Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He arrived at the company in 1990 and spent almost twenty years developing titles for the acclaimed Burnout and Need for Speed series under Criterion, which 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 leave the corporate behemoth and launch an independent studio in the United Kingdom called Fuse Games. Just over three years later the fledgling studio is poised to release its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, a partnership with the newly independent publisher 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 slipped out of the mainstream spotlight. Recent industry news underscores this trend: Amazon 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 current market landscape. 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 demand still exists. “We clearly see an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “Our community feedback suggests we’re not alone in that belief.” Webster argues that video‑game genres are inherently cyclical. He points out that while shooters dominated the market for several years, other genres inevitably re‑emerge as player tastes evolve.
"As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger audience," he explained. He believes gamers are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before," and he sees Galactic Racer as delivering exactly that. The design philosophy behind Galactic Racer embraces the instant‑gratification feel of classic arcade racers while also pushing the boundaries of what a racing game can be when it’s no longer limited by realistic tires and tarmac. Webster describes tracks that climb the side of an active volcano and morph into roller‑coaster‑like experiences.
Beyond the adrenaline‑pumping thrills, the game aims to upend long‑standing genre conventions. Traditionally, racing games have centered on car collection—a mechanic that has remained largely unchanged for two decades. Fuse wants to tear that formula apart and borrow ideas from other genres. One of the most radical innovations is the introduction of meaningful consequences for player actions, particularly crashes.
In many modern racers, a rewind button eliminates risk, making mistakes feel inconsequential. Fuse intends to restore stakes: crashing repeatedly will send the player back to the start, though some meta‑progression carries over, placing the racer in a slightly stronger position. Webster likens this risk‑reward loop to the design of roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal, and Slay the Spire, which are built around infinite replayability. "Racing thrives on replayability," he says, "so combining it with roguelike principles feels like a match made in heaven." Webster acknowledges that this approach represents a bold departure from the hand‑holding that has become commonplace in AAA titles.
He also recognizes the competitive timing of the launch. Galactic Racer is slated for release on October 6, positioning it between the high‑profile releases of Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall (September 24) and the much‑anticipated GTA 6 (November 19). While some industry observers warn that September and October are crowded windows, Webster reminds us that historically developers have navigated even busier schedules, citing the infamous "Murderers' Row" of releases in past years.
He emphasizes that Fuse approaches the market with a "healthy sense of confidence" tempered by a realistic appraisal of potential outcomes. The conversation then shifts to the broader industry climate, particularly the wave of layoffs that has swept through studios. Webster, who has witnessed multiple cycles of downsizing, observes that great teams produce great games, and great games eventually find an audience.
He argues that a pervasive aversion to risk is limiting opportunities, and that studios willing to take calculated bets can thrive. However, he admits that securing funding for an independent studio in 2023 has been challenging.
After 32 years at EA, stepping into the unknown required a reliance on core principles: assembling a talented team, sharpening a creative vision, and maintaining disciplined planning—while accepting that plans will inevitably evolve. Fuse Games operates with a relatively small core team of around 75 people, a deliberate choice to avoid the typical "grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink" cycle that plagues many large studios. Instead, Fuse leverages external development partners to fill capability gaps. This hybrid model ranges from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to full‑scale co‑development where external studios attend daily stand‑ups, join Slack channels, and contribute directly to the codebase.
Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaborations, noting that today’s external partners are motivated to work across diverse projects rather than merely keeping the lights on. According to Webster, this blended approach enables a studio to deliver a AAA‑level experience—both in scope and visual fidelity—on a more sustainable budget.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer illustrates the model’s efficacy: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and just three and a half years later the team had built a studio, assembled a workforce, and created a game on Unreal Engine 5—a technology none of them had previously mastered. He describes this accomplishment as a testament to disciplined, sustainable development. Another noteworthy aspect of Fuse’s strategy is its emphasis on nurturing young talent. While the studio’s leadership includes veteran Criterion alumni, many of the developers working on Galactic Racer are newcomers to the industry, and one producer has never previously worked on a game.
Webster praises this fresh cohort, stating that they often demonstrate greater effectiveness and creativity than some of the more senior hires. He argues that fostering junior talent not only drives innovation but also creates a more engaging work environment for senior staff, who might otherwise prefer low‑interaction roles. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to further cultivate emerging talent, though he cautions that Fuse remains pre‑revenue and must manage costs carefully. He reflects on a period five or six years ago when abundant funding allowed successful teams to spin off their own studios, only for many to discover that running an independent studio is far more difficult than anticipated.
He criticizes the industry’s lingering fixation on the myth of a singular "creative visionary," calling it "bullshit" and insisting that games are fundamentally collaborative endeavors. As for Fuse’s future beyond Galactic Racer, the studio remains open‑ended. The launch is viewed as just the beginning, and while they have ideas for subsequent projects, Webster stresses the need for flexibility and adaptability in today’s independent development landscape.
The overarching message is clear: by combining a lean core team, strategic external partnerships, and a willingness to experiment with genre conventions, Fuse Games aims to prove that ambitious, high‑quality games can be built sustainably, even in a market that often rewards risk‑averse, big‑budget formulas.