Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within Electronic Arts. He started at the company in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years developing titles for Criterion, the studio behind Burnout and Need for Speed, which EA acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster teamed up with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant to launch the independent UK studio Fuse Games.
Just over three years later the fledgling studio is preparing the debut release of Star Wars: Galactic Racer, a title that will be published by the newly autonomous label 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 time when the racing genre has generally slipped out of the mainstream spotlight. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis explaining that the market simply didn’t seem to need another racer.
Meanwhile Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style car games, has pivoted toward the Battlefield franchise, leaving a noticeable gap in the high‑octane, arcade‑driven space. Despite these headwinds, Webster is convinced there is still a hungry audience for a Star Wars racing experience. “We clearly see demand for a Star Wars‑branded racer,” he told GamesIndustry.biz.
“Our community feedback—people watching our videos, reading our posts—suggests we’re not the only ones who think there’s a market.” He points out that entertainment trends are cyclical: “Shooters dominated for a while, but that doesn’t mean other genres can’t resurface. As more people play video games, even the smallest niches can grow into sizable audiences.” Webster believes players are searching for "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 racing while also exploring what can happen when a game is no longer bound by the physics of tyres and tarmac. “We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” he explains.
“It feels like a roller‑coaster at times.” Beyond the thrill‑rides, the game deliberately subverts long‑standing racing conventions. Traditional racers have relied on a car‑collection model for the past two decades—a formula Webster describes as “stale.” Instead, he wants to borrow mechanics from other genres.
The title incorporates consequential decision‑making, especially around crashes. In many modern racers a rewind button erases any penalty, but Galactic Racer re‑introduces risk: “If you crash too often you’re sent back to the start, though you retain some meta‑progress that puts you in a stronger position,” Webster says. “When you’re on your last allowed crash, the tension spikes and you have to weigh the risk of pushing forward.” The design draws inspiration from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire—games built for infinite replayability. "Racing thrives on replay value, so marrying it with roguelike loops feels like a perfect match," Webster notes.
Each run offers a fresh arrangement of obstacles, power‑ups and shortcuts, encouraging players to experiment and improve over successive attempts. Launching the game on October 6 positions it comfortably before the highly anticipated GTA 6 release slated for November 19, yet still after major September launches like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall. Webster acknowledges the crowded calendar but reminds us that the industry has always endured busy windows. “People used to call October ‘murderers’ row,’ and it’s always been packed,” he says.
“We have confidence in our product, tempered by a realistic view of how the market might respond.” When asked about the wave of layoffs sweeping the sector, Webster reflects on his long tenure. He recalls a previous round of cuts fifteen years ago and stresses a timeless principle: great teams make great games, and great games find audiences.
He argues that the current climate shows an aversion to risk, which paradoxically creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets. “If you shy away from risk, you limit yourself,” he warns. Funding an independent studio in 2023 proved challenging.
Webster describes the skepticism he faced: “People said, ‘You’re brave starting an indie studio now.’ I’d spent 32 years at EA, living in a bubble, and suddenly I had to build something from scratch.” His answer was to lean on core values: assemble a talented team, refine a clear creative vision, and maintain disciplined planning—while accepting that any plan will evolve. He emphasizes that an engaged, motivated workforce is the engine behind any successful project. Fuse Games remains relatively small for a AAA‑scale title, employing roughly 75 people.
This size is intentional; the studio avoids the typical “grow‑shrink‑grow” cycle by leveraging external partners for additional capacity. "We keep a permanent core team and bring in trusted collaborators when we need extra bandwidth," Webster explains. The external work ranges from transactional outsourcing (pure asset creation) to deep co‑development, where partner studios sit in on daily stand‑ups, share Slack channels and contribute directly to the code base.
The United Kingdom, according to Webster, offers an ideal ecosystem for such collaboration. The British game development scene has matured from reluctant, contract‑only relationships to a vibrant network of studios eager to work on diverse projects. This cultural shift means external teams are motivated, fresh and excited to contribute, which in turn fuels innovation within Fuse. Webster believes this hybrid model—small internal core plus strategic external partnerships—demonstrates a sustainable path to delivering AAA‑level scope, scale and visual fidelity on a reasonable budget.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer showcases the model’s effectiveness: "We launched Fuse in January 2023, and three and a half years later we have a full‑featured game built on Unreal Engine 5, a technology none of us previously mastered. It feels like a real achievement, and we did it without burning out." A notable aspect of Fuse’s workforce is the infusion of youthful talent alongside seasoned veterans. Some producers on Galactic Racer had never worked in games before joining the project. Webster praises this new generation, saying they often outperform older colleagues in creativity and efficiency.
He observes that senior developers sometimes prefer to work with equally experienced peers, but nurturing younger staff can be equally rewarding for both parties. The studio is already contemplating an intern program to formalise this pipeline, though it remains pre‑revenue and cautious about the costs associated with talent development. Reflecting on the industry’s previous boom years, Webster recalls how successful studios received generous funding to spin off new ventures, only to discover the reality of running an independent studio was far tougher than anticipated.
He criticises the lingering myth of the “single creative visionary” as a harmful narrative. "Games are collaborative endeavors," he asserts.
"The idea that one genius can carry a project is nonsense unless you’re a solo dev." Looking ahead, Fuse Games treats the launch of Galactic Racer as the beginning of a longer journey. While concrete plans for the next project are still forming, Webster emphasises flexibility and adaptability as essential for independent developers in today’s market. "We’ll explore opportunities, listen to the community, and decide our next move based on what aligns with our values and resources," he concludes.