Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He began his tenure at EA in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years developing iconic franchises such as Burnout and Need for Speed while working at Criterion, the studio EA acquired in 2004.
However, 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 founded Fuse Games, an independent studio based in the United Kingdom. Three and a half years later the fledgling company is poised to release its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which will be published by the newly independent label Secret Mode. The timing of Galactic Racer’s launch is noteworthy.
It arrives roughly 24 years after the last Star Wars‑themed racing game, the 2002 release Racer Revenge, and it does so during a period when the racing genre has struggled to maintain mainstream appeal. Recent industry moves illustrate this trend: Amazon withdrew from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for the upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating that the project “didn’t fit the market.” Meanwhile, Criterion itself has shifted focus away from racing and now contributes to the Battlefield franchise.
Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a market exists for a Star Wars racing experience. “We clearly see an audience for a Star Wars‑based racer,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re not the only ones who think that, and the response we get from people watching our videos and reading our articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that gaming genres tend to be cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other types of games inevitably rise again, especially as the overall player base expands.
“The more people who play video games, the larger even the tiniest niche becomes,” Webster explained. According to Webster, modern gamers are hungry for fresh, compelling experiences that they haven’t encountered before, and he believes Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The team set out to capture the instant‑gratification feel of classic arcade racers while also exploring what can be done when developers are no longer constrained by realistic tyres and tarmac.
“We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” he said, describing a course that feels more like a roller‑coaster than a traditional circuit. Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer seeks to upend long‑standing conventions of the racing genre. For two decades, most racing games have been built around the collection of cars, a formula that Webster feels has become stale. “Let’s rip that up and borrow ideas from other genres,” he asserted.
One of the most radical changes is the introduction of meaningful consequences for player actions, particularly crashes. In many contemporary racers, a rewind mechanic erases the impact of mistakes, but Fuse wants to bring those consequences back. When a player crashes too often, they are sent back to the start of the run, though some meta‑progression carries over, placing them in a slightly stronger position.
This risk‑reward loop forces players to weigh the danger of each maneuver, echoing the tension found in roguelike titles. Webster cites games such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire as inspirations for the game’s structure. Those titles are designed for infinite replayability, a quality that dovetails naturally with racing, a genre that thrives on repeated attempts to shave seconds off lap times. By integrating roguelike elements—procedurally generated challenges, persistent upgrades, and the ever‑present threat of failure—Galactic Racer aims to create a loop that keeps players coming back for more.
The release window also reflects strategic thinking. Galactic Racer is slated for October 6, giving it a comfortable gap before the highly anticipated GTA 6 launch on November 19, while still landing after major September releases such as Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall. Webster acknowledges that the calendar is crowded, but reminds us that the industry has weathered even busier pre‑holiday schedules in the past.
“People used to call October ‘Murderer’s Row,’ and it was packed with titles,” he recalled. “We have a healthy confidence, tempered by a realistic view of how things might turn out.” When asked about the wave of layoffs sweeping the sector, Webster reflected on his long tenure and the earlier layoff cycle about fifteen years ago.
He believes that great teams produce great games, and great games find their audiences. Yet he also notes a growing aversion to risk within large publishers, which creates openings for studios willing to gamble on unconventional ideas. “If you’re not willing to take calculated risks, you limit your opportunities,” he warned.
Funding an independent studio in 2023 has not been easy. Webster admits that many people questioned his decision to leave a secure EA career and start a new venture.
“People said, ‘You’re brave doing an indie studio now,’” he laughed. He emphasizes that the core principles he learned at EA—building a strong team, refining a clear creative vision, and maintaining disciplined planning—still apply, even if the plan is always provisional. Adaptability and staying true to core values, he says, are essential for navigating an unpredictable market. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core staff of around 75 people, a deliberate choice to avoid the typical industry pattern of rapid expansion followed by contraction.
Instead, the studio relies heavily on external partners to fill skill gaps. This hybrid model blends transactional outsourcing for asset creation with deeper co‑development relationships where external studios attend daily stand‑ups, join Slack channels, and contribute directly to the codebase. Webster highlights the UK’s mature game‑development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaborations, noting that today’s external studios are eager to work on diverse projects rather than merely keeping the lights on. Webster believes this approach demonstrates that a AAA‑scale game—by scope, visual fidelity, and ambition—can be produced on a sustainable budget when a small permanent team is augmented by trusted partners who share the same values.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer supports this claim: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and just three and a half years later the team has built a studio, assembled a team, and delivered a UE5‑powered game despite none of them having prior experience with the engine. Another notable aspect of Fuse’s strategy is its emphasis on nurturing young talent. Alongside the Criterion veterans, the studio has hired many newcomers, including a producer who had never worked in games before.
Webster praises the energy and ingenuity of these younger developers, saying they often outperform more senior hires. He observes that seasoned developers sometimes prefer to work with peers who require minimal mentorship, which can stifle growth. By actively seeking and developing fresh talent, Fuse hopes to create a culture of continuous learning and innovation. Looking ahead, Webster envisions establishing a formal internship program to further cultivate emerging talent, though he cautions that the studio is still pre‑revenue and must balance ambition with financial realities.
He reflects on a period five or six years ago when abundant funding allowed successful teams to spin off their own studios, only to discover that running a studio is far harder than anticipated. He criticizes the industry’s lingering fixation on the myth of the “single creative visionary,” calling it “bullshit” and insisting that games are fundamentally collaborative endeavors.
As for Fuse’s next steps after Galactic Racer’s launch, Webster admits the future is still being shaped. The studio plans to treat the launch as just the beginning, remaining open to new opportunities and ideas while staying flexible and adaptable—qualities he sees as essential for independent developers in today’s volatile market.