Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He began his tenure at the publisher in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years contributing to the Burnout and Need for Speed franchises while working at Criterion, the 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 leave the corporate giant and launch their own independent studio in the United Kingdom, Fuse Games. Three and a half years later the fledgling team is preparing to ship 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, the 2002 release Racer Revenge, and it does so at a moment when the racing genre has been losing mainstream momentum. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a forthcoming driving title called Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating that the market simply didn’t have a clear fit for the project.
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 still exists. “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.” He argues that video‑game genres are cyclical.
“Shooters dominated for a while, but they’re not the only genre that can capture players’ attention. As more people play games, even the tiniest niches can find a sizable audience.” Webster believes gamers are hungry for fresh, compelling experiences they haven’t yet encountered, and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The studio’s vision is to blend the instant gratification of classic arcade racers with imaginative, physics‑defying environments that would be impossible in a realistic car‑based simulator. “Imagine a track that climbs the side of an active volcano,” he explains.
“It feels like a roller‑coaster at times.” Beyond the spectacle, Galactic Racer seeks to upend long‑standing conventions of the racing genre. Most racing games have relied on a static model of car collection for the past two decades. Webster wants to tear that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres.
The game incorporates consequential decision‑making, especially around crashes. In many modern racers, a rewind feature eliminates any penalty for mistakes, but Fuse intends to re‑introduce meaningful consequences. “If you crash too often you’re sent back to the start, but you retain some meta‑progression that makes you a bit stronger the next run,” he says.
“When you’re on your last allowed crash, the risk feels real and you have to weigh your actions carefully.” The design philosophy draws heavily from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire, which prioritize infinite replayability. Racing, by nature, thrives on repeated runs, so merging those two ideas creates a “match made in heaven,” according to Webster. The game’s structure encourages players to learn from each attempt, adapt strategies, and gradually build a more powerful position, echoing the loop found in successful roguelikes. Webster acknowledges that launching a new IP in a crowded calendar is risky, especially with heavyweight releases like GTA 6 slated for November 19.
Galactic Racer is set to drop on October 6, giving it a modest runway before the holiday rush and a few weeks after other major titles such as Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall, both released on September 24. He notes that the industry has long been accustomed to busy September windows, recalling the “Murderers’ Row” era when October was packed with high‑profile launches.
“We have a healthy confidence, but we also keep a realistic view of how things might turn out,” he says. The conversation turns to the broader industry climate, particularly the wave of layoffs that has swept through studios in recent years.
Webster, who has witnessed a similar contraction about fifteen years ago, believes that great teams still make great games, and great games eventually find an audience. He warns that an aversion to risk is limiting opportunity, and that developers willing to take calculated bets can thrive in the current environment. Funding an independent studio in 2023 has not been easy.
“People told me I was brave to start an indie studio now,” Webster recalls. After thirty‑two years at EA, he found himself navigating a new reality: building a team, refining a creative vision, and maintaining discipline while accepting that plans will inevitably evolve. He stresses the importance of engaging and motivating talent, noting that a smaller, cohesive core team can avoid the volatile “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” cycles many large studios experience.
Fuse Games has kept its permanent staff to around 75 people and supplements its capabilities through external development partners. External collaboration takes several forms at Fuse. Simple outsourcing handles transactional asset creation, while deeper co‑development integrates partner studios into daily stand‑ups, Slack channels and even the shared code base, effectively extending the core team. The UK’s mature development ecosystem makes it an ideal hub for such partnerships, Webster explains.
In the past, external studios were reluctant to collaborate, but today many companies hire developers eager to work on varied projects, keeping the workforce fresh and motivated. Webster believes this hybrid model—small permanent core plus trusted external partners—offers a sustainable path to producing AAA‑level games on a reasonable budget.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer illustrates the model’s viability: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and within three and a half years they have built a studio, assembled a team, learned Unreal Engine 5 from scratch, and delivered a full‑scale title. "It feels like an achievement, and we’ve done it in a healthy, sustainable way," he says.
A notable aspect of Fuse’s workforce is the influx of younger talent. While the studio includes veteran Criterion staff, many team members are fresh graduates, and one of the producers had never worked in games before joining the project. "The young developers are often smarter and more effective than I was at their age," Webster observes.
He argues that senior developers sometimes prefer working with equally senior colleagues who require minimal mentorship, which can stifle growth. By nurturing junior staff, Fuse has discovered a source of energy and innovation that outweighs the benefits of relying solely on seasoned hires. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to further cultivate emerging talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue and must be cautious with resources. He cites Criterion’s successful intern pipelines as an inspiration and emphasizes that developing talent carries a cost that must be acknowledged upfront.
Reflecting on a period five or six years ago when the industry was flush with capital, Webster notes that many successful developers received funding to start their own studios, only to discover how challenging independent operation can be. He criticizes the industry’s lingering obsession with the myth of a singular “creative visionary,” calling it “bullshit.” In reality, games are collaborative endeavors involving many contributors.
As for Fuse’s next steps, the future remains open‑ended. The launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, and the studio is already exploring potential opportunities while staying flexible and adaptable—an essential mindset for independent developers in today’s ever‑shifting market.