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, 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.
Just over three years later the fledgling company is preparing to ship its debut title, *Star Wars: Galactic Racer*, under the banner of the newly independent publisher Secret Mode. The announcement marks the first Star Wars‑themed racing game since 2002’s *Racer Revenge*, a gap of 24 years during which the racing genre has struggled to maintain mainstream appeal. Recent industry moves underscore that difficulty: Amazon walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for the upcoming driving title *Clutch*, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating that the market simply didn’t have room for another racer. Criterion itself has largely shifted its focus away from cars and toward the *Battlefield* franchise.
Despite these signals, Webster remains confident that a niche audience exists for a Star Wars racing experience. “We clearly see a demand for a Star Wars‑based racing game,” he told *GamesIndustry.biz*. “Our community of fans, the people who watch our videos and read our posts, they’re telling us they want something like this.
Genres are cyclical – shooters dominated for a while, but that doesn’t mean other types can’t come back. As more people play video games, even the smallest sub‑genres can find a larger, more enthusiastic audience.” Webster argues that modern gamers are hungry for “fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before,” and he believes *Galactic Racer* delivers exactly that. The studio set out to capture the instant gratification of classic arcade racers while also exploring what can happen when developers are no longer bound by the physics of real‑world tyres and tarmac.
“We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” he explains. “Sometimes the course feels more like a roller‑coaster than a road.” Beyond the high‑octane thrills, *Galactic Racer* deliberately subverts long‑standing conventions of the racing genre.
Traditional titles have relied on a car‑collection model that has remained largely unchanged for two decades. Webster wants to rip that model apart and borrow mechanics from other game types. One of the most striking innovations is the introduction of meaningful consequences for crashing.
In many modern racers, a rewind button nullifies any penalty, but *Galactic Racer* re‑introduces risk: too many crashes send the player back to the start of the run, though some meta‑progression carries over, granting a slightly stronger position on the next attempt. This creates a tension that forces players to weigh speed against safety, a design choice inspired by roguelike titles such as *Hades*, *Returnal* and *Slay the Spire*, which are built around infinite replayability. The consequence system is meant to feel weighty.
When a player is on their final allowable crash, the game highlights the danger, prompting the driver to consider whether to push forward or retreat. This “risk‑vs‑reward” loop is a bold departure from the hand‑holding that has become common in AAA games, and it aligns with Webster’s belief that standing out in a crowded market requires daring design choices. Timing the release is another strategic decision.
*Galactic Racer* is slated for launch on 6 October, a comfortable window before the highly anticipated *Grand Theft Auto VI* arrives on 19 November. It also follows other major releases such as *Control: Resonance* and *Silent Hill: Townfall* on 24 September.
While some industry observers warned that September and October are saturated periods, Webster points out that historically developers have thrived during busy windows – recalling the “Murderer’s Row” era when October was packed with blockbuster titles. He acknowledges the competition but maintains that Fuse Games possesses a “healthy sense of confidence” balanced by a realistic outlook on how the market might respond. Webster’s perspective on risk extends to his broader view of the industry’s current layoff wave.
Having witnessed a previous round of cuts fifteen years ago, he notes that great teams produce great games, and great games eventually find an audience. He sees the present climate as one of risk aversion, which in turn creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets.
“If you’re not willing to push the envelope, you’ll miss the chance to innovate,” he says. Funding an independent studio in 2023 has not been easy. Webster recounts the skepticism he faced when announcing Fuse Games: “People said, ‘You’re brave doing an indie studio now.’” After three decades at EA, he had to relearn how to build a company from the ground up.
His guiding principles have remained the same – assemble a talented team, refine a clear creative vision, and maintain disciplined planning while staying adaptable. He emphasizes that a motivated, engaged team is the engine behind any successful project. Fuse Games remains relatively small for a title with AAA ambitions, employing roughly 75 people. This size is intentional; the studio wants to avoid the typical “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” cycle that plagues many developers.
Instead, Fuse relies heavily on external partners to fill skill gaps. The studio distinguishes between transactional outsourcing (pure asset creation) and co‑development, where outside teams become an extension of Fuse’s internal workflow, joining 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 on diverse projects with different partners, a shift from the reluctant, protective attitudes of the past.
According to Webster, this hybrid model – a lean core team supplemented by trusted external contributors – offers a sustainable path to delivering AAA‑scale experiences on a reasonable budget. The rapid development timeline of *Galactic Racer* illustrates the model’s effectiveness: Fuse launched in January 2023, and within three and a half years it has built a studio, assembled a team, learned Unreal Engine 5 from scratch, and produced a full‑featured racing game. Webster describes this achievement as “healthy and sustainable,” underscoring that the studio has not burned out or over‑extended.
Another notable aspect of Fuse’s approach is its investment in youthful talent. While the studio’s leadership includes veteran Criterion alumni, many of its developers are newcomers to the industry, and at least one producer had never worked on a game before joining Fuse. Webster praises this fresh perspective, claiming that younger staff often bring more effective problem‑solving skills than some seasoned veterans. He argues that nurturing young talent is mutually beneficial: senior developers who prefer to work in isolation miss out on the collaborative energy that drives innovation.
This realization has prompted Fuse to adjust its hiring strategy toward a more balanced, mentorship‑focused model. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to further cultivate emerging talent, though he acknowledges that the studio is still pre‑revenue. He points to Criterion’s successful intern pipelines as a blueprint, while warning that developing talent requires a clear understanding of the associated costs.
Reflecting on the era when the industry was flush with capital, Webster recalls how many successful developers were given funding to start their own studios, only to discover how difficult it truly is to sustain a business. He criticizes the industry’s lingering fascination with the myth of the “single creative visionary,” calling it “bullshit” and insisting that games are always the product of collaborative effort.
As for Fuse’s next steps, Webster admits the future is still being charted. The launch of *Star Wars: Galactic Racer* is just the beginning, and the studio is open to exploring new opportunities while staying flexible and adaptable – a necessity for independent developers navigating today’s unpredictable market.