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 contributing to the Burnout and Need for Speed franchises through Criterion, the studio EA acquired in 2004. Yet in early 2023 Webster, together with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires, and Alan McDairmant, decided to strike out on their own and launch the independent UK studio Fuse Games. Three and a half years later the fledgling studio is poised 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‑themed racing game, 2002’s Racer Revenge, and it does so at a moment when the racing genre has largely fallen out of favor. Amazon recently abandoned 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 room for another racer.
Meanwhile Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racing, has pivoted to the Battlefield franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a demand exists for a Star Wars racing experience. “We clearly see an audience for a Star Wars racer,” he told GamesIndustry.biz.
“Our community feedback – video views, article reads – suggests we’re not the only ones who think there’s appetite for it.” He argues that video‑game genres are cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other styles inevitably resurface.
“As more people play games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger audience,” Webster said. Players, he believes, are hungry for “fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before,” and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. Fuse set out to capture the instant gratification of classic arcade racing while also exploring what can be done when you’re not limited by realistic tyres and tarmac. “We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” Webster explained.
“Sometimes it feels like a roller‑coaster.” Beyond the high‑octane thrills, the game deliberately subverts long‑standing racing conventions. Traditional racers rely on a car‑collection model that has changed little in two decades. Webster wants to tear that apart and borrow mechanics from other genres. One of those borrowed ideas is meaningful consequence.
In many modern racers a “rewind” button erases the penalty for crashing, diluting tension. Galactic Racer re‑introduces stakes: crashing too often sends you back to the start, though you retain some meta‑progression that makes your next attempt slightly stronger.
This risk‑reward loop is inspired by roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal, and Slay the Spire, which are built for infinite replayability. “Racing thrives on replayability, so marrying it with roguelike persistence feels like a match made in heaven,” Webster said. The consequence system forces players to weigh each mistake. When you’re on your final allowable crash and the race is in a critical phase, you literally feel the pressure, he noted.
This design choice marks a bold departure from the hand‑holding common in contemporary AAA games, and it reflects Fuse’s broader philosophy of standing out in an increasingly crowded market. Timing the launch is another strategic decision.
Galactic Racer is slated for October 6, comfortably before the anticipated release of GTA 6 on November 19, yet after other heavyweight releases such as Control: Resonant and Silent Hill: Townfall on September 24. Webster acknowledges the September‑October window is traditionally busy, recalling the “Murderer’s Row” of titles that historically crowded the calendar. Nonetheless, he believes confidence in the product, coupled with a realistic outlook, will carry the game through.
Industry layoffs and risk‑averse funding climates also shape his perspective. Having witnessed a wave of layoffs a decade and a half ago, Webster observes that “great teams make great games, and great games find an audience.” He argues that the current aversion to risk creates openings for studios willing to take calculated bets. However, securing financing for an independent studio in 2023 proved challenging.
“People said, ‘You’re brave starting an indie studio now,’” he recalled. After 32 years at EA, he had to relearn how to build a team, refine a creative vision, and iterate on a plan that is always imperfect but the best you have at the moment. Fuse’s team is intentionally lean—around 75 people—because the studio wants to avoid the boom‑and‑bust scaling cycle that plagues many developers. Instead, they rely heavily on external partners to fill skill gaps.
This hybrid model blends transactional outsourcing for asset creation with deep co‑development relationships where external studios join daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and even the codebase. Webster points out that the UK’s mature game‑development ecosystem makes it an ideal hub for such collaboration, noting that today’s studios are more eager to work together than they were in the past. According to Webster, this approach proves you can deliver a AAA‑scale experience on a sustainable budget. The rapid development timeline—starting Fuse in January 2023 and delivering a polished UE5‑based title in just over three years—demonstrates the efficacy of the model.
“We built a studio, a team, and a game on an engine none of us previously mastered,” he said, emphasizing the achievement’s healthiness and sustainability. A notable aspect of the studio’s composition is the infusion of young talent.
Alongside the Criterion veterans, many newcomers have joined the project, including a producer with no prior game‑development experience. “Our young developers are often smarter and more effective than I was at their age,” Webster remarked. He believes nurturing fresh talent is more beneficial than relying solely on seasoned veterans who may prefer minimal interaction. This insight has even reshaped Fuse’s hiring strategy toward younger, more collaborative individuals.
Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to continue attracting emerging talent, though he cautions that the studio is still pre‑revenue. He cites Criterion’s successful intern pipelines as a model and stresses that developing talent requires a clear-eyed understanding of the associated costs.
Reflecting on the industry’s past excesses, Webster recalls a time when successful games generated enough cash for developers to launch their own studios, only to discover the reality was far tougher than expected. He criticizes the lingering myth of the “single creative visionary,” calling it “bullshit” and insisting that games are always the product of collaborative effort.
As for Fuse’s next steps, Webster admits the future is still being written. The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and the studio remains open to new opportunities while staying flexible and adaptable—qualities he deems essential for independent developers in today’s volatile market.