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 developing titles for the Burnout and Need for Speed franchises while they were under the Criterion banner, a 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 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*, which will be published by the newly independent label Secret Mode.
The timing of the release is noteworthy. The last Star Wars‑themed racing game, *Racer Revenge*, hit shelves in 2002—more than two decades ago. Since then, the racing genre has struggled to maintain a prominent spot in the mainstream market.
Recent industry moves underscore that shift: Amazon withdrew from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for a new driving title called *Clutch*, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating that the project didn’t fit the market’s current appetite. Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has pivoted to work on the *Battlefield* series. Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a demand exists for a Star Wars racing experience. “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 points out that gaming trends are often cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other genres inevitably re‑emerge. As the overall pool of gamers expands, even the smallest niches can attract a sizable following. Webster believes players are hungry for "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 no longer limited by 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 over‑the‑top environments that would be impossible in a realistic simulation. Beyond the high‑octane thrills, *Galactic Racer* aims to subvert long‑standing conventions of the racing genre.
Traditionally, racing games revolve around collecting cars—a formula that has remained largely unchanged for the past twenty years. Webster wants to tear that model apart and borrow mechanics from other genres.
One key innovation is the introduction of meaningful consequences for crashing. In many modern racers, a rewind button erases the penalty for a mistake, but Fuse wants crashes to matter. When a player crashes too often, they are sent back to the start of the run, though they retain a degree of meta‑progression that makes the subsequent attempt slightly stronger.
This risk‑reward loop forces players to weigh the danger of aggressive driving against the potential payoff. The design philosophy draws heavily from roguelike titles such as *Hades*, *Returnal* and *Slay the Spire*, games celebrated for their infinite replayability. "Racing thrives on replayability," Webster notes, "so marrying it with roguelike principles feels like a match made in heaven." Each run in *Galactic Racer* is meant to feel fresh, with procedurally varied elements and a persistent progression system that rewards perseverance without guaranteeing success.
Launching the game on October 6 places it in a crowded release window that includes heavyweight titles like *Control: Resonance* and *Silent Hill: Townfall* (both released on September 24) and the highly anticipated *Grand Theft Auto VI*, slated for November 19. Webster acknowledges the competition but remains confident. He recalls past years when September was deemed “busy” yet developers still managed to carve out space for their releases.
"October has always been a packed month," he says, "but we have a healthy sense of confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things may turn out." The conversation inevitably turns to the broader industry climate, especially the wave of layoffs that has swept through major studios. Webster, who has witnessed a similar downsizing period fifteen years ago, believes that great teams produce great games, and great games find their audience. He argues that the industry’s current aversion to risk actually creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets.
However, he also admits that securing funding for an independent studio in 2023 has been a significant hurdle. "People thought we were brave for starting an indie studio this year," he says, reflecting on the skepticism he faced after spending three decades at EA.
Fuse Games has deliberately kept its core team small—around 75 people—eschewing the typical “grow, shrink, grow” cycle that plagues many AAA projects. Instead, the studio relies on a network of external partners for additional development capacity. This model ranges from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to full co‑development arrangements where external studios participate in daily stand‑ups, Slack channels, and even share the codebase.
Webster highlights the United Kingdom as an ideal hub for such collaboration, noting that the UK’s mature game development ecosystem now features companies eager to work on diverse projects rather than clinging to a single internal title. According to Webster, this hybrid approach enables a studio to deliver a AAA‑scale experience on a sustainable budget.
The rapid development timeline of *Galactic Racer*—just three and a half years from Fuse’s founding to a launch‑ready product built on Unreal Engine 5—demonstrates that the model can work when executed with discipline and clear vision. A notable aspect of Fuse’s strategy is its emphasis on nurturing young talent. Alongside the veteran Criterion alumni, the studio has recruited many developers who are still early in their careers; one producer, for example, had never worked in games before joining the project.
Webster is impressed by the fresh perspectives these newcomers bring. "They are smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age," he says, adding that the studio has seen greater success with its younger staff than with some senior hires from other companies. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to continue feeding the pipeline of emerging talent, though he cautions that the studio is still pre‑revenue and must manage costs carefully.
He reflects on a period five or six years ago when the industry was flush with capital, noting that many developers who received funding to start their own studios discovered how difficult it truly is to succeed without a solid, collaborative team. "The fixation on a single creative visionary is nonsense," he asserts. "Games are made by collaborations of individuals." As for Fuse’s next steps, the future remains open‑ended.
The launch of *Star Wars: Galactic Racer* is just the beginning, and Webster hints that the studio is already brainstorming potential follow‑up projects. Yet he emphasizes the need for flexibility and adaptability in today’s independent development landscape.
"We’ll be talking to people about opportunities, we have ideas about where we want to go, but we have to stay nimble," he concludes.