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 developing titles for the renowned Burnout and Need for Speed franchise under Criterion, which EA acquired in 2004.
Yet in early 2023 Webster, together with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant, decided to break away and launch an independent studio in the United Kingdom called Fuse Games. Fast‑forward three and a half years, and the fledgling studio is poised to ship its debut title, *Star Wars: Galactic Racer*, under the banner of the newly independent publisher Secret Mode.
The timing of the release is noteworthy. The last Star Wars‑themed racing game, *Racer Revenge*, hit shelves in 2002 – a full 24 years ago. In the intervening decades, pure racing games have struggled to maintain mainstream appeal. Amazon recently abandoned a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title *Clutch*, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the market simply didn’t have room for another racer.
Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style speed, has pivoted away from racing entirely to focus on the *Battlefield* franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced there is a viable audience for a Star Wars racing experience. “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 people watching our videos and reading our articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that video‑game genres are cyclical.
While shooters dominated the market for a period, other genres inevitably rise again as the player base expands. “The more people who play video games, the larger even the tiniest niches become,” Webster added. According to Webster, gamers today are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before," and he believes *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, he says, is tracks that climb the sides of active volcanoes and courses that feel like roller‑coasters, offering a sense of spectacle that goes beyond ordinary road‑way racing. Beyond the visual flair, the game attempts to overturn long‑standing genre conventions.
Traditional racing titles have relied on a car‑collection model for roughly two decades, a formula Webster describes as “stale.” Instead, Fuse Games wants to borrow mechanics from other genres, particularly roguelikes. He cites games such as *Hades*, *Returnal* and *Slay the Spire* as inspirations for building infinite replayability into a racing context.
The result is a system where crashes carry weight: unlike many modern racers that allow a rewind button to erase mistakes, *Galactic Racer* penalises repeated collisions by sending the player back to the start, albeit with some meta‑progression retained. This creates a tension between risk and reward that mirrors the high‑stakes decision‑making found in roguelike loops.
Webster acknowledges that this design choice is a bold departure from the hand‑holding common in contemporary AAA titles, but he sees it as essential for standing out in a crowded market, especially in a year that will see heavyweight releases such as *GTA 6*, *Control: Resonance*, and *Silent Hill: Townfall*. *Galactic Racer* is slated for an October 6 launch, strategically placed a month before *GTA 6*’s November 19 debut while still landing after several major September releases. Webster notes that the industry has always experienced busy launch windows; “September looked busy back then, but October has always been packed with ‘murderer’s row’ titles,” he recalls.
The interview also touches on the broader industry climate, particularly the wave of layoffs that has swept through studios. Webster, who has witnessed a similar contraction fifteen years ago, believes that strong teams produce great games, and great games eventually find their audience. He argues that the current risk‑averse mindset among publishers 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 significant hurdle for independent developers. When Fuse Games announced its formation in 2023, many questioned the wisdom of launching a new studio in a tight financial environment.
Webster reflects on his 32‑year tenure at EA, describing the transition as a “bubble‑burst” experience that forced him to lean on core principles: assemble a talented team, clarify a creative vision, and maintain disciplined planning—while accepting that any plan is provisional and must be iterated upon. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core staff of roughly 75 people, a deliberate decision to avoid the typical “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” cycle that plagues many AAA projects. Instead, the studio relies heavily on external partners to fill capability gaps.
Webster explains that external development can range from pure outsourcing—where assets are delivered transactionally—to full co‑development, where partner studios sit in on daily stand‑ups, share Slack channels, and contribute directly to the codebase. He highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaborations, noting a cultural shift from reluctant, forced partnerships to enthusiastic, value‑aligned cooperation. Webster is convinced that this hybrid model—small permanent team plus trusted external allies—offers a sustainable path to delivering AAA‑scale experiences on a reasonable budget.
The rapid pace of *Galactic Racer*’s development underscores this belief: Fuse Games launched in January 2023, and within three and a half years they have built a studio, assembled a team, learned Unreal Engine 5 from scratch, and produced a full‑fledged title. "It feels like an achievement, and we’ve done it in a healthy, sustainable way," he says. Another notable aspect of Fuse’s approach is its emphasis on nurturing young talent. While the studio includes several veterans from Criterion, many of its developers are newcomers to the industry, with at least one producer who had never worked in games before joining the project.
Webster praises the fresh perspectives and efficiency of these younger team members, suggesting that they have outperformed some more senior hires. He observes that seasoned developers often prefer to work alongside peers of similar experience, which can limit mentorship opportunities. By deliberately recruiting and empowering younger staff, Fuse hopes to build a culture of growth and innovation.
Looking ahead, Webster envisions establishing an internship program to further develop emerging talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue and must prioritize financial stability. He cites Criterion’s successful intern pipelines as a model and stresses the importance of entering such initiatives with realistic expectations about the costs involved. Reflecting on a period five or six years ago when the industry was flush with capital, Webster recalls how many successful developers were given the chance to spin out their own studios, only to discover that running a company is far more challenging than creating a hit game.
He criticizes the lingering industry fascination with the “single creative visionary” myth, calling it “bullshit.” In his view, games are collaborative endeavors that require the contributions of many individuals, not just a solitary genius. As for Fuse Games’ future beyond *Star Wars: Galactic Racer*, Webster admits plans are still taking shape. The launch of the game 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, acknowledging that success will depend on the ability to pivot, iterate, and stay true to the core values that have guided the studio from its inception.