Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He began his tenure at EA in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years developing titles for the Criterion team, the studio behind Burnout and the Need for Speed franchise that EA acquired in 2004. However, in early 2023 Webster, together with fellow Criterion alumni Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant, decided to break away and launch their own independent studio in the United Kingdom, Fuse Games.
Three and a half years later the fledgling studio is poised 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, 2002’s Racer Revenge, and it does so at a time when the racing genre has lost much of its mainstream appeal. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a forthcoming driving title called Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the market simply didn’t have room for another racer.
Meanwhile Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racing, has shifted its focus to the Battlefield franchise, signalling a broader industry trend away from pure‑speed experiences. Despite these headwinds, Webster is convinced there is still a hungry audience for a Star Wars racing adventure. “We clearly believe there’s a market for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz.
“We’re not the only ones thinking that, and the feedback we get from our videos and articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that gaming genres tend to be cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other types of games inevitably rise again. “As more people play video games, even the tiniest niche can find a larger audience,” he explained. Webster says players are looking for fresh, compelling experiences that they haven’t seen before, and he feels Galactic Racer delivers exactly that.
The team set out to capture the instant‑gratification feel of classic arcade racers while also exploring what becomes possible when you free yourself from the constraints of real‑world tyres and tarmac. “We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” he says, describing a course that feels more like a roller‑coaster than a traditional circuit.
Beyond the high‑octane thrills, the game deliberately subverts several long‑standing conventions of the racing genre. Most racers have relied on a car‑collection model for the past two decades; Webster wants to tear that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres. 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: crash too often and you’re sent back to the start, though you retain a portion of meta‑progress that makes your next attempt slightly stronger. This risk‑reward loop is inspired by roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire, which are built around infinite replayability.
“Racing thrives on replayability, so marrying it with roguelike design feels like a match made in heaven,” Webster notes. The consequence system forces players to weigh each maneuver carefully, especially when they are on their final allowed crash. “When you’re on that last life, you start thinking about the risk you’re taking,” he says, highlighting how the mechanic adds tension that is rarely present in contemporary AAA racers. Launching the game on October 6 places it a comfortable month before the highly anticipated GTA 6 release slated for November 19, yet it still lands amid a crowded autumn slate that includes titles like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall, both arriving on September 24.
Webster acknowledges the competitive calendar but points out that crowded release windows are nothing new. “People used to call September ‘Murderers’ Row’ and October was always packed,” he recalls.
He believes Fuse Games can succeed because they maintain a “healthy sense of confidence” balanced with a realistic outlook on how the market may respond. When asked about the wave of layoffs sweeping the industry, Webster reflects on his long tenure and the previous round of cuts fifteen years ago. He observes that great teams make great games, and great games find an audience. “There’s a lot of aversion to risk right now,” he says, “and that creates opportunities for those willing to take calculated bets.” He warns, however, that securing funding for an independent studio in 2023 has been a “real challenge.” After 32 years at EA, he found himself navigating a new reality, relying on core principles: building a strong team, refining a clear creative vision, and staying disciplined while remaining adaptable.
Fuse Games is deliberately kept small—about 75 people—so they can avoid the typical “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” cycle that plagues many large studios. Instead, they supplement the core team with external partners, ranging from transactional asset‑outsourcing to full co‑development arrangements where outside studios attend daily stand‑ups, join Slack channels and contribute directly to the codebase. Webster praises the UK’s mature development ecosystem, noting that today many companies are eager to collaborate on diverse projects rather than protect their own silos. He believes this hybrid model—small permanent core plus trusted external collaborators—offers a sustainable path to producing AAA‑level games on a reasonable budget.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer underscores this point: “We started Fuse in January 2023, and three and a half years later we’ve built a studio, a team, and a game on Unreal Engine 5 that none of us had mastered before. It feels like an achievement, and we did it in a healthy, sustainable way.” Another noteworthy aspect of Fuse’s approach is the infusion of young talent. While the studio includes veterans from Criterion, many of its developers are newcomers, and one producer had never worked in games before joining the project. “The younger talent we’ve hired is often smarter and more effective than we were at that age,” Webster says, emphasizing that nurturing fresh perspectives has yielded greater success than relying solely on senior hires.
He notes that seasoned developers sometimes prefer working with equally senior colleagues who need little guidance, but this can stifle growth. By focusing on mentorship, Fuse hopes to create a culture where both junior and senior staff motivate each other. Webster is already dreaming of an intern program to further cultivate emerging talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue. He points to Criterion’s historic intern initiatives as a model and acknowledges the cost and effort required to develop talent responsibly.
Reflecting on the industry’s past excesses, Webster recalls a time when successful studios received generous funding to spin off new studios, only to discover the reality was far tougher than expected. He argues that money should have been allocated to strong teams rather than idolizing “single creative visionaries”—a notion he calls “fucking bullshit.” In his view, games are always collaborative endeavors. Looking ahead, Fuse Games remains flexible.
While the launch of Galactic Racer is just the beginning, the studio is open to exploring new opportunities and ideas. “We have a sense of where we want to go next, but as an independent developer you have to stay adaptable,” Webster concludes.