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 Burnout and Need for Speed franchises while they were under the umbrella of Criterion, a studio EA 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 launch the independent UK studio Fuse Games. Just over three years later the fledgling company is poised to release 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 time when the broader racing genre has lost some of its mainstream appeal. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a forthcoming driving title called Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the market simply didn’t seem to need another racer.
Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racing, has shifted its focus to the Battlefield franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a demand exists 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.” Webster argues that video‑game genres are cyclical.
“We went through a phase where shooters dominated the market, but that’s only one part of the picture,” he explained. “As more people play games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger audience.” He believes gamers are hungry for "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 can we do when we’re no longer bound by tyres and tarmac?" The answer, according to Webster, is 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 is designed to upend long‑standing racing conventions. Most racing games have relied on a car‑collection model for the past two decades, a formula Webster wants to dismantle. "Let’s rip that up and steal ideas from other genres," he said.
One of those borrowed concepts is the notion of meaningful consequences. In many modern racers, a rewind mechanic eliminates any penalty for crashing, but Galactic Racer re‑introduces risk. When a player crashes too often, they are sent back to the start of the run, though they retain some meta‑progression that places them in a stronger position for the next attempt.
This creates a tension similar to that found in roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal, and Slay the Spire, where each run is designed for infinite replayability. "Racing thrives on replayability," Webster noted, "so pairing it with roguelike principles feels like a match made in heaven." The consequence system is intended to make each crash feel weighty. "When you’re on your last crash and your systems are critical, you actually start to think about the risk you’re taking," Webster explained.
This design choice represents a bold departure from the hand‑holding that has become commonplace in AAA games, but Webster believes it’s necessary to stand out in a crowded marketplace, especially in a year when Rockstar’s GTA 6 looms on the horizon. Galactic Racer is slated for release on October 6, a respectable gap from GTA 6’s planned November 19 launch, yet still close enough to the busy September‑October window that also includes titles like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall. Webster acknowledges the competitive nature of the release calendar but maintains a “healthy sense of confidence,” tempered by realism.
“I was always told good games will find a way,” he said, echoing a sentiment that resonates throughout his reflections on industry layoffs. Having witnessed a wave of job cuts a decade and a half ago, Webster observes that great teams make great games, and great games find audiences. He warns that the current climate shows an aversion to risk, which in turn creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets.
"If you’re not willing to push the envelope, you limit your own chances," he added. Starting an independent studio in 2023 has not been without its hurdles.
Funding was hard to secure, and many questioned the wisdom of launching a new studio in such a turbulent environment. Webster, who spent 32 years inside EA’s protective bubble, had to adapt quickly. He leaned on principles he’d learned over his career: assemble a talented team, clarify a creative vision, craft a disciplined plan (while accepting that plans are always imperfect), and continuously review and adapt. He stresses that an engaged, motivated team is the engine of great games, and that it’s the studio’s responsibility to nurture that motivation.
Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core—about 75 people—by design. Rather than expanding and contracting staff in waves, the studio relies heavily on external development partners to fill gaps. This hybrid model blends pure outsourcing (transactional asset creation) with co‑development, where external studios become extensions of the internal team, attending stand‑ups, joining Slack channels, and contributing directly to the codebase. Webster points out that the UK’s mature game‑development ecosystem makes it an ideal hub for such collaboration, noting that today’s studios are more open to sharing talent than in the past, when companies often guarded their resources jealously.
According to Webster, this approach proves that a AAA‑scale game—by scope, visual fidelity, and ambition—can be produced on a sustainable budget when a small, permanent core team is supplemented by trusted partners who share the same values. The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer illustrates this point: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and just three and a half years later they have delivered a full‑featured game built on Unreal Engine 5, a technology none of the founders had mastered at the outset.
"It feels like an achievement, and we did it in a healthy, sustainable way," he said. The studio’s roster blends veteran Criterion alumni with a wave of younger developers, some of whom have never worked in games before.
Webster is especially proud of the fresh talent, claiming they often outperform more senior hires in terms of creativity and efficiency. He observes that seasoned developers sometimes prefer to work alongside peers who need little guidance, but that environment can stifle growth.
By deliberately hiring and mentoring younger staff, Fuse has cultivated a culture where mentorship and mutual development are central. Webster hopes to formalize this through an intern program in the future, though he cautions that the studio is still pre‑revenue and must manage costs carefully. Looking back to the period five or six years ago when the industry was flush with cash, Webster recalls how many successful teams received funding to spin off their own studios, only to discover the reality was far tougher than anticipated. He criticizes the industry’s lingering fascination with the myth of the "single creative visionary," calling it "fucking bullshit." In his view, games are always collaborative endeavors, built by teams rather than lone geniuses.
As for what lies ahead for Fuse Games, Webster admits the future is still being written. The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and the studio is already exploring potential next steps, though flexibility and adaptability remain paramount for an independent developer in today’s market. "We have ideas and directions we’d like to pursue, but we have to stay open to where the opportunities lead us," he concluded.