Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at EA back in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years contributing to the Burnout and Need for Speed franchises while they were under Criterion, 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 launch the independent UK studio Fuse Games. Fast‑forward three and a half years, and Fuse is on the brink of releasing its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, published by the newly autonomous Secret Mode.
Galactic Racer arrives roughly 24 years after the last Star Wars racing entry – 2002’s Racer Revenge – and it does so at a moment when racing games have generally slipped out of the mainstream spotlight. Amazon recently cancelled a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a forthcoming driving title called Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis explaining that the market simply didn’t seem to fit the project. Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has pivoted to the Battlefield franchise, leaving a noticeable gap in the high‑octane, Star‑Wars‑themed space. Webster remains convinced that a demand exists.
“We clearly think there’s an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re not the only ones who feel that way, and judging by the response to our videos and articles, we’re not alone.” He points out that gaming genres tend to be cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other categories inevitably resurface. “As more and more people play video games, even the tiniest of niches find a bigger audience,” he added.
According to Webster, modern players are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before," and he believes Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The studio aimed to capture the instant‑gratification feel of classic arcade racers while also exploring what’s possible once you’re no longer limited by realistic tyres and tarmac. “We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” he explained.
“Sometimes it feels more like a roller‑coaster than a traditional circuit.” Beyond the thrill‑rides, Galactic Racer is deliberately breaking long‑standing genre conventions. Most racing games have relied on a car‑collection model for the past two decades.
Webster wants to “rip that up and steal from other genres.” The game introduces meaningful consequences for player actions, especially crashes. In many contemporary racers, a rewind button erases any penalty, but Fuse is re‑introducing stakes: too many crashes send you back to the start, though you retain some meta‑progression that puts you in a stronger position the next attempt. This risk‑reward loop is inspired by roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire, which are built around infinite replayability—a perfect match for a racing game that thrives on repeated runs.
Webster acknowledges that this design philosophy is a bold departure from the hand‑holding typical of AAA releases, but he sees it as necessary to stand out in a crowded market, especially in a year when Rockstar’s GTA 6 looms on the horizon. Galactic Racer is slated for an October 6 launch, comfortably ahead of GTA 6’s November 19 release but still close to other major September titles like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall. He notes that busy release windows are nothing new: “I remember the old ‘Murderer’s Row’ in October – it was always packed.” Fuse approaches the competition with a “healthy sense of confidence” balanced by a realistic view of potential outcomes.
The conversation naturally turned to industry layoffs and risk aversion. Having lived through a wave of cuts fifteen years ago, Webster observes that great teams produce great games, and great games find audiences. He argues that the current climate’s aversion to risk actually creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets.
“If you’re not willing to risk, you limit your chances,” he said. Starting an independent studio in 2023, however, has not been without hurdles.
Securing funding proved difficult; many questioned the wisdom of launching a new studio in a turbulent market. Webster reflects on his 32‑year tenure at EA as a “bubble” and emphasizes the core principles that guided Fuse: assemble a talented team, hone a clear creative vision, and maintain disciplined planning while staying adaptable. He stresses that engaged, motivated talent is the engine of great games.
Fuse’s team is relatively small for a AAA‑scale project—about 75 people—and that is intentional. Rather than repeatedly expanding and shrinking staff, the studio relies on external partners to fill gaps. This hybrid model blends transactional outsourcing for asset creation with deeper co‑development relationships where external studios sit in Fuse’s daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and codebase.
The UK, with its mature development ecosystem, proves ideal for such collaboration. In the past, external studios were reluctant partners, but today many firms hire developers eager to work across diverse projects, keeping the workforce fresh and enthusiastic. Webster believes this approach can deliver AAA‑level scope, scale and visual fidelity on a sustainable budget.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer—just three and a half years from Fuse’s founding to a near‑complete UE5‑powered title—demonstrates the model’s viability. He adds that the studio’s mix of veteran Criterion staff and younger developers has been a key strength. One producer on the project had never worked in games before, yet the youthful talent has often outperformed senior hires in terms of creativity and efficiency. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to nurture fresh talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue.
He cites Criterion’s successful intern pipelines as inspiration and acknowledges that developing talent requires both vision and financial commitment. Reflecting on a period a few years ago when the industry was flush with cash, Webster recalls how many successful teams received funding to spin off into their own studios, only to discover the reality was far tougher than anticipated. He criticizes the industry’s lingering fixation on the “lone creative visionary,” calling it “bullshit.” In his view, games are always the product of collaborative effort, not solitary genius.
As for Fuse’s next steps, the future remains open‑ended. The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and the studio is already contemplating new opportunities while staying flexible and adaptable—an essential mindset for any independent developer navigating today’s ever‑shifting market.