Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He arrived at EA in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years contributing to the Burnout and Need for Speed franchises while they were under the Criterion banner, a studio EA acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster teamed up with fellow Criterion alumni Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires, and Alan McDairmant to launch an independent UK studio called Fuse Games. Just over three years later, the fledgling studio is on the verge 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. In the intervening decades, the racing genre has lost some of its mainstream momentum.
Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating that the project didn’t fit the market. Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has shifted its focus 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.
“Our community of video‑game fans, the people who watch our streams and read our articles, seem to be eager for something like this.” He argues that genres tend to be cyclical. “We went through a period where shooters dominated, but that’s not the only cycle. As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches can find 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 set out to capture the instant‑gratification feel of classic arcade racers while also asking, "What can we do once we’re no longer limited by tyres and tarmac?" The answer includes tracks that climb the side of an active volcano and courses that feel more like roller‑coasters than traditional circuits. Beyond high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer aims to upend long‑standing conventions of the racing genre. For the past two decades, most racing games have been built around a car‑collection model—players earn or purchase new vehicles, and progression is tied to expanding a garage.
Webster wants to rip up that formula and borrow mechanics from other genres. He cites the influence of roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal, and Slay the Spire, which prioritize infinite replayability and meaningful decision‑making. In Galactic Racer, crashes carry real weight.
While many modern racers offer a rewind button that erases mistakes, Fuse re‑introduces consequence: too many crashes send you back to the start of a run, though you retain a fragment of meta‑progress that makes subsequent attempts slightly stronger. This risk‑reward loop forces players to weigh aggression against caution, especially when they’re down to their final allowed crash. Webster acknowledges that this design philosophy is a bold departure from the hand‑holding typical of many AAA releases, but he sees it as necessary to stand out in a crowded market. The game is slated for launch on October 6, a comfortable gap from the highly anticipated GTA 6 release scheduled for November 19, yet close enough to the busy September‑October window that also includes titles like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall (both arriving September 24).
"People always say September looks busy, but I remember the old ‘Murderer’s Row’ in the 90s when October was the real crunch month," Webster notes. "We’re confident, but we keep a realistic view of how things might turn out." When asked about the wave of layoffs sweeping the industry, Webster reflects on his long tenure. He recalls a similar downsizing period fifteen years ago and points out a timeless truth: great teams make great games, and great games find audiences. He argues that the current climate shows a pervasive aversion to risk, which paradoxically creates opportunities for studios willing to make calculated bets.
"If you shy away from risk, you limit yourself. Those willing to push boundaries can capture the space left behind," he says. Funding, however, has not been a walk in the park for the newly formed studio. "People told me it was brave to start an independent studio in 2023," Webster recounts.
After three decades at EA, he found himself navigating a very different landscape. He leaned on principles he’d learned over the years: assemble a talented core team, crystalize a creative vision, craft a disciplined yet flexible plan, and constantly iterate.
"The plan is always wrong, but it’s the best version you have today," he explains. "Engaged, motivated talent is the engine of great games, so it’s our job to keep that engine humming." Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core—about 75 people—by design.
Rather than expanding and contracting staff in response to project phases, the studio relies heavily on external partners to fill skill gaps. This hybrid model blends transactional outsourcing (pure asset creation) with true co‑development, where partner studios sit in on daily stand‑ups, share Slack channels, and contribute directly to the codebase.
Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaborations. "In the past, external studios were reluctant to help unless they needed the cash. Today, many companies hire developers who want to work across diverse projects, keeping them fresh and excited," he says. According to Webster, this approach demonstrates that a AAA‑scale game—by scope, visual fidelity, and ambition—can be built on a sustainable budget when a small, permanent core team is augmented by trusted, value‑aligned partners.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer underscores this point: Fuse launched in January 2023, and within three and a half years they have assembled a studio, built a team, and delivered a game on Unreal Engine 5—a tool none of them had mastered at the outset. "It feels like an achievement, and we did it in a healthy, sustainable way," he remarks. The studio’s talent mix also reflects a deliberate shift toward younger developers. While several veteran Criterion alumni anchor the team, many of the producers and designers are newcomers to the industry; one producer had never worked on a game before joining Fuse.
"The young talent we’ve hired is often smarter and more effective than we were at that age," Webster says. He observes that seasoned developers sometimes prefer senior colleagues who need minimal guidance, which can stifle mentorship. By contrast, nurturing younger staff energizes the whole team. Webster hopes to formalize this commitment through an intern program, though he cautions that Fuse is still pre‑revenue and must be realistic about the costs of talent development.
Looking back to the era when the industry was flush with cash, Webster notes that many successful games spawned spin‑off studios funded by the profits of a single hit. He argues that money should be allocated to great teams rather than to a mythic "single creative visionary," a notion he calls "bullshit." In reality, games are collaborative endeavors. As for Fuse’s future beyond Galactic Racer, Webster admits the roadmap is still forming.
The launch is just the first step, and the studio remains open to exploring new opportunities and directions. "Independent developers need to stay flexible and adaptable," he says. "We have ideas about where we want to go, but we’ll let the market and our own growth dictate the next chapter."