Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at EA in 1990 and spent almost twenty years developing titles for the Criterion team, the studio behind Burnout and the Need for Speed series that EA acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster teamed up with fellow Criterion alumni—Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires, and Alan McDairmant—to launch an independent UK studio called Fuse Games.
Three and a half years later the fledgling company is on the brink of releasing its debut title, *Star Wars: Galactic Racer*, which will be published by the newly independent label Secret Mode. The new game arrives roughly 24 years after the last Star Wars‑themed racing experience, *Racer Revenge* (2002). In the intervening years, the racing genre has generally lost steam. Amazon recently cancelled a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a driving title called *Clutch*, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the market simply didn’t have room for another racer.
Criterion itself has shifted focus away from pure racing, devoting its resources to the *Battlefield* franchise instead. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a market exists for a Star Wars racing game. "We clearly see an audience for a Star Wars‑based racer," he told GamesIndustry.biz.
"Our community, the people who watch our videos and read our articles, suggest we’re not the only ones who think this. Genres are cyclical; shooters dominated for a while, but they’re not the only game type. As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches can attract a sizable crowd." He believes gamers are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before," and he feels *Galactic Racer* delivers exactly that.
Fuse’s vision for the title is rooted in classic arcade thrills while also pushing the boundaries of what a racing game can be when it isn’t limited by real‑world physics. "We wanted the instant gratification of arcade racing, but we also wanted to ask what’s possible when you’re not tied to tyres and tarmac," Webster explained. The result includes tracks that climb the side of an active volcano, courses that behave like roller‑coasters, and other gravity‑defying set‑pieces that would be impossible in a conventional street‑racing simulation.
Beyond the spectacle, *Galactic Racer* seeks to overturn long‑standing genre conventions. Most racing games have relied on a static car‑collection model for the past two decades. "Let’s rip that up and steal ideas from other genres," Webster said. The game introduces meaningful consequences for player actions, especially crashes.
In many modern racers, a rewind mechanic eliminates risk, but Fuse wants crashes to matter. If a player crashes too often, they are sent back to the start of the run, though they retain a portion of meta‑progress that places them in a stronger position for the next attempt. This risk‑reward loop forces players to weigh each maneuver carefully, especially when they are on their final allowed crash. Webster also cites inspiration from roguelike titles such as *Hades*, *Returnal*, and *Slay the Spire*.
Those games are built around infinite replayability, a quality that dovetails naturally with racing, a genre that thrives on repeated runs and incremental improvement. By marrying roguelike progression with high‑speed competition, Fuse hopes to create a "match made in heaven" that keeps players returning for fresh challenges long after the initial launch. The timing of the release is also strategic.
*Star Wars: Galactic Racer* is slated for October 6, positioning it well before the highly anticipated *Grand Theft Auto VI* launch on November 19, yet after other major releases such as *Control: Resonance* and *Silent Hill: Townfall* on September 24. While some industry observers warned that September is a crowded month, Webster recalled that even historically, October has been a bustling period—often referred to as “murderer’s row”—and he feels confident that Fuse’s distinct offering will stand out. The confidence is tempered with realism.
"Good games will find a way," Webster said, echoing a mantra he’s heard throughout his long career. He reflects on past waves of layoffs and notes that great teams produce great games, which in turn find audiences.
He also observes a broader industry trend toward risk aversion, which he believes creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets. "If you’re not willing to risk, you limit your chance to succeed," he added.
Running an independent studio in 2023 has not been without challenges. Funding proved difficult to secure; many questioned the wisdom of launching a new studio in a climate where large publishers dominate. Webster described the experience as a steep learning curve after 32 years inside EA’s corporate bubble.
He emphasized a core philosophy: assemble a talented, motivated team; hone a clear creative vision; devise a disciplined plan (while accepting that plans are always imperfect); and continuously review and adapt while staying true to core values. This approach, he believes, is essential for nurturing both senior and junior talent.
Fuse’s team is relatively small for a title of AAA ambition—around 75 people—but this is intentional. Rather than inflating the headcount and then shrinking it as projects evolve, Fuse relies on external development partners to fill gaps. The studio distinguishes between transactional outsourcing (pure asset creation) and true co‑development, where external studios become extensions of the core team, participating in daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and code repositories.
The UK’s mature game‑development ecosystem makes it an ideal hub for such collaborations, with many companies now eager to work on diverse projects alongside different teams, keeping their staff fresh and motivated. Webster is convinced that this hybrid model—small permanent core plus trusted external partners—offers a sustainable path to delivering AAA‑scale experiences on a realistic budget. The rapid development cycle of *Galactic Racer* showcases the model’s viability: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and within three and a half years it has built a studio, assembled a team, and created a game on Unreal Engine 5—a technology none of the founders had mastered at the outset.
"It feels like an achievement, and we’ve done it in a healthy, sustainable way," he said. A notable aspect of Fuse’s workforce is the infusion of younger developers. Some of the producers had never worked in games before joining the project.
Webster praised this fresh talent, stating they often outperform more seasoned colleagues in creativity and efficiency. He observed that senior developers sometimes prefer working with equally senior peers who need minimal guidance, but that nurturing junior staff can be equally motivating for both parties.
The studio hopes to formalize an internship program in the future, though it remains pre‑revenue at present. He points to Criterion’s successful intern initiatives as a model, while acknowledging the cost and effort required to develop new talent. Looking back to the mid‑2010s, when the industry enjoyed abundant funding, Webster recalls how many successful game leads were given the chance to spin off their own studios, only to discover the reality was far tougher than expected. He argues that money should have been allocated to strong teams rather than to the myth of a single “creative visionary.” In his view, that notion is "fucking bullshit"—games are collaborative endeavors, not solo masterpieces.
As for Fuse’s future beyond *Galactic Racer*, Webster admits plans are still taking shape. The launch is just the beginning, and the studio is open to exploring new opportunities, but flexibility and adaptability are essential for independent developers today.
He remains hopeful that the game’s reception will validate their unconventional approach and pave the way for further innovation within the racing genre and beyond.