Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at EA in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years developing iconic titles such as Burnout and the Need for Speed series while working at Criterion, the studio 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 founded the independent UK studio Fuse Games.
Just over three years later the fledgling company is poised to launch its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, under the publishing banner of the newly autonomous 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 receded from the spotlight.
Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a forthcoming driving title called Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating, “we didn’t see a real fit in the market for that game.” Meanwhile Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has pivoted to work on the Battlefield franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a market exists 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 response we get from people watching our videos and reading our articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that genres tend to be cyclical.
After a period dominated by shooters, other types of games inevitably resurface. “As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches find a bigger audience,” Webster added. According to Webster, players are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before," and he believes Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The team’s vision is to create something fresh, blending the instant gratification of classic arcade racers with imaginative, physics‑defying environments that would be impossible in a conventional car‑on‑tarmac setting.
“We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” he explained. “Sometimes it feels like a roller‑coaster.” Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer seeks to overturn long‑standing conventions of the racing genre. For two decades, most racers have been built around a core loop of collecting cars, upgrading them, and then racing again.
Webster wants to rip that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres. One of the most striking innovations is the introduction of meaningful consequences for crashing.
In many modern racers, a rewind button eliminates any penalty for a mistake, but Fuse wants to re‑introduce risk. "If you crash too often, you’re sent back to the start," he said, "but you retain some meta‑progression that puts you in a stronger position the next run. The last crash feels critical—you start weighing the risk versus reward in real time." The game’s structure draws inspiration from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal, and Slay the Spire—games designed for infinite replayability.
"Racing thrives on replayability," Webster noted, "so pairing it with a roguelike loop feels like a match made in heaven." This design choice means each run can feel fresh, with procedural elements, branching paths, and a sense that every decision matters. Launching in a crowded market is a calculated gamble. Galactic Racer is slated for release on October 6, a comfortable gap before the highly anticipated GTA 6 launch on November 19, yet close enough to other major releases like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall, both arriving on September 24. Webster acknowledges the density of the schedule but reminds us that the industry has weathered even busier periods.
“People used to call September ‘murderer’s row,’ and October was always packed,” he said. “We have a healthy confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things may turn out.” Webster also reflects on the wave of layoffs that has swept the industry. Having lived through a similar downsizing a decade and a half ago, he believes that great teams make great games, and great games find audiences. He argues that the current risk‑averse climate creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets.
“When you avoid risk, you limit opportunity,” he warned. Funding a new studio in 2023 has not been easy. Webster describes the skepticism he faced when announcing Fuse Games: “People were like, ‘you’re brave doing an independent studio in 2023.’” After 32 years at EA, he had to adjust to a new reality—building a team, refining a creative vision, and staying disciplined while accepting that plans are always provisional.
He emphasizes that engaged, motivated talent is the engine of success, and that it’s the studio’s responsibility to nurture that talent. Fuse Games operates with a relatively small core team of about 75 people, a deliberate choice to avoid the boom‑and‑bust scaling model common in AAA development.
Instead, the studio relies on external partners to fill gaps, ranging from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to full co‑development where external studios join daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and the codebase. Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as ideal for such collaboration, noting that today’s external studios are eager to work on diverse projects rather than merely keeping the lights on. This hybrid model, Webster believes, proves that a AAA‑scale game can be built on a sustainable budget without the massive, ever‑changing internal workforce that has plagued many large projects. The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer—just three and a half years from Fuse’s founding to a near‑complete product built on Unreal Engine 5—demonstrates the efficacy of this approach.
A notable aspect of Fuse’s culture is its embrace of younger talent. Alongside veteran Criterion alumni, the studio has hired many developers early in their careers; one producer, for example, had never previously worked in games. "The young talent we’ve got is smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age," Webster said.
He observes that seasoned developers often prefer senior colleagues who need little guidance, but that this mindset can stifle growth. By focusing on mentorship and development, Fuse has discovered a more successful formula than relying solely on senior hires. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to establish a formal internship program to continue cultivating fresh talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue.
He cites Criterion’s successful intern pipelines as inspiration and cautions that nurturing talent requires clear-eyed awareness of the associated costs. Reflecting on a period when the industry was flush with capital, Webster recalls how many teams received funding simply because they had delivered a hit, only to discover that running a studio is far harder than anticipated. He criticizes the industry’s lingering fixation on the myth of the singular creative visionary, calling it “bullshit.” In reality, games are collaborative endeavors.
As for Fuse’s next steps, Webster says the launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning. The studio is open to exploring new opportunities and has a rough roadmap for future projects, but he stresses that independence demands flexibility and adaptability.
"We’ll talk to people about potential collaborations, and we have ideas for where we want to go," he concluded, "but as an independent developer you have to stay agile and ready to pivot."