Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within Electronic Arts. He started at the company in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years contributing to the Burnout and Need for Speed franchises while working at Criterion, which EA acquired 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*. In the intervening decades, the racing genre has generally lost steam.
Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for the upcoming title *Clutch*, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the market simply didn’t seem to need another driving game. Criterion itself has shifted focus from pure racing to the *Battlefield* franchise. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a demand still exists. “We clearly see an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz.
“Our community, the people who watch our videos and read our articles, suggest we’re not alone in that belief.” Webster points out that genres tend to be cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other types of games inevitably re‑emerge.
“As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger audience,” he explains. He believes players are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before," and he feels *Galactic Racer* delivers exactly that. The studio’s vision is to create something fresh, blending arcade‑style instant gratification with imaginative design possibilities that break free from the constraints of real‑world tyres and tarmac. One of those possibilities is a track that climbs the side of an active volcano, a setting Webster describes as “a roller‑coaster sometimes.” Beyond the thrill rides, the game also seeks to overturn long‑standing racing conventions.
Traditionally, racing titles revolve around car collection—a formula that has barely changed in two decades. Webster wants to “rip that up” and borrow mechanics from other genres. He emphasizes consequential decision‑making, using crashes as a concrete example. In many modern racers, a rewind button eliminates penalty, but *Galactic Racer* re‑introduces real stakes: too many crashes send the player back to the start, though some meta‑progression carries over, rewarding careful risk assessment.
The design draws inspiration from roguelike titles such as *Hades*, *Returnal* and *Slay the Spire*, which prioritize infinite replayability. "Racing thrives on replayability," Webster notes, "so combining it with roguelike loops feels like a match made in heaven." When a player exhausts their crash limit, they restart but retain certain upgrades, creating a tension between progress and peril that encourages strategic play. Launching the game on October 6 places it a month before the highly anticipated *GTA 6* release on November 19, yet after other major September launches like *Control: Resonance* and *Silent Hill: Townfall*.
Webster acknowledges the crowded calendar but reminds listeners that the industry has weathered even busier periods. "People used to call October ‘murderers’ row,’" he says, noting that a “healthy sense of confidence” tempered by realism guides Fuse’s approach. "Good games will find a way," he adds, echoing a mantra he’s heard throughout his long tenure.
Reflecting on recent waves of layoffs, Webster observes that risk‑averse attitudes dominate the current market, which in turn creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets. He admits that securing funding for an independent studio in 2023 was challenging.
After 32 years at EA, he found himself “in a bubble” and had to relearn how to build a team based on core values: assembling talent, refining a creative vision, planning with the knowledge that plans will evolve, and staying true to those principles. Fuse operates with a relatively small core team—about 75 people—by design.
Rather than expanding and contracting staff in the typical AAA fashion, the studio relies on external partners to fill gaps. This hybrid model ranges from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to full co‑development, where outside studios attend stand‑ups, join Slack channels, and contribute directly to the code base.
Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as especially conducive to this collaborative approach, noting that today’s studios are eager to work on diverse projects rather than clinging to a single proprietary title. Webster believes this lean‑core, partner‑augmented model can deliver AAA‑scale scope, fidelity and ambition on a sustainable budget. The rapid development timeline of *Galactic Racer*—starting Fuse in January 2023 and producing a UE5‑based game within three and a half years—serves as proof of concept. He emphasizes that the team learned a “shitload” along the way, proving that such a structure can work.
A notable aspect of Fuse’s culture is its embrace of younger talent. Alongside veteran Criterion staff, the studio hired many newcomers, including a producer with no prior game‑industry experience.
"The young talent we’ve got is smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age," Webster says. He argues that nurturing junior developers not only motivates them but also revitalizes senior staff, countering the notion that experienced workers prefer to operate in isolation. While the studio is still pre‑revenue and has not yet turned a profit, Webster hopes to establish an intern program, inspired by Criterion’s successful initiatives, acknowledging that developing talent requires a clear-eyed understanding of its costs.
Looking back to a period five or six years ago when the industry was flush with cash, Webster recalls how many successful developers received funding to start their own studios, only to discover that building a sustainable company is far harder than it appears. He criticizes the industry’s lingering fixation on the myth of a singular creative visionary, calling it "bullshit" and insisting that games are fundamentally collaborative endeavors. As for Fuse’s future, the studio remains flexible.
While the launch of *Star Wars: Galactic Racer* marks a major milestone, Webster hints that the team is already contemplating new opportunities and directions. For an independent developer, adaptability is essential, and Fuse intends to stay open to whatever projects align with its values and capabilities.