Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within Electronic Arts. He began his tenure at EA in 1990 and spent almost twenty years developing iconic franchises such as Burnout and Need for Speed at Criterion, the studio EA acquired in 2004. Yet in early 2023 he, along with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires, and Alan McDairmant, decided to leave the corporate giant and launch their own independent venture, Fuse Games, based in the United Kingdom. Just over three years later the fledgling studio is poised to release its debut title, *Star Wars: Galactic Racer*, which will be published by the newly autonomous label Secret Mode.
The timing of *Galactic Racer* is noteworthy. It arrives roughly 24 years after the last Star Wars racing game, *Racer Revenge*, hit shelves in 2002. In the intervening decades, the racing genre has struggled to maintain mainstream appeal.
Amazon recently cancelled a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a forthcoming driving title called *Clutch*, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating, “We didn’t see a real fit in the market for that game.” Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has pivoted to the *Battlefield* franchise, effectively abandoning the genre that made it famous. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced there is a viable market for a Star Wars‑themed racer. “Clearly we think there’s an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told *GamesIndustry.biz*. “We don’t think we’re the only ones, and from the comments on our videos and articles it seems we’re not alone.” He points out that gaming trends are cyclical.
“We went through a phase where shooters dominated, but that’s not the only genre. As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger audience.” Webster believes players are hungry for "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen yet," and he feels *Galactic Racer* delivers exactly that.
The studio’s vision is to craft something fresh, blending the instant gratification of arcade racing with imaginative, physics‑defying environments that would be impossible in a conventional car‑on‑tarmac setting. “We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” he explains.
“Sometimes it feels like a roller‑coaster.” Beyond the thrill rides, *Galactic Racer* aims to upend long‑standing genre conventions. Traditional racers have relied on a car‑collection model for roughly two decades.
Webster wants to tear that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres. The game centers on meaningful decision‑making, especially around crashing. In most modern racers a rewind button removes any penalty for a mistake, but Fuse wants to re‑introduce consequence: “If you crash too often you’re sent back to the start, though you retain some meta‑progression that puts you in a stronger position.” This risk‑reward loop is inspired by roguelike titles such as *Hades*, *Returnal*, and *Slay the Spire*, which are built for infinite replayability.
Racing, by nature, thrives on repeated runs, making the hybrid approach a “match made in heaven,” according to Webster. The stakes of each crash become palpable because players carry over limited progression.
“When you’re on your last crash and your systems are critical, you actually feel the tension and start weighing the risk,” he says. This design choice marks a bold departure from the hand‑holding that has become commonplace in AAA titles. Releasing *Galactic Racer* on October 6 places it in a crowded autumn window, sandwiched between blockbuster releases such as *Control: Resonance* and *Silent Hill: Townfall* (both launched September 24) and the highly anticipated *GTA 6*, slated for November 19. Yet Webster is unfazed.
He recalls past years when September felt busy, but October was historically “murderer’s row.” He acknowledges the competition but says Fuse Games approaches it with a “healthy sense of confidence” balanced by a realistic outlook. “Good games will find a way,” he notes, echoing an industry maxim that has guided him through multiple cycles of layoffs and market shifts.
Speaking on industry turbulence, Webster observes that risk‑aversion has become pervasive, limiting opportunities for bold projects. He argues that the current climate actually creates space for studios willing to take calculated risks. However, he admits that founding an independent studio in 2023 was far from easy.
Securing funding was a major hurdle, and many questioned the wisdom of launching a new studio after three decades at EA. Webster’s answer was to lean on core principles: assemble a talented team, clarify a creative vision, and maintain disciplined planning—while accepting that plans will inevitably evolve. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core team of around 75 people, a deliberate choice to avoid the “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” cycles that plague larger studios.
Instead, they augment capabilities through external development partners. This model ranges from pure outsourcing—transactional asset creation—to deep co‑development, where external studios join daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and even the codebase, effectively becoming extensions of Fuse’s own team. Webster highlights the United Kingdom as an ideal hub for such collaboration, thanks to its mature game‑development ecosystem. In the past, external studios might have been reluctant partners, but today many firms actively seek varied projects to keep their talent engaged and motivated.
This shift has enabled Fuse to produce a AAA‑scale game on a more sustainable budget, a claim Webster backs with the rapid timeline of *Galactic Racer*: “We started Fuse in January 2023. Three and a half years later we have a studio, a team, and a game built on Unreal Engine 5—something none of us previously knew. It feels like an achievement, and we did it in a healthy, sustainable way.” Another noteworthy aspect of Fuse’s strategy is its emphasis on youthful talent.
While the studio includes veterans from Criterion, many of its developers are newcomers, with at least one producer who had never worked in games before joining the project. Webster praises this fresh perspective: “They are smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age. We’ve had greater success with our young talent than with some senior hires.” He argues that seasoned developers often prefer to work with peers who require minimal mentorship, which can stifle growth.
By nurturing younger staff, Fuse creates a more dynamic, motivated environment. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program, drawing inspiration from Criterion’s successful initiatives. He cautions, however, that the studio is still pre‑revenue: “We haven’t made any money yet. We are pre‑revenue, as they say.” Yet he believes investing in talent development will pay dividends in the long run.
Reflecting on a period five or six years ago when the industry was flush with capital, Webster notes that many teams received funding simply because they had delivered a hit, only to discover that running a studio is far tougher than anticipated. He criticizes the industry’s lingering fixation on the “single creative visionary” myth, calling it “bullshit.” In his view, great games emerge from collaborations, not lone geniuses. As for Fuse’s future beyond *Star Wars: Galactic Racer*, Webster admits plans are still fluid. The launch is just the beginning, and the studio remains open to new opportunities and ideas.
“Independent developers have to stay flexible and adaptable,” he says, underscoring the ethos that has guided Fuse from its inception to this pivotal moment.