Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at the company in 1990 and, after nearly twenty years, helped shape iconic franchises such as Burnout and Need for Speed while working at Criterion, the studio EA acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster, together with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant, decided to strike out on their own and founded Fuse Games, an independent studio based in the United Kingdom. Three and a half years later the fledgling studio is poised to launch 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 moment when the racing genre has lost some of its mainstream shine. Recent industry news underscores this trend: Amazon cancelled 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. Meanwhile, Criterion itself has pivoted away from racing to focus on the Battlefield franchise.
Despite these signals, Webster remains convinced that a demand still exists. “We clearly see an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz.
“Our community, the people who watch our videos and read our articles, suggest we’re not the only ones who feel that way.” Webster points out that video‑game genres tend to be cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other types inevitably resurface. “As more and more people play video games, even the tiniest niche can find a larger audience,” he explained. He 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 studio’s vision is to blend classic arcade thrills with fresh, unexpected design choices. One of those choices is to emphasize the instant gratification of arcade‑style racing while also asking, “What could we do if we weren’t 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 environments that defy conventional physics. Yet the ambition goes beyond spectacle.
The game seeks to overturn long‑standing genre conventions, particularly the entrenched model of car collection that has persisted for two decades. "Let’s rip that up and steal ideas from other genres," Webster said.
Consequential decision‑making is a core pillar of Galactic Racer. In many modern racers, the presence of a rewind mechanic erodes the weight of mistakes. Fuse wants to bring consequences back, making each crash matter. The design draws inspiration from roguelike titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire—games built around infinite replayability.
"Racing thrives on replayability," Webster noted, "so combining it with roguelike principles feels like a match made in heaven." When a player crashes too often, they are sent back to the start, but they retain a measure of meta‑progression that places them in a stronger position for the next attempt. The looming risk of a final crash forces players to weigh daring maneuvers against the safety of a more conservative approach.
Launching the game on October 6 places it between two major industry events: the highly anticipated release of GTA 6 on November 19 and a busy September window that includes titles like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall (both slated for September 24). Webster acknowledges the crowded calendar but reminds us that even busier release periods have existed before.
"People used to call October ‘Murderers’ Row’ because it was packed with big releases," he recalled. "We have a healthy confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things might turn out." The conversation then shifted to the broader health of the industry.
Webster, who has witnessed several waves of layoffs, believes that great teams produce great games, and great games eventually find an audience. He observes a growing aversion to risk among larger publishers, which creates openings for studios willing to take calculated bets. "If you’re not willing to make those bets, you limit your opportunities," he warned.
Funding, however, remains a significant hurdle for independent studios. When Webster announced his departure from EA after 32 years, many questioned the wisdom of launching a new studio in 2023. "People said, ‘You’re brave doing an independent studio now,’" he laughed. The solution, he says, lies in adhering to core principles: building a talented team, refining a clear creative vision, and maintaining disciplined planning—while accepting that any plan will be imperfect and must evolve.
Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core staff of about 75 people, a deliberate choice to avoid the industry’s typical boom‑and‑bust staffing cycles. Instead of scaling the internal team up and down, Fuse leans on external partners to fill gaps.
This hybrid model ranges from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to full co‑development arrangements where external studios attend daily stand‑ups, join Slack channels, and contribute directly to the codebase. Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as especially conducive to this approach, noting that today’s external studios are eager collaborators rather than reluctant contractors.
According to Webster, this model proves that a AAA‑scale game—by scope, visual fidelity and ambition—can be delivered on a sustainable budget when a small, permanent core team is augmented by trusted partners who share the same values. The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer showcases the effectiveness of this strategy: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and just three and a half years later the studio has produced a full‑featured game built on Unreal Engine 5, a technology none of the founders had previously mastered. Another striking aspect of Fuse’s story is its blend of veteran expertise and fresh talent.
While the studio includes several Criterion alumni, it also hired many younger developers, some of whom had never worked in games before. "The young talent we’ve brought in is incredibly smart and effective—often more so than I was at that age," Webster said. He observed that seasoned developers sometimes prefer to work alongside peers who require minimal guidance, but nurturing junior staff can be equally motivating for both parties.
This insight has led Fuse to adjust its hiring strategy, placing greater emphasis on cultivating emerging talent. Webster envisions an internship program to further support young developers, though he cautions that Fuse is still pre‑revenue and must balance ambition with financial reality. He points to Criterion’s successful intern initiatives as a model and acknowledges the cost of developing talent, but believes the long‑term payoff justifies the investment.
Reflecting on the industry’s past, Webster recalls a period five or six years ago when abundant funding allowed successful developers to spin off their own studios. Many of those spin‑offs struggled because the capital was often allocated to individual “superstar” creators rather than to strong, collaborative teams. "The fixation on a single creative visionary is nonsense," he said bluntly.
"Games are built by collaborations of individuals." Looking ahead, Fuse Games remains flexible. While the launch of Galactic Racer marks a major milestone, the studio is already contemplating future projects and potential partnerships.
"We have ideas about where we want to go next, but as an independent developer you have to stay adaptable," Webster concluded. "The launch is just the beginning for us."