Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to remain within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at EA in 1990 and spent almost twenty years developing hits for Criterion, the studio behind Burnout and Need for Speed that 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 break away and launch an independent UK studio called Fuse Games.
Three and a half years later the fledgling company is on the brink of releasing its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which will be published by the newly independent 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 moment when the racing genre has generally lost some of its mainstream steam.
Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with UK studio Maverick Games for the upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis explaining that the market simply didn’t seem to fit the project. Meanwhile Criterion itself has shifted its focus away from pure racing and now contributes to the Battlefield franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a demand still exists. “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 where shooters dominated the charts, other types inevitably return to favor.
"As more and more people play video games, even the tiniest of niches find a bigger audience," Webster explains. He believes players are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before," and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that fresh experience. Fuse’s vision for the game is rooted in classic arcade‑style instant gratification, but the team also wanted to explore what becomes possible when you remove the constraints of real‑world tyres and tarmac. "We have tracks that climb up the side of an active volcano," Webster says, describing sections that feel more like roller‑coaster rides than traditional circuits.
Beyond the high‑octane thrills, the studio is deliberately challenging long‑standing conventions of the racing genre. For decades, most racing games have been built around a car‑collection model—a structure that hasn’t fundamentally changed in about twenty years. "Let’s rip that up and borrow ideas from other genres," he asserts. One of those borrowed concepts is the emphasis on meaningful consequences, a feature often muted in modern racers by the presence of a rewind button.
In Galactic Racer, crashing carries weight. Repeated crashes will send a player back to the start of a run, though some meta‑progression is retained, allowing the player to re‑enter the race from a slightly stronger position. "When you’re on your last crash and the system is critical, you feel the risk in a very visceral way," Webster notes.
This risk‑reward loop draws inspiration from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire—games designed for infinite replayability. "Racing thrives on replayability, so marrying it with roguelike mechanics feels like a match made in heaven," he adds. Webster acknowledges that this design philosophy is a bold departure from the hand‑holding that has become commonplace in AAA titles.
Yet he also recognises the need to differentiate in a crowded market, especially in a year that will see the release of blockbuster titles like GTA 6. Galactic Racer is slated for launch on October 6, a comfortable gap from GTA 6’s November 19 release, but still close enough to other major September releases such as Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall.
"People always say September looks busy, but I remember the ‘Murderer’s Row’ era when October was packed with big launches," Webster recalls. He maintains a "healthy sense of confidence" tempered by a realistic outlook: "Good games will find a way, so we’re hoping." The conversation turns to the broader industry climate, particularly the wave of layoffs that has swept through studios in recent months.
Webster, who has witnessed a similar contraction about fifteen years ago, believes the current risk‑averse environment actually creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets. "Great teams make great games, and great games find an audience," he says. He warns that an over‑cautious approach can stifle innovation, limiting the chances for fresh ideas to reach players.
Starting a new studio in 2023 has not been without its hurdles. Funding proved difficult to secure, and many questioned the wisdom of launching an independent studio at a time when the market seemed hostile.
Webster reflects on his 32‑year tenure at EA, describing the shift to independence as stepping out of a bubble. He emphasizes core principles that guided Fuse: assemble a talented team, refine a clear creative vision, and adopt disciplined planning—while accepting that any plan will inevitably evolve.
"Engaged and motivated talent makes great things, so it’s your job to keep them inspired," he says. Fuse’s team is relatively small for a title of AAA ambition—about 75 people—but that size is intentional. The studio avoids the typical "grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink" cycle that many large developers experience.
Instead, Fuse relies heavily on external partners to fill gaps, using a blend of transactional outsourcing for asset creation and deeper co‑development relationships where outside studios attend daily stand‑ups, participate in Slack channels, and share codebases. Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaborations, noting that today’s studios are more willing to work together than in the past, when partnerships were often grudging and driven by financial necessity. According to Webster, this hybrid model—core team plus trusted external partners—demonstrates that a AAA‑scale game can be produced on a sustainable budget without the massive internal headcount that traditionally defines the genre.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer underscores this point: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and within three and a half years the team built a studio, assembled a team, learned Unreal Engine 5 from scratch, and delivered a polished game. "It feels like an achievement, and we’ve done it in a healthy, sustainable way," he says. A notable aspect of Fuse’s culture is its emphasis on nurturing young talent. Alongside the veteran Criterion alumni, the studio has hired many newer developers, even bringing in a producer who had never worked in games before.
"The young talent we have is smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age," Webster admits. He observes that seasoned developers often prefer senior colleagues who can work independently, which can limit mentorship opportunities. By deliberately pivoting hiring strategies toward younger staff, Fuse aims to create a collaborative environment where senior and junior members learn from each other.
Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalise an intern programme, inspired by Criterion’s successful initiatives, though he acknowledges the studio is still pre‑revenue and must be realistic about the costs involved in talent development. He also reflects on a period five or six years ago when the industry was flush with cash and many successful developers were given funding to start their own studios—only to discover the challenges were greater than expected.
"The money should have gone to great teams rather than to a single superstar developer," he argues, dismissing the myth of the lone creative visionary as "fucking bullshit." In his view, games are always the product of collaborative effort. As for Fuse’s future beyond Galactic Racer, the roadmap remains flexible. "The launch is just the start for us," Webster says.
The studio is already brainstorming potential follow‑ups and other opportunities, but as an independent developer, adaptability is essential. He concludes with a pragmatic optimism: "We’ve built a solid foundation, we have a passionate team, and we’re ready to take the next steps, whatever they may be."