Matt Webster’s career seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at the company in 1990 and spent almost twenty years developing titles for the Criterion team, the studio behind Burnout and the Need for Speed franchise that EA acquired in 2004. In early 2023, however, Webster joined forces with former Criterion colleagues Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant to launch an independent UK studio called Fuse Games. Just over three years later the fledgling studio is poised to ship its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which will be published by the newly autonomous label 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 generally lost some of its mainstream momentum. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for the upcoming title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating that the market simply didn’t have room for another driving game. Meanwhile, Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style racers, has shifted its focus to the Battlefield franchise. Despite these signals, Webster is convinced there is still a viable market for a Star Wars racing experience.
“We clearly see an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re not the only ones who think that, and the reaction we get from our videos and articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that gaming genres tend to be cyclical.
“Shooters dominated for a while, but that’s not the whole story. As more people play video games, even the tiniest niches can find a larger audience.” 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 studio’s vision is to create something fresh, blending classic arcade thrills with imaginative, physics‑defying tracks. “We wanted to capture the instant gratification of arcade racing while also asking what’s possible when you’re not limited by real‑world tyres and tarmac,” he explained.
One example he gives is a course that spirals up the side of an active volcano, turning a race into a roller‑coaster‑like spectacle. Beyond the spectacle, Galactic Racer aims to upend long‑standing genre conventions. Most racing games 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. The game incorporates consequential decision‑making, particularly around crashes. In many modern racers, a rewind button eliminates any penalty for crashing; Galactic Racer reintroduces risk by making crashes matter.
If a player crashes too often, they are sent back to the start, though they retain a small amount of meta‑progress that puts them in a slightly stronger position the next run. This creates tension: “When you’re on your last crash and the system is critical, you really feel the weight of the risk you’re taking.” The design is also heavily inspired by roguelike principles found in titles such as Hades, Returnal and Slay the Spire. Those games are built for infinite replayability, a quality that dovetails naturally with racing, which thrives on repeated runs.
By merging roguelike progression with high‑speed competition, Fuse hopes to deliver a “match made in heaven” that encourages players to keep coming back for more. Launching the game on October 6 places it a month before the highly anticipated GTA 6 release on November 19, but after several major September launches like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall (both released September 24). Webster notes that crowded pre‑holiday windows are nothing new.
“People used to call October ‘Murderer’s Row’ because it was packed with releases,” he recalled. “We’re aware the market is competitive, but we have a healthy confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things might turn out.” When asked about the current wave of industry layoffs, Webster reflected on his long tenure. He remembers a similar bout of downsizing about fifteen years ago and emphasizes a timeless truth: great teams make great games, and great games find their audience.
He observes a growing aversion to risk across the industry, which he believes creates opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets. “If you’re not willing to risk, you limit yourself and miss out on potential breakthroughs,” he said. Starting an independent studio in 2023 has not been without its hurdles. Securing funding was a major challenge; many people questioned the wisdom of launching a new studio after three decades at EA.
Webster describes the experience as a crash course in applying the principles he learned at EA: building a solid team, refining a creative vision, and maintaining disciplined planning while staying adaptable. “The plan is always wrong, but it’s the best version you have today.
Review, adapt, and stay true to your values,” he advised. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core team of around 75 people, a deliberate choice to avoid the boom‑and‑bust staffing cycles that plague many larger studios. Instead of constantly scaling the internal workforce up and down, Fuse relies on external partners to fill gaps. This hybrid model blends transactional outsourcing for asset creation with deeper co‑development relationships 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 a key advantage, noting that today’s studios are eager to collaborate rather than protect their own silos. According to Webster, this approach proves that a AAA‑scale game—measured by scope, visual fidelity and production values—can be delivered on a sustainable budget when a small, permanent core team is supplemented by trusted partners who share the same values.
The rapid development timeline of Galactic Racer underscores this point: Fuse was founded in January 2023, and three and a half years later the team has built a studio, assembled a team, and shipped a UE5‑powered game despite none of them having prior experience with that engine. “It feels like an achievement, and we did it in a healthy, sustainable way,” Webster said.
Another noteworthy aspect of Fuse’s strategy is its emphasis on young talent. While the studio includes 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.
Webster expressed enthusiasm for this fresh perspective: “Our young talent is smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age. We’ve actually had greater success with them than with some senior hires.” He argues that seasoned developers often prefer to work with peers who need little guidance, which can stifle mentorship. By deliberately nurturing younger staff, Fuse creates a more dynamic and motivated environment.
Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to further cultivate emerging talent, though he acknowledges that the studio is still pre‑revenue and must be realistic about the costs involved. He draws on Criterion’s successful intern initiatives as a model and stresses the importance of entering such programs with “eyes wide open.” Reflecting on the industry’s past excesses, Webster recalls a period five or six years ago when abundant funding allowed successful teams to spin off their own studios, only to discover that running an independent studio is far tougher than expected. He criticizes the industry’s lingering fixation on the myth of the singular creative visionary, calling it “bullshit.” In his view, games are always the product of collaborative effort, not the work of a lone genius.
As for Fuse’s future beyond Galactic Racer, Webster admits the roadmap is still being shaped. The launch is just the beginning, and the studio remains open to exploring new opportunities while staying flexible and adaptable—qualities he believes are essential for independent developers in today’s ever‑changing market.