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 working on iconic franchises such as Burnout and Need for Speed after Criterion, the studio behind those games, was acquired by EA in 2004.
In early 2023, however, Webster teamed up with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant to launch an independent studio in the United Kingdom called Fuse Games. Three and a half years later the fledgling studio is poised to release its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, under the banner of the newly independent publisher 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 traditional racing games have struggled to capture mainstream attention.
Amazon recently cancelled a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for the upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the market simply didn’t have room for it. 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 hungry audience for a Star Wars racing experience.
“We clearly see a demand for a Star Wars‑based racer,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “Our community feedback and the interest we see online tell us we’re not the only ones who think this genre still has life.” He argues that video‑game genres are cyclical.
After a period dominated by shooters, other categories inevitably rise again as the player base expands and even the most niche interests find larger followings. According to Webster, modern gamers are searching 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 real‑world tyres and tarmac?" The answer includes tracks that climb the side of an active volcano and courses that feel more like roller‑coasters than conventional circuits.
Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer seeks to overturn long‑standing conventions in the racing genre. Most racers rely on a car‑collection model that has remained largely unchanged for two decades.
Webster wants to rip that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres. One such mechanic is meaningful consequence: in many modern racers a rewind button nullifies mistakes, but Galactic Racer re‑introduces risk by making crashes matter. If a player crashes too often, they are sent back to the start of the run, though they retain a portion of meta‑progress that gives them a stronger position on subsequent attempts. This risk‑reward loop is inspired by roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire, which are built around infinite replayability.
"Racing thrives on replayability," Webster notes, "so marrying it with roguelike design feels like a perfect match." The game’s release window also reflects strategic thinking. Galactic Racer is slated for October 6, comfortably ahead of Rockstar’s highly anticipated GTA 6, scheduled for November 19, yet still close to other major launches like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall on September 24. Webster acknowledges the crowded calendar but points out that the industry has weathered even busier pre‑Christmas schedules before.
"Someone once said September looks busy, but I remember the old ‘murderers’ row’ in October—still a lot of great games," he says, emphasizing that confidence tempered with realism is essential. Webster also reflects on the broader industry climate, especially the wave of layoffs that has swept through large publishers. Having witnessed a similar contraction fifteen years ago, he believes that great teams make great games, and great games find their audiences.
He warns that an aversion to risk can stifle innovation, but for those willing to take calculated bets, opportunities abound. Securing funding for an independent studio in 2023, however, proved difficult. "People told me I was brave to start an indie studio now," Webster recalls. After three decades at EA, he had to rely on core principles: building a talented team, sharpening a creative vision, and maintaining discipline while staying adaptable.
Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core—about 75 people—by design. Rather than expanding and contracting staff in response to project phases, the studio leverages external partners for both transactional asset creation and deeper co‑development. In co‑development arrangements, outside studios join daily stand‑ups, Slack channels and code repositories, effectively becoming extensions of the Fuse team.
The UK’s mature game‑development ecosystem makes this model especially viable, as many companies now hire developers eager to work across multiple projects, keeping talent fresh and motivated. Webster believes this hybrid approach can deliver AAA‑level scope, scale and visual fidelity on a sustainable budget. The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer—just three and a half years from Fuse’s founding to a near‑finished product built on Unreal Engine 5—demonstrates the model’s efficacy.
"We started Fuse in January 2023, and by now we have a studio, a team, and a game we didn’t even know how to build at the start," he says, "and we did it in a healthy, sustainable way." A notable aspect of the studio’s culture is its emphasis on young talent. While the leadership includes veteran Criterion alumni, many of the developers are newcomers, with at least one producer who had never worked in games before joining the project.
Webster praises this fresh perspective, noting that younger staff often bring smarter, more efficient problem‑solving than some seasoned veterans. He argues that nurturing junior talent is more beneficial than simply pairing senior developers with each other, as the latter can lead to stagnation. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalise an internship program to continue attracting emerging talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue.
He cites Criterion’s successful intern pipelines as a model, while acknowledging the costs involved in developing new talent. Reflecting on the boom years five or six years prior, when successful games earned their creators easy funding for spin‑off studios, Webster observes that money was often funneled to “superstar” individuals rather than to strong, collaborative teams. He dismisses the myth of the singular creative visionary as "bullshit," insisting that games are always the product of collective effort.
As for Fuse’s next steps, Webster remains flexible. The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and while the studio has ideas for future projects, it will continue to adapt to market conditions and opportunities. In a landscape dominated by massive releases, Fuse Games aims to prove that a small, focused core team supported by trusted external partners can produce a high‑quality, innovative title that resonates with both die‑hard Star Wars fans and racing‑game enthusiasts alike.