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 contributing to the legendary Burnout and Need for Speed franchises while they were under the Criterion banner, a studio EA acquired in 2004. However, in early 2023 Webster, together with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant, decided to leave the corporate giant and launch their own independent studio in the United Kingdom, Fuse Games. Just over three years later the fledgling studio is preparing to ship its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which will be published by the newly autonomous 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 time when the racing genre has generally lost some of its mainstream sparkle. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing arrangement with Maverick Games for the upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis explaining that the market simply didn’t seem to have room for another racer. Meanwhile, Criterion itself has shifted focus away from cars and onto the Battlefield franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a demand still exists.
“We clearly believe there’s an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re not the only ones who think that, and the response we get from people watching our videos or reading our articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that video‑game genres tend to be cyclical. “Shooters dominated for a while, but that’s not the whole story.
As more and more people play games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger following.” For Webster, gamers are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before," and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The team’s vision is to create something fresh, an arcade‑style racer that also pushes the boundaries of what a racing game can be when it’s no longer tethered to realistic tyres and tarmac.
One of the most striking examples of this ambition is a track that spirals up the side of an active volcano, a setting Webster describes as “a roller‑coaster sometimes.” Beyond the high‑octane thrills, the game also seeks to upend long‑standing genre conventions. Traditional racing games have relied on a car‑collection model for roughly two decades; Webster wants to tear that apart and borrow mechanics from other genres. He explains that Galactic Racer incorporates consequential decision‑making, using crashes as a meaningful penalty. In many modern racers a rewind button eliminates the sting of failure, but Fuse wants to restore risk: “If you crash too many times you’re sent back to the start, though you do carry some meta‑progression forward, putting you in a slightly stronger position.
That last crash feels weighty, and you start to weigh the risk you’re taking.” The design is heavily inspired by roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire—games built for infinite replayability. “Racing thrives on replayability, so pairing it with roguelike loops feels like a match made in heaven,” Webster notes. This hybrid approach means each run feels fresh, encouraging players to experiment with different strategies, upgrades and shortcuts, while the ever‑present threat of a crash keeps the tension high.
Launching the game on October 6 places it comfortably before the highly anticipated GTA 6 release on November 19, yet still after a busy September window that includes titles like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall. Webster acknowledges the crowded calendar but reminds us that the industry has weathered even busier pre‑Christmas schedules before. “People used to call October ‘Murderers’ Row’ because it was packed with releases,” he says, adding that Fuse Games approaches the market with “a healthy sense of confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things may turn out.” Webster also reflects on the wave of layoffs sweeping the sector. Having lived through a similar downturn fifteen years ago, he believes great teams produce great games, and great games eventually find their audience.
“There’s a lot of risk aversion right now,” he observes, “and that creates opportunities for those willing to take calculated bets.” He admits that securing funding for an independent studio in 2023 was challenging. After 32 years at EA, stepping into the unknown required him to lean on core principles: building a strong team, refining a clear creative vision, and maintaining discipline while staying adaptable. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core of about 75 staff, a deliberate choice to avoid the boom‑and‑bust staffing cycles common in larger studios.
Instead, the studio supplements its capabilities through external development partners. These collaborations range from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to full‑blown co‑development, where external studios join daily stand‑ups, Slack channels and even the codebase, essentially becoming extensions of the Fuse team. Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such partnerships, noting a cultural shift from reluctant, grudging assistance to enthusiastic, value‑aligned cooperation. The result, Webster argues, is a sustainable model for producing AAA‑scale experiences on a more manageable budget.
The rapid development timeline—starting Fuse in January 2023 and delivering a finished UE5‑based game in just three and a half years—demonstrates the efficacy of this approach. He emphasizes that the team learned a great deal along the way, proving that a small, permanent core combined with trusted external talent can deliver high‑quality content without the financial excesses that have plagued many recent projects. Another notable aspect of Fuse’s journey is the infusion of young talent.
While the studio benefits from veteran Criterion alumni, many of its developers are newcomers to the industry; one producer, for instance, had never worked on a game before joining the project. Webster is impressed by the energy and ingenuity of these younger team members, stating that they often outperform more senior hires in terms of creativity and efficiency. He believes nurturing fresh talent is as motivating for seasoned developers as it is for the newcomers, and he envisions establishing an intern program in the future, though the studio remains pre‑revenue at present.
Looking back to the era when the industry was flush with capital, Webster recalls how successful developers were handed funding to start their own studios, only to discover the reality was far tougher than anticipated. He criticizes the lingering myth of the “singular creative visionary,” calling it “bullshit” and insisting that games are fundamentally collaborative endeavors. The success of a title, he argues, hinges on the collective effort of many individuals rather than the brilliance of a lone auteur. As for what lies ahead for Fuse Games, the answer is still forming.
The launch of Star Wars: Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and the studio is already considering its next steps. Webster stresses that independent developers must remain flexible and adaptable in an ever‑changing market.
While concrete plans are still under discussion, the team’s focus will remain on delivering compelling experiences, exploring new partnerships, and continuing to champion the blend of youthful energy and seasoned expertise that has defined their inaugural effort.