Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within Electronic Arts. He arrived at the company in 1990 and spent almost twenty years contributing to the Burnout and Need for Speed franchises while they were under the Criterion banner, a studio 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, Fuse Games. Just over three years later the fledgling team is preparing 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 racing effort, 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 abandoned a publishing partnership with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving game Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the title didn’t fit the market.
Criterion itself has pivoted away from racing to focus on the Battlefield series. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced there is still demand for a Star Wars‑themed racer. “We clearly see an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “Our community feedback and video views suggest we’re not alone in that belief.” He argues that video‑game genres are cyclical.
“We went through a phase where shooters dominated, but that’s just one part of the picture. As more people play games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger fan base.” Webster believes players are hungry for fresh, compelling experiences they haven’t encountered before, and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that.
The studio set out to capture the instant gratification of classic arcade racing while also asking, “What can we do when we’re not limited by real‑world tyres and tarmac?” The answer, he says, is tracks that climb the side of an active volcano and courses that feel like roller‑coasters. Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer aims to upend long‑standing racing conventions. Most racing games have relied on a static car‑collection model for the past two decades. Webster wants to tear that apart and borrow mechanics from other genres.
He emphasizes consequential decision‑making, using crashes as a concrete example. In many modern racers a rewind button erases penalties, but Fuse wants crashes to matter. “If you crash too often you’re sent back to the start, though you keep some meta‑progression that makes you slightly stronger,” he explains. “When you’re on your last allowed crash, the risk feels real and you have to weigh every move.” The design philosophy draws heavily from roguelike principles found in games such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire—titles built for infinite replayability.
“Racing thrives on replay value, so combining it with roguelike loops feels like a match made in heaven,” Webster notes. This approach also introduces a level of stakes that many AAA racers have softened in recent years, offering a more daring experience for players who crave challenge.
Timing the release is another strategic decision. Galactic Racer is slated for 6 October, comfortably ahead of the highly anticipated GTA 6 launch on 19 November, yet close enough to other major releases like Control Resonant and Silent Hill: Townfall on 24 September. Webster acknowledges the crowded pre‑Christmas window, recalling past years when September felt busy but October was historically jam‑packed with titles—a period once dubbed “Murderer’s Row.” He says Fuse approaches the market with a “healthy confidence” tempered by realistic expectations, trusting that good games will eventually find their audience. Webster also reflects on the broader industry climate, marked by waves of layoffs and a pervasive aversion to risk.
He points out that great teams create great games, and great games attract players. “When the industry shies away from risk, it opens opportunities for those willing to take calculated bets,” he observes. Yet he admits that founding an indie studio in 2023 has been far from easy. Securing funding proved challenging; many questioned the wisdom of launching a new studio after a 32‑year tenure at EA.
Webster’s answer was to lean on core principles: assemble a talented team, crystallize a creative vision, build disciplined plans (while accepting they’ll evolve), and constantly motivate the talent. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core of about 75 staff, deliberately avoiding the “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” cycle common in larger studios. Instead, the studio relies on external partners to fill capability gaps. This model ranges from pure outsourcing—transactional asset creation—to deep co‑development, where external studios sit in Fuse’s daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and code repositories.
Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaboration, noting that today’s studios are eager to work on diverse projects rather than cling to a single internal title. According to Webster, this hybrid approach enables a AAA‑scale game to be built on a sustainable budget. The rapid development timeline—starting Fuse in January 2023 and delivering a UE5‑powered title in just three and a half years—demonstrates the viability of the model.
He also emphasizes the infusion of young talent; many of the team members, including a producer with no prior gaming experience, are newcomers. “Our young developers are often smarter and more effective than I was at their age,” he says, adding that nurturing fresh talent has proven more successful than relying solely on senior hires. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to continue cultivating emerging talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue. He recalls a period five or six years ago when abundant funding allowed successful developers to spin off their own studios, only to discover the reality was far tougher than expected.
He criticizes the industry’s lingering fixation on the “single creative visionary” myth, calling it “bullshit” and insisting that games are fundamentally collaborative endeavors. As for Fuse’s next steps, the future remains open‑ended. The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and while the studio is already brainstorming potential follow‑up projects, Webster stresses that independent developers must stay flexible and adaptable in a constantly shifting market. The ambition is clear: deliver innovative, replayable racing experiences that prove even the smallest niches can capture a growing audience.