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 at 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, decided to break away and launch an independent UK studio called Fuse Games. Just over three years later the fledgling company is poised to release its debut title, *Star Wars: Galactic Racer*, under the banner of the newly independent publisher Secret Mode. The timing of *Galactic Racer* is noteworthy. The last Star Wars‑themed racing game, *Racer Revenge*, hit shelves in 2002 – a full 24 years ago.
Since then, the racing genre has struggled to maintain a prominent spot on the market. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a new driving title called *Clutch*, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the project didn’t fit the current market landscape.
Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has shifted its focus to the *Battlefield* franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced there is still a hungry audience for a Star Wars racing experience.
"Clearly we think there’s an audience for a Star Wars racing game," he told GamesIndustry.biz. "We don’t think we’re the only ones. The comments we see on our videos and articles suggest we’re not alone in that belief." He points out that video‑game genres are cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other types inevitably resurface.
"As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches find a bigger audience," Webster added. Webster believes gamers are craving "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen yet," and he feels *Galactic Racer* delivers exactly that. The team set out to capture the instant gratification of classic arcade racers while also asking, "What can we do once we’re no longer bound by tyres and tarmac?" The answer, according to Webster, is tracks that climb the sides of active volcanoes, courses that feel like roller‑coasters, and environments that defy conventional physics.
These design choices aim to give players a sense of freedom that traditional racing games rarely provide. Beyond the arcade thrills, Fuse is deliberately subverting long‑standing genre conventions. For decades, most racing games have revolved around a car‑collection model: earn currency, buy new vehicles, upgrade them, repeat. Webster wants to rip that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres.
One of the most radical changes is the introduction of meaningful consequences for crashing. In many modern racers, a rewind button erases mistakes, removing any real penalty.
Fuse’s approach is to re‑introduce risk: crash too often and you’re sent back to the start of the run, though you retain a portion of meta‑progress that makes the next attempt slightly stronger. This creates a tension between aggression and caution that mirrors the high‑stakes decision‑making found in roguelike titles.
Speaking of roguelikes, Webster cites games like *Hades*, *Returnal* and *Slay the Spire* as inspirations for the underlying structure of *Galactic Racer*. Those games are built around infinite replayability, procedural variation and a sense of progression that persists across runs. "Racing thrives on replayability," he notes, "so combining it with roguelike loops feels like a match made in heaven." The result is a game where each race feels fresh, where players learn from each failure, and where the meta‑progression rewards perseverance without guaranteeing success. The launch window for *Galactic Racer* is also strategic.
The title is set for release on October 6, 2026, comfortably ahead of the highly anticipated *Grand Theft Auto VI* slated for November 19, yet close enough to benefit from the heightened consumer attention surrounding major fall releases such as *Control: Resonance* and *Silent Hill: Townfall* on September 24. Webster acknowledges that September is traditionally a busy month, recalling the industry’s old nickname "Murderer’s Row" for the packed October schedule of the 1990s. He remains confident, however, that a well‑crafted, distinct experience can cut through the noise. The confidence stems from a broader philosophy about risk and opportunity in the current industry climate.
Webster reflects on the wave of layoffs that has swept through major studios, noting that great teams produce great games, and great games find audiences. He argues that the industry’s recent aversion to risk actually opens doors for developers willing to take calculated bets. "If you’re bringing those constraints in, you’re not wanting to risk too much, and that limits opportunity," he says.
Starting a new studio in 2023 has not been without challenges. Funding was scarce, and many peers questioned the wisdom of launching an independent studio at a time when the market seemed hostile. Webster recounts the skepticism: "People were like, ‘you’re brave doing an independent studio in 2023.’" After 32 years at EA, he had to apply the lessons he’d learned—building a strong team, refining a clear creative vision, and maintaining disciplined planning—while remaining flexible enough to adapt when the plan inevitably proved imperfect. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core team of about 75 people, a deliberate choice to avoid the boom‑and‑bust staffing cycles that plague many AAA projects.
Instead of scaling up and down, Fuse relies on external development partners to fill skill gaps. This hybrid model blends transactional 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 game‑development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaboration, noting that today’s studios are eager to work across multiple projects, keeping talent fresh and motivated. According to Webster, this approach proves that a AAA‑scale game—both in scope and visual fidelity—can be delivered on a sustainable budget when a small, permanent core team partners with trusted external contributors. The rapid development timeline of *Galactic Racer* underscores this point: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and three and a half years later the team had built a studio, assembled a team, learned Unreal Engine 5 from scratch, and produced a polished, market‑ready title. Another noteworthy aspect of Fuse’s strategy is its emphasis on youthful talent.
While the studio includes veterans from Criterion, many of its developers are newcomers to the industry; one producer, for example, had never worked on a game before joining the project. Webster praises this fresh perspective, stating that younger team members often bring a level of intelligence and efficiency that surpasses his own capabilities at their age. He observes that senior developers sometimes prefer working with equally senior colleagues who need little guidance, but that nurturing younger talent creates a more dynamic and motivated environment.
Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalise an internship program to continue attracting and developing new talent, though he acknowledges that Fuse is still pre‑revenue. He points to Criterion’s historic success with its own intern pipelines as a model to emulate, while also recognizing the costs associated with training and mentorship. Reflecting on the industry’s past excesses, Webster recalls a period five or six years ago when abundant funding allowed successful studios to spin off new ventures.
Many of those spin‑offs struggled because they underestimated the difficulty of building a sustainable studio from scratch. He criticises the industry’s lingering fixation on the myth of the "single creative visionary," 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 *Star Wars: Galactic Racer* is just the beginning, and the studio is already considering potential collaborations and new projects.
Webster stresses that independent developers must stay flexible and adaptable in a constantly shifting market. He concludes with a pragmatic optimism: "Good games will find a way, and we’re hoping ours does too."