Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He began his journey with the company in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years contributing to the iconic Burnout and Need for Speed series while they were under the Criterion banner, a studio EA acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster, together with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires, and Alan McDairmant, decided to strike out on their own and founded the independent UK studio Fuse Games. Fast‑forward three and a half years, and the fledgling studio is poised to launch its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, under the publishing umbrella of the newly autonomous Secret Mode.
Galactic Racer arrives roughly 24 years after the last Star Wars‑themed racing experience, 2002’s Racer Revenge, and it does so at a time when the racing genre has generally slipped out of the mainstream spotlight. Recent industry moves illustrate this trend: Amazon withdrew from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for the upcoming title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis noting a perceived market mismatch, while Criterion itself has shifted focus from pure racing to the Battlefield franchise.
Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a viable audience exists for a Star Wars racing game. “We clearly see demand for a Star Wars‑based racer,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “Our community’s reactions to our videos and articles suggest we’re not alone in that belief.” He points out that video‑game genres tend to be cyclical.
“We’ve had a period where shooters dominated, but that’s just one phase,” Webster said. “As more people play games, even the smallest niches can attract larger follow‑ups.” He believes players are hungry for “fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before,” and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that.
Fuse’s design philosophy for the game embraces 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 a series of fantastical tracks that climb the sides of active volcanoes and feel like roller‑coasters. Yet the ambition goes deeper than visual flair. Webster wants to upend long‑standing racing conventions, particularly the static car‑collection model that has persisted for two decades. “Let’s rip that up and steal ideas from other genres,” he said.
One of those borrowed concepts is the notion of meaningful consequence, a staple of roguelike design. In many modern racers, a rewind mechanic erases the penalty for crashing, but Webster wants crashes to matter. “If you crash too often, you’re sent back to the start, but you retain some meta‑progression that puts you in a stronger position,” he explained.
“When you’re on your last allowed crash, you feel the risk and have to decide whether to push forward or play it safe.” This risk‑reward loop draws inspiration from games like Hades, Returnal, and Slay the Spire, which are built for infinite replayability—a quality that dovetails naturally with racing’s competitive replay loops. Webster acknowledges that this design choice represents a bold departure from the hand‑holding typical of many AAA titles, especially as the industry prepares for heavyweight releases such as GTA 6. Galactic Racer is slated for an October 6 launch, comfortably before GTA 6’s November 19 release but still close to other major titles like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall, which debuted on September 24. “September always looks busy, but October has historically been a ‘murderer’s row’ of releases,” he recalled.
“We have confidence, but we keep a realistic view of how the market might respond.” The conversation naturally shifted to the current wave of layoffs across the sector. Webster, a veteran who lived through a similar downsizing period fifteen years ago, sees a pattern: strong teams create great games, and great games find audiences. He warns that an industry‑wide aversion to risk can stifle innovation, yet it also opens doors for studios willing to take calculated bets.
“If you shy away from risk, you limit opportunity,” he said. Launching an independent studio in 2023 has not been without hurdles. Funding proved elusive, with many questioning the wisdom of starting a new studio in a tight financial climate. Webster reflected on his 32‑year tenure at EA, describing the transition as a leap out of a “bubble.” He emphasized core principles: assembling a talented team, sharpening a creative vision, and maintaining disciplined planning—while accepting that any plan will evolve.
“Engaged, motivated talent produces great work, so it’s our job to keep them inspired,” he added. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core—about 75 people—by design. Rather than scaling the internal staff up and down, the studio leans on external partners for additional capacity.
This hybrid model blends transactional outsourcing for asset creation with deeper co‑development relationships where external studios join daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and even the codebase. Webster highlighted the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaborations, noting a cultural shift from reluctant, protective outsourcing to enthusiastic partnership. He believes this approach can deliver AAA‑level scope, scale, and visual fidelity on a more sustainable budget.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer—three and a half years from Fuse’s founding to a near‑ready product built on Unreal Engine 5—demonstrates the model’s viability. “We started Fuse in January 2023 and now have a finished game on technology none of us previously mastered. That feels like an achievement, especially because we did it healthily and sustainably,” Webster said.
Another notable aspect of Fuse’s strategy is its investment in younger talent. Alongside the Criterion veterans, the studio hired many developers early in their careers, including a producer with no prior game‑industry experience.
“The young talent we’ve brought in is often smarter and more effective than I was at that age,” Webster observed. He argued that senior developers sometimes prefer working with peers who need little guidance, which can stifle mentorship. By pivoting hiring practices toward nurturing junior staff, Fuse hopes to build a more dynamic, collaborative environment. Looking ahead, Webster envisions an intern program to further cultivate emerging talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue.
He cites Criterion’s successful internship pipeline as a model and stresses the importance of recognizing the costs associated with talent development. Reflecting on the boom years five or six years prior, when well‑funded studios spun off teams that later struggled, he critiqued the industry’s fixation on “singular creative visionaries.” “That myth is nonsense,” he said.
“Games are always collaborative efforts.” As for Fuse’s next steps, the studio remains flexible. While the launch of Galactic Racer marks a significant milestone, Webster hints at ongoing conversations about future projects.
“We have ideas about where we want to go, but as an independent developer you have to stay adaptable,” he concluded.