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 iconic franchises such as Burnout and Need for Speed while at Criterion, the studio EA acquired in 2004. Yet in early 2023 Webster, together with fellow Criterion alumni Steve Uphill, Pete Lake, Andrei Shires and Alan McDairmant, decided to leave the corporate behemoth and launch an independent UK studio called Fuse Games.
Three and a half years later the fledgling team is poised to release its debut title, *Star Wars: Galactic Racer*, under the banner of the newly autonomous publisher Secret Mode. The timing of *Galactic Racer* is noteworthy. The last Star Wars racing game, *Racer Revenge*, hit shelves in 2002 – a full 24 years ago.
In the intervening decades racing games have struggled to maintain mainstream appeal. Amazon recently cancelled a publishing agreement with Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title *Clutch*, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis noting that the market simply didn’t have room for another conventional racer. Even Criterion, once a powerhouse of arcade‑style car games, has pivoted away from the genre to focus on the *Battlefield* franchise.
Despite these signals, Webster is convinced there remains a hungry audience for a Star Wars‑themed racing experience. “We clearly see demand for a Star Wars racer,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “Our community feedback – video comments, article reads – tells us we’re not the only ones who think there’s a market.” He argues that video‑game genres are cyclical: “Shooters dominated for a while, but that’s not the whole story. As more people play games, even the tiniest niches can find a sizable fan base.” Webster believes players are craving "fun, interesting, compelling new experiences that they haven’t seen before," and he feels *Galactic Racer* delivers exactly that.
The studio set out to capture the instant gratification of classic arcade racers while also asking, “What can we do when we’re no longer bound 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 the physics of traditional road racing. Beyond the visual spectacle, the game seeks to overturn long‑standing genre conventions.
Most racing titles rely on a car‑collection model that has changed little in two decades. Webster wants to rip that formula apart and borrow mechanics from other genres. One of the most radical changes is the introduction of meaningful consequences for crashing. In many modern racers a rewind button erases mistakes, but *Galactic Racer* re‑introduces risk: “If you crash too often, you’re sent back to the start, though you keep some meta‑progression that makes you a bit stronger.
The final crash feels tense because you’re forced to weigh risk versus reward.” The design philosophy draws heavily from roguelike principles found in games like *Hades*, *Returnal* and *Slay the Spire*. Those titles emphasize infinite replayability, a trait that dovetails naturally with racing, a genre that thrives on repeated attempts to shave off milliseconds. By blending a roguelike loop with high‑speed competition, Fuse hopes to create a "match made in heaven" where each run feels fresh and the stakes evolve over time.
Launching the game on October 6 positions it between two heavyweight releases: Rockstar’s *GTA 6* (due November 19) and the September 24 launches of *Control: Resonance* and *Silent Hill: Townfall*. Webster acknowledges the crowded calendar but points out that the industry has long dealt with busy windows. “People used to call September ‘Murderer’s Row,’ yet October has always been packed. We’re confident, but we keep a realistic view of how things might unfold.” The interview also touches on the broader industry climate, particularly the wave of layoffs that has swept through major studios.
Webster, who has witnessed a similar contraction fifteen years ago, emphasizes a timeless truth: great teams make great games, and great games find an audience. He warns that an aversion to risk can stifle innovation, but for those willing to take calculated bets, opportunity abounds. Starting an independent studio in 2023 has not been without hurdles.
Funding proved elusive; many investors balked at the idea of a new studio in a risk‑averse market. Webster reflects on his 32‑year tenure at EA as a protective bubble and explains how he reverted to core principles: assembling a talented team, sharpening a clear creative vision, and maintaining disciplined planning—while accepting that any plan will inevitably need adjustment.
Fuse operates with a relatively lean core of about 75 people, a deliberate choice to avoid the boom‑and‑bust staffing cycles that plague larger developers. Instead, the studio leans on external partners for scalability. Outsourcing covers transactional asset creation, while deeper co‑development relationships turn partner studios into extensions of Fuse’s own team—they attend stand‑ups, join Slack channels, and share code repositories. Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as especially conducive to this collaborative model, noting that today’s studios are eager to work across projects rather than hoarding talent for a single internal title.
According to Webster, this hybrid approach proves that a AAA‑scale game can be built on a sustainable budget when a small, permanent core is bolstered by trusted external contributors. The rapid development timeline of *Galactic Racer*—from Fuse’s founding in January 2023 to a launch in late 2026—demonstrates the efficacy of the model.
"We built a studio, a team, and a game on Unreal Engine 5, a tool none of us had mastered at the start. It feels like an achievement, and we did it in a healthy, sustainable way," he says. Another notable aspect of Fuse’s strategy is its emphasis on youthful talent.
While the studio includes veterans from Criterion, many of its developers are newcomers, including a producer who had never worked in games before. "The young talent we’ve recruited is incredibly smart and effective—often more so than I was at their age," Webster remarks. He observes that senior developers sometimes prefer working with peers who require minimal mentorship, whereas nurturing younger staff can invigorate the entire team.
This insight has even reshaped Fuse’s hiring priorities. Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to further cultivate fresh talent, though he admits the studio is still pre‑revenue and must be mindful of the costs involved. He recalls a period five or six years ago when abundant funding allowed successful developers to spin off their own studios, only to discover the reality was far tougher than anticipated. He critiques the industry’s lingering fixation on the “single creative visionary” myth, calling it “bullshit.” In his view, games are always collaborative endeavors.
As for Fuse’s next steps, the future remains open‑ended. The launch of *Star Wars: Galactic Racer* is just the beginning, and the team is already brainstorming potential follow‑up projects. Webster stresses that independence requires flexibility: "We have ideas and directions we’d like to explore, but as an indie studio we must stay adaptable and ready to pivot when opportunities arise." In sum, Matt Webster’s journey from EA veteran to founder of a lean, collaborative studio illustrates a broader shift in the gaming industry—one that values risk‑taking, cross‑genre innovation, and the empowerment of new talent. Whether *Star Wars: Galactic Racer* reignites the racing genre or simply carves out a dedicated niche, its development story offers a compelling blueprint for sustainable AAA‑level creation in an era of uncertainty.