Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at EA in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years working on the iconic Burnout and Need for Speed franchises after Criterion, the studio behind those games, was acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster, together with fellow Criterion alumni Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires, and Alan McDairmant, decided to strike out on their own and founded the independent UK studio Fuse Games.
Three and a half years later the fledgling company is poised to launch its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, under the banner of 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 lost some of its mainstream steam. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the market didn’t seem to have a clear fit for such a game.
Meanwhile Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has pivoted its focus toward the Battlefield franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced there is still a hungry audience for a Star Wars racing experience. “We clearly think there’s a market for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re not the only ones who feel that way, and the response we get from people watching our videos and reading our articles suggests we’re not alone.” Webster points out that gaming trends are cyclical.
After a period dominated by shooters, other genres inevitably re‑emerge. “As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches find a bigger audience,” he explains. He believes players are craving "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before," and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that.
The team set out to capture the instant gratification of classic arcade racing while also asking, "What could we do if we weren’t limited by tyres and tarmac?" The answer includes tracks that climb the sides of active volcanoes and courses that feel more like roller‑coasters than traditional circuits. Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer deliberately subverts long‑standing racing conventions. Most racing games have relied on a car‑collection model for the past two decades, a formula Webster wants to tear apart. He draws inspiration from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal, and Slay the Spire, which are built around infinite replayability and meaningful consequence.
In Galactic Racer, crashes carry weight: repeated crashes can send a player back to the start, though some meta‑progression is retained, giving a sense of forward momentum despite setbacks. This design choice re‑introduces risk and reward, counter‑balancing the safety nets—like rewind buttons—that have become commonplace in AAA racing games.
The timing of the launch also reflects strategic thinking. Galactic Racer is slated for release on October 6, comfortably ahead of the highly anticipated GTA 6 launch on November 19, yet close enough to other major releases such as Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall on September 24. Webster notes that crowded pre‑Christmas windows are nothing new; “September used to be called ‘Murderer’s Row’ for its density of releases, and October has always been busy.” He believes confidence, tempered with realism, is essential in a market where competition is fierce. When discussing the broader industry climate, Webster reflects on the wave of layoffs that has swept through game development over the past year.
Having lived through a similar contraction fifteen years ago, he sees a pattern: great teams make great games, and great games find an audience. Yet he also observes a growing aversion to risk among publishers, which he argues creates openings for studios willing to take calculated bets.
"If you’re not willing to risk, you limit your opportunities," he says. Funding, however, remains a hurdle for new independent studios. Webster recounts the skepticism he faced when announcing Fuse Games in 2023: "People were like, ‘you’re brave doing an indie studio in 2023.’" After three decades at EA, he was stepping into unfamiliar territory.
He leaned on principles he’d learned over his career: build a strong, motivated team; refine a clear creative vision; stay disciplined while accepting that plans will evolve. By adhering to these tenets, Fuse has managed to keep its core team deliberately small—about 75 people—while leveraging external partners to fill gaps. This approach avoids the industry’s typical “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” cycle and, in Webster’s view, could become a sustainable model for future AAA‑scale projects. External collaboration at Fuse ranges from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to full‑fledged co‑development, where partner studios attend daily stand‑ups, share Slack channels, and contribute directly to the codebase.
The United Kingdom, with its mature development ecosystem, serves as an ideal hub for such partnerships. "In the past, other companies would help you only grudgingly, because they wanted to focus on their own projects.
Now there are firms that thrive on working with multiple teams, keeping their talent fresh and excited," Webster explains. A striking feature of Fuse’s workforce is its blend of veteran Criterion alumni and a wave of younger developers, some of whom have never worked in games before.
One producer on Galactic Racer, for instance, came from a completely different industry. Webster praises this fresh talent, noting that they often bring a level of intelligence and efficiency that surpasses his own capabilities at their age.
He argues that nurturing young talent is more beneficial than relying solely on seasoned developers who may prefer minimal interaction. This philosophy has already prompted Fuse to adjust its hiring strategy, placing greater emphasis on mentorship and growth opportunities.
Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to further cultivate emerging talent, though he acknowledges that Fuse is still pre‑revenue and must be realistic about the costs involved. He points to Criterion’s successful intern pipeline as a model worth emulating. Reflecting on the boom years five or six years ago, when generous funding allowed many successful teams to spin off into their own studios, he laments that the money often went to “superstar” developers rather than to solid, collaborative teams.
"The fixation on a single creative visionary is nonsense," he says. "Games are made by collaborations of individuals." As for Fuse’s next steps, Webster admits the future is still being written.
The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and the studio remains open to exploring new opportunities and directions. He emphasizes the need for flexibility and adaptability in today’s independent development landscape.
"We have ideas about where we want to go and what we’d like to do next, but as an indie studio you have to stay agile," he concludes. In summary, Matt Webster’s journey—from a long tenure at EA to founding a lean, innovative studio—illustrates how a clear vision, willingness to experiment, and a balanced mix of experience and fresh perspectives can revive a dormant genre. Star Wars: Galactic Racer aims to prove that even niche concepts can find a substantial audience when they are reimagined with bold design choices, meaningful risk, and a commitment to sustainable development practices.