Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He started at EA in 1990 and spent nearly twenty years at Criterion, the studio behind Burnout and Need for Speed that EA acquired in 2004.
In early 2023, however, Webster and several fellow Criterion alumni—Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires, and Alan McDairmant—decided to strike out on their own, founding the independent UK studio Fuse Games. Just over three years later the fledgling studio is poised to release 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 struggled to maintain mainstream appeal. Amazon recently walked away from a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title Clutch, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis stating, “we didn’t see a real fit in the market for that game.” Meanwhile Criterion itself has pivoted away from pure racing projects to focus on the Battlefield franchise.
Despite these signals, Webster is convinced there is still a hungry audience 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 reaction we get from people watching our videos and reading our articles suggests we’re not alone.” He points out that genres tend to be cyclical. After a period dominated by shooters, other types of games inevitably resurface.
“As more and more people play video games, even the tiniest niches find a bigger audience,” Webster added. According to Webster, players today are craving “fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before,” and he believes Galactic Racer delivers exactly that. The team set out to capture the instant‑gratification feel of classic arcade racers while also exploring what’s possible when you’re not limited by real‑world tyres and tarmac. “We have tracks that climb the side of an active volcano,” he explained.
“Sometimes it feels like a roller‑coaster.” Beyond the high‑octane thrills, Galactic Racer deliberately subverts long‑standing racing 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, especially around crashes. In many modern racers, a rewind button eliminates the penalty for mistakes, but Fuse wants to bring consequences back. “If you crash too many times, you’re sent back to the start, but you keep some meta‑progression that makes you a bit stronger,” he said. “When you’re on your last crash, you really feel the risk.” The design is heavily inspired by roguelike principles found in titles such as Hades, Returnal, and Slay the Spire—games built for infinite replayability.
“Racing thrives on replayability, so mixing it with roguelike loops feels like a match made in heaven,” Webster noted. This approach creates a loop where each run feels fresh, yet the player’s overall progression rewards persistence. Launching on October 6, Galactic Racer lands a month before the highly anticipated GTA 6 release (scheduled for November 19) and shortly after other major releases like Control: Resonance and Silent Hill: Townfall on September 24.
Webster acknowledges the crowded calendar but reminds us that the industry has always faced busy windows. “People used to call September ‘murderer’s row,’ and October was packed too. We have a healthy confidence tempered by a realistic view of how things might turn out.” When asked about the wave of layoffs sweeping the industry, Webster reflected on his long tenure.
He remembers a similar contraction fifteen years ago and emphasizes a timeless truth: great teams make great games, and great games find an audience. He argues that the current climate is marked by an aversion to risk, which paradoxically opens doors for studios willing to take calculated bets.
“If you shy away from risk, you limit opportunity,” he warned. Funding an independent studio in 2023 has been anything but easy. “People told me I was brave for starting an indie studio now,” Webster recalled. After 32 years at EA, he found himself navigating a new landscape of financing, talent acquisition, and project management.
His guiding principles remained simple: build a strong team, refine a clear creative vision, and maintain discipline while staying adaptable. “The plan is always wrong, but it’s the best version you have today,” he said, emphasizing the need for constant review and alignment with core values. Fuse Games operates with a relatively lean core team—about 75 people—for a project of AAA scope.
Webster deliberately avoided the typical “grow‑shrink‑grow‑shrink” cycle that plagues many large studios. Instead, Fuse leans on external development partners to fill gaps, using a spectrum that ranges from transactional outsourcing for asset creation to deep co‑development where external studios sit in Fuse’s stand‑ups, Slack channels, and codebase. He highlighted 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.
This hybrid model, Webster believes, offers a sustainable path to AAA‑level quality without the bloated budgets that have historically plagued big‑budget games. “You can achieve AAA scope, scale, and fidelity on a more sustainable budget by keeping a small permanent core and scaling with trusted partners,” he explained.
The rapid development timeline—just three and a half years from Fuse’s founding to a near‑complete game built on Unreal Engine 5—serves as proof that the model works. A notable aspect of Fuse’s workforce is the infusion of young talent.
While the studio includes several veteran Criterion alumni, many of its developers are newcomers to the industry, and one producer has never worked on a game before. “The young talent we’ve brought in is often smarter and more effective than I was at that age,” Webster said.
He observed that seasoned developers sometimes prefer senior colleagues who need little guidance, but that approach can stifle growth. By nurturing younger staff, Fuse has discovered a fresh source of energy and innovation. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to further develop emerging talent, though he cautions that the studio is still pre‑revenue.
He points to Criterion’s successful intern pipelines as a model and acknowledges the cost and effort required to cultivate new developers. Reflecting on the boom years when well‑funded teams spun off into their own studios, he argues that money should have been allocated to strong teams rather than to “superstar” individuals. “The fixation on a single creative visionary is nonsense,” he said bluntly. “Games are made by collaborations of individuals.” As for Fuse’s future beyond Galactic Racer, Webster admits the roadmap is still being drawn.
The launch will be just the beginning, and the studio remains open to new opportunities and partnerships. “Independent developers need to stay flexible and adaptable,” he concluded, underscoring the importance of resilience in an ever‑changing industry.