"As gaming expands, even the smallest niches attract larger audiences" – Why Matt Webster believes Star Wars: Galactic Racer will resonate

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 developing titles for the Criterion studio, the team behind Burnout and Need for Speed, which 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.

Three and a half years later the fledgling studio stands on the brink 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 racing game – 2002’s Racer Revenge – and it does so at a time when the racing genre has generally slipped out of the mainstream spotlight. Amazon recently abandoned a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title 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 toward the Battlefield franchise.

Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a demand still 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 the response we get from our videos and articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that video‑game genres are cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other categories inevitably resurface. “As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches find a bigger audience,” Webster says.

Players, he believes, are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before," and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The design philosophy at Fuse is to capture the instant gratification of classic arcade racers while also pushing the boundaries of what a racing game can be when it is no longer tethered to realistic tyres and tarmac. "We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano," he explains, describing a course that feels more like a roller‑coaster than a traditional circuit.

Beyond the high‑octane thrills, the game deliberately subverts long‑standing conventions. Most racing titles rely on a car‑collection model that has changed little in two decades. Webster wants to tear that model apart and borrow mechanics from other genres.

One of those borrowed ideas is the notion of meaningful consequences. In many modern racers, a rewind button can erase mistakes, eroding any sense of risk. Fuse re‑introduces stakes: crashing too often forces the player back to the start, though a portion of meta‑progression carries over, giving a slightly stronger position on the next attempt. "When you’re on your last crash and the systems are critical, you actually start to feel the weight of the risk you’re taking," Webster notes.

The game’s structure also draws inspiration from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire—games built around infinite replayability. Racing, by nature, thrives on repeated runs, so merging it with roguelike loops creates a synergy Webster describes as "a match made in heaven." This design choice signals a bold departure from the hand‑holding that has become common in AAA releases, especially as the industry gears up for heavyweight launches like GTA 6. Galactic Racer is slated for an October 6 launch, comfortably spaced from GTA 6’s November 19 release but still close to other major titles such as Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall, both arriving on September 24. Webster acknowledges the crowded calendar but reminds us that October has historically been a busy month for releases.

"Someone said September looks busy, but I remember the ‘murderer’s row’ era where October was packed with games," he says. Fuse approaches the market with what he calls a "healthy sense of confidence," balanced by a realistic view of potential outcomes. When the conversation turns to the wave of layoffs sweeping the industry, Webster reflects on his long tenure.

He recalls a previous layoff cycle about fifteen years ago and observes that great teams produce great games, which in turn find audiences. He argues that the current climate shows an aversion to risk, which actually opens doors for studios willing to make calculated bets. "If you’re not willing to take risks, you limit opportunity," he asserts.

Starting an independent studio in 2023 has not been without challenges. Funding, in particular, has been hard to secure.

"People said, ‘you’re brave doing an indie studio in 2023,’" Webster recalls. After thirty‑two years at EA, he found himself outside the bubble and had to lean on core principles: assemble a talented team, clarify a creative vision, and maintain disciplined planning while staying adaptable.

He emphasizes that engaged, motivated talent is the engine of great games, and it is the studio’s responsibility to nurture that energy. Fuse’s team is relatively small for a title of AAA ambition—around 75 people. This size is intentional.

Rather than repeatedly scaling the core staff up and down, Fuse relies heavily on external development partners to fill gaps. "We’re not doing the grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink cycle," Webster explains. Instead, the studio envisions a sustainable model where a permanent core team collaborates with trusted partners who share the same values, effectively expanding capacity when needed. External collaboration at Fuse ranges from transactional outsourcing—pure asset creation—to deep co‑development, where partner studios sit in on daily stand‑ups, join Slack channels, and contribute directly to the code base.

The UK, with its mature game‑development ecosystem, provides an ideal environment for such partnerships. In the past, external studios might have helped reluctantly, but today many companies actively seek diverse projects to keep their staff energized and creative. Webster believes this hybrid model proves that a AAA‑scale game can be produced on a sustainable budget without the massive, ever‑changing headcount that has plagued many large studios. The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer—just three and a half years from Fuse’s founding to a launch‑ready product built on Unreal Engine 5—demonstrates the efficacy of this approach.

Another notable aspect of Fuse’s strategy is its emphasis on young talent. While the studio includes veteran Criterion alumni, many of its developers are newcomers to the industry, and one producer had never worked on a game before joining. "The young talent we’ve got is smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age," Webster says, noting that nurturing fresh perspectives has yielded greater success than relying solely on senior hires.

Webster also critiques the lingering industry myth of the "single creative visionary"—the idea that a lone genius drives a project. He calls this notion "bullshit," arguing that games are collaborative endeavors. He points to Criterion’s successful intern programs as a model for how studios can invest in the next generation, even though Fuse is still pre‑revenue and has not yet built its own formal internship pipeline. Looking ahead, Fuse Games remains flexible.

The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and while the studio has ideas for future projects, it acknowledges that independent developers must stay adaptable to shifting market conditions. Webster concludes with a pragmatic optimism: "Good games will find a way, so we’re hoping and we’re ready to keep pushing forward."