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 at Criterion, the studio behind Burnout and Need for Speed, before EA acquired the company in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster teamed up with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant to launch the independent UK studio Fuse Games.
Three and a half years later the fledgling team is poised to release its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which will be published by the newly independent 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 moment when the racing genre has generally lost some of its mainstream shine. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis explaining that the market simply didn’t appear to need another racer. Meanwhile, Criterion itself has pivoted away from pure racing projects to focus on the Battlefield franchise.
Despite these signals, Webster is convinced there is still a hungry audience for a Star Wars racing experience. “We clearly think there’s a market for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re not the only ones who feel that, and the reaction we get from people watching our videos and reading our articles suggests we’re not alone.” He adds that genre popularity tends to be cyclical.
“We went through a phase where shooters dominated, but that’s not the only cycle. As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger audience.” Webster believes players are craving "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 not limited by real‑world tyres and tarmac?" The answer, according to Webster, is tracks that climb the sides of active volcanoes, courses that feel like roller‑coasters, and other gravity‑defying set‑pieces that would be impossible in a conventional racing simulator.
Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer aims to upend long‑standing conventions of the genre. Most racing games have relied on a car‑collection model for the past two decades. Webster wants to rip that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres.
One of the most radical changes is the introduction of meaningful consequences for crashing. In many modern racers a rewind button erases any penalty, but Fuse wants crashes to matter.
“If you crash too many times you’re sent back to the start, but you keep some meta‑progression that makes you a bit stronger,” he explains. "When you’re on your last allowed crash, you start to feel the risk and it changes how you play." The design philosophy draws heavily from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire—games built around infinite replayability and procedural variation. "Racing thrives on replayability, so combining it with roguelike loops feels like a match made in heaven," Webster says. This approach encourages players to experiment, learn from each failure, and return with a slightly different strategy each time.
Launching on October 6, Galactic Racer lands a month before the highly anticipated GTA 6, which is slated for November 19, but after other major releases 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 windows before. “People used to call September ‘murderers’ row,’ and October has always been packed. We’re confident, but we also keep a realistic view of how things might unfold,” he says.
The conversation inevitably turns to the wave of layoffs sweeping the sector. Having lived through a similar contraction fifteen years ago, Webster notes that great teams make great games, and great games find an audience. He argues that the current risk‑averse climate actually creates space for studios willing to take calculated bets.
“If you’re too scared to make bold moves, you miss out on opportunities,” he remarks. Funding an independent studio in 2023 has not been easy.
After three decades at EA, Webster found the transition to entrepreneurship challenging. "People told me I was brave to start an indie studio now. I was used to the safety of a big corporation," he recalls. His guiding principles remain simple: build a solid team, hone a clear creative vision, and stay disciplined while remaining flexible enough to adapt when the plan inevitably changes.
Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core of about 75 people—a deliberate choice to avoid the boom‑and‑bust staffing cycles that plague many AAA projects. Instead of scaling the internal team up and down, Fuse leverages external partners for additional capacity. This hybrid model ranges from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to full co‑development arrangements where external studios join daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and even the codebase.
Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a fertile ground for such collaborations, noting that today many studios are eager to work across multiple projects rather than cling to a single in‑house title. According to Webster, this approach proves that a AAA‑scale game can be delivered on a sustainable budget when a small, permanent core team is complemented by trusted external contributors who share the same values. The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer—just three and a half years from Fuse’s founding to a near‑ready product built on Unreal Engine 5—serves as evidence that the model works. Another striking element of Fuse’s story is the infusion of young talent.
While the studio includes several veterans from Criterion, many of its developers are newcomers to the industry, and one producer had never worked on a game before joining the project. "The younger team members are often smarter and more effective than I was at their age," Webster says.
He observes that seasoned developers sometimes prefer to work with senior colleagues who require minimal interaction, but this can stifle growth. By nurturing junior staff, Fuse not only boosts morale but also uncovers fresh perspectives that drive innovation.
Webster hopes to formalize this mentorship pipeline with an intern program in the future, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue. He points to Criterion’s successful internship initiatives as a model, while acknowledging the costs associated with developing talent.
"You have to go into it with eyes wide open and understand the investment required," he cautions. Reflecting on the industry’s previous boom years, Webster recalls how many developers who rode the wave of generous funding later struggled to build sustainable studios. He criticizes the lingering myth of the “single creative visionary” as “fucking bullshit,” insisting that games are always collaborative endeavors.
"Unless you’re a solo developer, you need a team," he asserts. Looking ahead, Fuse Games remains open‑minded about its next steps. While the launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, the studio is already exploring potential opportunities and ideas for future projects. "As an independent developer you have to stay flexible and adaptable," Webster concludes.
"We have a direction in mind, but we’ll let the market and our own growth dictate the next move."