Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at EA in 1990 and spent almost twenty years contributing to the 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 Fuse Games, an independent studio based in the United Kingdom. Just over three 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 the launch is noteworthy. The last official Star Wars racing game, *Racer Revenge*, hit shelves in 2002—over two decades ago. Since then, the racing genre has struggled to maintain a prominent place in the mainstream market. Amazon recently cancelled a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a forthcoming driving title called *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 pivoted away from that niche and now focuses on the *Battlefield* franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a demand exists for a Star Wars‑themed racing experience. “We clearly see an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told *GamesIndustry.biz*.
“Our community feedback—comments on our videos, article readers—suggests we’re not the only ones who think so.” He points out that gaming trends are cyclical. “Shooters dominated for a while, but they’re not the only genre that can capture players’ attention. As the overall player base expands, even the smallest niches can attract larger followings.” Webster believes gamers are hungry for “fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before,” and he feels *Galactic Racer* delivers on that promise.
The studio aimed to capture the instant gratification of classic arcade racers while also exploring what becomes possible when developers are no longer limited by realistic tires and pavement. “We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” he explains. “Sometimes it feels like a roller‑coaster.” Beyond the high‑octane thrills, *Galactic Racer* seeks to upend long‑standing conventions of the racing genre.
Traditionally, racers revolve around a car‑collection system that has changed little in the past twenty years. Webster wants to “rip that up and steal ideas from other genres.” One of those ideas is the incorporation of meaningful consequences for player actions, such as crashing.
In many modern racers, a rewind button erases the penalty for mistakes, but Fuse wants to restore stakes. “When you crash too many times you’re sent back to the start, but you retain some meta‑progression, so each failure feels weighty,” he says. The game’s design draws inspiration from roguelike titles like *Hades*, *Returnal* and *Slay the Spire*, which emphasize infinite replayability. “Racing already thrives on replay value, so marrying it with roguelike mechanics feels like a perfect match,” Webster notes.
Each crash pushes the player toward a decision point: continue pushing the limits or accept the risk of being eliminated. This design choice represents a bold departure from the hand‑holding that has become common in AAA releases. Webster is also mindful of the crowded release calendar. *Galactic Racer* is slated for October 6, positioned between the anticipated launch of *Grand Theft Auto VI* (November 19) and other high‑profile titles like *Control: Resonance* and *Silent Hill: Townfall* (both September 24).
While some industry observers worry that September is a busy month, Webster recalls that “October has always been packed; we’ve lived through ‘Murderer’s Row’ seasons before.” He stresses that Fuse approaches the market with “a healthy confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things may turn out.” The conversation inevitably turns to the broader industry climate, especially the wave of layoffs that has swept through major publishers. Webster, who has witnessed a similar contraction about fifteen years ago, observes that “great teams make great games, and great games find an audience.” He argues that risk aversion is limiting innovation, and that studios willing to take calculated bets will reap the rewards.
However, securing funding for a new independent studio in 2023 has been “a real challenge.” After three decades at EA, Webster found himself navigating an unfamiliar landscape, relying on core principles: building a strong team, refining a clear creative vision, and maintaining disciplined, adaptable planning. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core of roughly 75 staff members—small for a title with AAA ambitions. This intentional size allows the studio to avoid the typical “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” cycle that plagues many developers. Instead, Fuse augments its capabilities through external partnerships.
These range from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to full co‑development arrangements 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 collaboration, noting that today’s studios are eager to work on diverse projects rather than being locked into a single internal pipeline.
According to Webster, this hybrid model—small permanent core plus trusted external partners—offers a sustainable path to delivering AAA‑level scope, scale and visual fidelity on a reasonable budget. The rapid development timeline of *Galactic Racer* showcases the model’s effectiveness: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and within three and a half years the team has built a studio, assembled a workforce, learned Unreal Engine 5 from scratch, and produced a polished, market‑ready game. A striking element of Fuse’s culture is its emphasis on youthful talent.
In addition to the veteran Criterion alumni, the studio has hired many younger developers, even bringing on a producer who had never previously worked in games. “Our young talent is smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age,” Webster says.
He notes that seasoned developers often prefer senior colleagues who require little mentorship, but that nurturing junior staff creates a more engaged and motivated environment. The studio hopes to formalize an internship program in the future, though it remains pre‑revenue and cautious about the costs involved. Reflecting on the industry’s past reliance on “superstar” creators, Webster calls the myth of the singular visionary “bullshit.” He argues that successful games are the product of collaborative effort, not the output of a lone genius.
This perspective informs Fuse’s hiring philosophy and its willingness to experiment with new development structures. Looking ahead, Fuse Games does not have a fixed roadmap beyond *Galactic Racer*.
Webster acknowledges that independent studios must stay flexible and adaptable, ready to pivot toward new opportunities as they arise. The launch of *Galactic Racer* is just the beginning, and while the studio is still seeking sustainable revenue streams, its confidence in the product, its team, and its innovative development approach suggests a promising future for Fuse and for the broader racing genre.