Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He began his tenure at EA in 1990 and, after nearly twenty years, contributed to the development of the Burnout and Need for Speed series through Criterion, the studio EA acquired in 2004. Yet in early 2023, Webster, together with fellow Criterion alumni Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant, decided to leave the corporate giant and launch their own independent studio in the United Kingdom, Fuse Games.
Three and a half years later the fledgling studio stands on the brink of releasing its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which 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 stating, “We didn’t see a real fit in the market for that game.” Meanwhile, Criterion itself has shifted focus away from racing toward the Battlefield franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains confident that a market exists for a new Star Wars racing experience. “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 reaction we get from our videos and articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that gaming trends are cyclical. “Genres rise and fall,” he says. “We had a period when shooters dominated, but that’s not the whole story.
As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches can attract a sizable audience.” Webster believes players are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before," and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The studio’s vision, he explains, is to create something fresh that blends arcade thrills with imaginative, physics‑defying environments. The team deliberately embraced the instant‑gratification feel 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 other over‑the‑top set‑pieces that would be impossible in a realistic simulation. Yet the game is also designed to subvert long‑standing racing conventions.
“Most racing games have been built around car collection for the past two decades,” Webster observes. “We wanted to rip that formula apart and borrow ideas from other genres.” One of those borrowed ideas is the notion of meaningful consequence, a concept often diluted in modern racers by the presence of rewind or checkpoint systems. In Galactic Racer, crashing carries weight: excessive crashes send the player back to the start, though a portion of meta‑progression is retained, allowing a slightly stronger start on the next attempt.
This risk‑reward loop forces players to weigh each maneuver carefully, especially when they are down to their final crash and the stakes feel critical. Webster also cites roguelike influences such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire. Those games are built for infinite replayability, a quality that dovetails naturally with racing, a genre that thrives on repeated runs and mastery.
By integrating procedural elements, persistent upgrades, and a death‑and‑retry loop, Galactic Racer aims to become a "match made in heaven" for fans who enjoy both high‑speed action and the strategic depth of roguelikes. Releasing the title on October 6 places it in a crowded autumn window that also includes heavyweights like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall (both September 24) and the highly anticipated GTA 6 slated for November 19. Webster acknowledges the competition but notes that crowded release calendars are nothing new.
“People used to call September ‘murderers’ row,’ and October has always been packed,” he says. “We have a healthy confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things might turn out.” The broader industry context also informs his outlook. Webster reflects on the wave of layoffs that has swept through the sector, recalling a similar downturn about fifteen years ago. “Great teams make great games, and great games find an audience,” he remarks.
“What we’re seeing now is an aversion to risk, which actually creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets.” Funding, however, has not been easy. Starting an independent studio in 2023, after a 32‑year stint at EA, felt like stepping out of a bubble. “People said, ‘You’re brave doing an indie studio now,’” Webster recalls. “The principle we rely on is building a great team, refining a clear creative vision, and maintaining discipline to execute a plan—even though the plan will always be imperfect.” He stresses that a motivated, engaged team is the engine of success.
Fuse Games is deliberately small for a project of AAA scope, maintaining a core staff of roughly 75 developers. Rather than expanding and contracting the internal team—a common practice in larger studios—Fuse leans heavily on external partners. “We avoid the grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink cycle,” Webster explains.
“Instead we keep a permanent core and bring in trusted external studios to fill gaps, whether that’s transactional asset outsourcing or full co‑development where the partner is integrated into our stand‑ups, Slack channels, and codebase.” The UK, with its mature development ecosystem, proves especially conducive to this model. In the past, external studios might have been reluctant collaborators, but today many firms hire developers eager to work across multiple projects, keeping talent fresh and motivated. Webster believes this collaborative approach can deliver AAA‑level scope, scale and visual fidelity on a more sustainable budget, a lesson his team has learned through trial and error. The speed of Galactic Racer’s development showcases the efficacy of this hybrid model.
Fuse was founded 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 intimately—and produced a full‑featured game. Webster describes this as an achievement accomplished in a healthy, sustainable way.
Another notable aspect of Fuse’s journey is the infusion of younger talent. Alongside the Criterion veterans, the studio has hired many developers early in their careers, even bringing on a producer who had never worked in games before. “Our young talent is often smarter and more effective than I was at their age,” Webster says. “We’ve seen greater success with them than with some senior hires from elsewhere.” He argues that nurturing junior staff not only benefits the newcomers but also energizes seasoned developers, fostering a mutually motivating environment.
Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalise an internship program to continue feeding fresh talent into the studio, though he cautions that Fuse is still pre‑revenue. He points to Criterion’s historic intern initiatives as a model and acknowledges the cost and commitment required to develop talent responsibly. Webster also critiques the industry’s lingering fixation on the myth of the singular creative visionary—a notion he calls “fucking bullshit.” He asserts that games are always collaborative endeavors, built by teams rather than lone geniuses. The era of generous funding that allowed successful titles to spawn spin‑off studios has faded, and today, resources are better allocated to strong teams rather than individual star developers.
As for Fuse’s future beyond Galactic Racer, Webster admits the path is still being charted. “The launch is just the beginning,” he says.
“We’ll be open to conversations about new opportunities, and we have ideas about where we want to go, but as an independent studio we have to stay flexible and adaptable.”