Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He arrived at the company in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years contributing to the Burnout and Need for Speed franchises while they were under the Criterion umbrella, 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 strike out on their own and founded the independent UK studio Fuse Games. Fast‑forward three and a half years, and the fledgling studio is on the brink of releasing its debut title, *Star Wars: Galactic Racer*, a partnership with the newly autonomous publisher Secret Mode. The timing of *Galactic Racer* is noteworthy. The last Star Wars‑themed racing game, *Racer Revenge*, hit shelves in 2002, and the intervening two‑plus decades have not been kind to the racing genre overall.
Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title *Clutch*, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating that the market simply didn’t have a clear fit for the product. Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has pivoted its focus toward the *Battlefield* franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a demand exists. “We clearly see an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz.
“We’re not the only ones who feel that, and the response we get from our videos and articles suggests we’re tapping into a genuine interest.” Webster points out that video‑game genres are cyclical. “Shooters dominated for a while, but that’s not the whole story. As more people play games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger fan base.” He believes players are hungry for “fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before,” and he feels *Galactic Racer* delivers exactly that. The studio’s vision was to capture the instant gratification of classic arcade racers while also exploring the possibilities that arise when you’re no longer bound by the physics of tires and tarmac.
“We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” Webster explains. “Sometimes it feels like a roller‑coaster.” Beyond the high‑octane thrills, *Galactic Racer* aims to upend long‑standing conventions of the racing genre. Traditionally, racers rely on a car‑collection model that hasn’t fundamentally changed in twenty years.
Webster wants to “rip that up” 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, but Fuse wants to restore risk: “If you crash too many times, you’re sent back to the start, though you keep some meta‑progress that puts you in a stronger position. That last crash becomes a tense decision point.” The game’s design is also inspired by roguelike principles found in titles such as *Hades*, *Returnal*, and *Slay the Spire*.
These games prioritize infinite replayability, a quality that dovetails naturally with racing’s competitive loop. By embedding roguelike elements—procedurally varied tracks, persistent upgrades, and a penalty‑based death system—*Galactic Racer* seeks to create a “match made in heaven,” according to Webster. Releasing the game on October 6 places it between two major industry events: the much‑anticipated launch of *GTA 6* on November 19 and the September releases of *Control: Resonance* and *Silent Hill: Townfall* on the 24th.
While some observers warned that September and October are crowded windows, Webster recalls past years when October was considered “murderer’s row” yet still proved successful for many titles. He acknowledges the competition but says Fuse Games approaches it with a “healthy sense of confidence” tempered by realistic expectations. “Good games find a way,” he says, echoing an old industry mantra. Webster also reflects on the wave of layoffs that has swept the sector.
Having lived through a similar downturn fifteen years ago, he notes that great teams produce great games, and great games eventually find an audience. He argues that the current climate shows an aversion to risk, which paradoxically creates opportunities for studios willing to make calculated bets. “If you’re not willing to take risks, you limit your chances,” he observes.
Funding, however, has not been a walk in the park for the newly independent studio. “People told me it was brave to start an indie studio in 2023,” Webster recalls.
After three decades at EA, he found himself navigating a completely new landscape. His guiding principles remained the same: assemble a talented team, crystalize a creative vision, and build a disciplined plan—while accepting that the plan will inevitably evolve.
He emphasizes that an engaged, motivated crew is the engine behind any successful project. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core team of about 75 developers—small by AAA standards. This size is intentional.
Rather than expanding and contracting staff in response to each project’s needs, the studio relies heavily on external partners to fill skill gaps. “We’ve proven that a small permanent team plus trusted external collaborators can deliver a AAA‑scale game on a sustainable budget,” Webster says.
The studio’s external work ranges from transactional outsourcing (pure asset creation) to full co‑development, where partner studios sit in on daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and even share code repositories. The United Kingdom, with its mature game‑development ecosystem, is a particularly fertile ground for such collaboration.
In the past, external studios were often reluctant to assist, fearing competition. Today, many companies hire developers eager to work across multiple projects, keeping talent fresh and enthusiastic. Webster believes this shift makes the co‑development model more viable than ever. The rapid development timeline of *Galactic Racer* showcases the efficacy of this approach.
Fuse launched in January 2023; three and a half years later, the studio has built a functional team, mastered Unreal Engine 5—a tool none of them previously knew deeply—and delivered a polished, high‑fidelity title. Webster describes it as an achievement accomplished “in a healthy, sustainable way.” A notable aspect of Fuse’s workforce is the blend of veteran Criterion alumni with a wave of younger developers, some of whom have never worked in games before. “Our young talent is often smarter and more effective than I was at their age,” Webster admits.
He observes that seasoned developers sometimes prefer senior colleagues who require minimal interaction, which can stifle mentorship. By pivoting hiring practices toward nurturing fresh talent, Fuse has found unexpected success. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to continue cultivating new talent, though he cautions that the studio is still pre‑revenue.
He cites Criterion’s historic intern initiatives as a model and acknowledges the costs associated with developing talent from the ground up. Reflecting on the boom years of roughly five to six years ago, when successful games often generated enough capital for creators to launch their own studios, Webster notes that many of those spin‑offs struggled because the funding model was flawed.
He argues that money should be allocated to strong teams rather than to singular “creative visionaries,” a notion he calls “fucking bullshit.” In reality, games are collaborative efforts. As for Fuse’s next steps, Webster admits the future is still being mapped. The launch of *Star Wars: Galactic Racer* is just the beginning, and the studio remains open to new opportunities and ideas. Flexibility and adaptability, he says, are essential for independent developers navigating an ever‑changing industry landscape.