Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at the company in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years developing titles for Criterion, the studio behind Burnout and Need for Speed that EA acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster teamed up with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant to launch Fuse Games, an independent studio based in the United Kingdom. Just over three years later the fledgling company is on the verge of releasing its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which will be published by the newly independent label 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 largely slipped out of the mainstream spotlight. Amazon recently cancelled a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for the upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating that the market simply didn’t have a clear fit for the project. Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has shifted its focus to the Battlefield franchise.
Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced there is still a viable audience for a Star Wars racing experience. “We definitely think there’s a crowd out there that wants a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “Our community of fans, the people who watch our videos and read our articles, suggest we’re not the only ones hoping for it.” He added that genres tend to be cyclical. “We had a period where shooters dominated everything, but that’s not the whole story.
As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches start to attract larger followings.” Webster believes gamers are hungry for “fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before,” and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The team set out to capture the instant‑gratification feel of classic arcade racers while also asking, “What could we do if we weren’t limited by tyres and tarmac?” The answer, according to Webster, is tracks that climb the sides of active volcanoes, courses that feel more like roller‑coasters than traditional circuits, and other physics‑defying set‑pieces that would be impossible in a realistic driving simulator. Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer aims to upend long‑standing conventions of the racing genre.
For two decades, most racers have built their progression around car collection—unlocking new vehicles as a primary reward loop. Webster wants to tear that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres. The game incorporates meaningful decision‑making tied to crashes.
In many modern racers, a “rewind” button eliminates the consequences of a mistake, but Fuse wants those mistakes to matter. “If you crash too many times you’re sent back to the start,” he explained, “but you keep some meta‑progression, so you’re a little stronger the next run. The final crash feels tense because you’re weighing risk versus reward.” That risk‑reward system draws inspiration from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire—games designed for infinite replayability.
“Racing thrives on replayability, so marrying it with roguelike loops feels like a match made in heaven,” Webster said. The design encourages players to experiment, learn from each failure, and return with a slightly better starting point, creating a compelling loop that rewards perseverance. Launching on October 6, Galactic Racer lands a month before the highly anticipated GTA 6 release (scheduled for November 19) and shortly after other major September launches like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall.
Webster acknowledges the crowded calendar but points out that the industry has weathered even busier pre‑Christmas windows in the past. “People used to call October ‘Murderer’s Row’ because it was packed with releases. We’re aware it’s competitive, but we have a healthy confidence tempered by realism.” The conversation also turned to the current wave of layoffs across the industry.
Having survived a previous round of cuts fifteen years ago, Webster sees a pattern: great teams make great games, and great games find their audience. He argues that today’s market is risk‑averse, which creates openings for studios willing to take calculated bets.
“If you shy away from risk, you limit your opportunities,” he warned. Starting an independent studio in 2023 has not been without hurdles. Funding was scarce, and many questioned the wisdom of launching a new studio in a volatile environment.
Webster reflected on his 32‑year tenure at EA, describing the shift as moving from a “bubble” into an unfamiliar landscape. He emphasized core principles: building a talented team, honing a clear creative vision, and maintaining disciplined planning—while accepting that any plan will inevitably be imperfect and must be iterated upon.
Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core of about 75 people, a deliberate choice to avoid the industry’s typical “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” staffing cycles. Instead, the studio leans heavily on external partners to fill gaps, ranging from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to full co‑development arrangements where outside studios join daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and even the codebase.
Webster highlighted the UK’s mature development ecosystem as especially conducive to this collaborative model, noting that today’s studios are more willing to partner rather than compete for limited talent. According to Webster, this hybrid approach enables a AAA‑scale project to be delivered on a sustainable budget.
The rapid development timeline—Fuse was founded in January 2023, and three and a half years later they have a finished product built on Unreal Engine 5, a technology none of the team originally mastered—demonstrates the efficacy of the model. Another noteworthy aspect is the infusion of youthful talent. While the studio includes veterans from Criterion, many of its developers are newcomers, and one producer had never worked in games before joining the project.
“Our young team is often smarter and more effective than I was at that age,” Webster said, praising the fresh perspectives they bring. He observed that seasoned developers sometimes prefer senior colleagues who need little guidance, but that dynamic can stifle growth.
Fuse has therefore pivoted its hiring strategy to nurture and empower younger creators. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to further develop emerging talent, though he cautions that the studio is still pre‑revenue and must manage costs carefully. He reminisces about the era when successful games generated ample funding for spin‑off studios, only to find that many of those ventures struggled because the money was funneled toward “superstar” developers rather than solid teams.
“The myth of the single creative visionary is complete nonsense,” he asserted. “Games are collaborative endeavors.” As for Fuse’s future beyond Galactic Racer, Webster admits the roadmap is still taking shape. The launch is just the beginning, and the studio remains open to new opportunities and ideas.
“Independent developers need to stay flexible and adaptable,” he concluded, emphasizing that the industry’s ever‑changing landscape rewards those who can pivot quickly while staying true to their core values.