals," he asserted.
Looking ahead, Fuse Games does not have a fixed roadmap. The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and the studio remains open to exploring new opportunities and directions.
"As an independent developer you have to stay flexible and adaptable," Webster concluded, expressing optimism that the experience gained on this project will serve as a springboard for whatever comes next.