Matt Webster’s career once seemed destined to stay within the walls of Electronic Arts. He first joined 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.
Yet in early 2023 Webster, together with 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. Fast‑forward three and a half years, and the fledgling studio is on the brink of releasing its debut title, *Star Wars: Galactic Racer*, under the banner of the newly autonomous publisher Secret Mode. The timing of *Galactic Racer* is noteworthy.
It arrives roughly 24 years after the last Star Wars‑themed racing game, 2002’s *Racer Revenge*, and it does so in an era when traditional racing games have struggled to capture mainstream attention. Recent industry news underscores this trend: Amazon withdrew from a publishing agreement with UK studio Maverick Games for its upcoming driving title *Clutch*, with Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis remarking that the market simply didn’t have room for another racer. Meanwhile, Criterion itself has pivoted away from pure racing projects and is now focused on the *Battlefield* franchise. Despite these signals, Webster is convinced a market exists for a Star Wars‑based racer.
“We clearly believe there’s an audience for a Star Wars racing game,” he told GamesIndustry.biz. “Our community feedback—people watching our videos and reading our articles—suggests we’re not alone in that belief.” He points out that genres tend to be cyclical.
After a period dominated by shooters, other types of games inevitably re‑emerge. “As more people play video games, even the tiniest niche can find a larger audience,” Webster added. What Webster thinks gamers are craving, he says, is “fun, interesting, compelling new experiences they haven’t seen before,” and he feels *Galactic Racer* delivers exactly that. The team set out to capture the instant‑gratification feel of classic arcade racers 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 side of an active volcano, courses that feel like roller‑coasters, and other physics‑defying environments that would be impossible in a realistic simulation.
Beyond the thrill‑rides, Fuse is deliberately challenging long‑standing racing conventions. For two decades, most racing games have built their progression around car collection—a model Webster calls “stale.” He wants to rip that formula up and borrow mechanics from other genres.
One key influence is the roguelike design philosophy seen in titles like *Hades*, *Returnal* and *Slay the Spire*. Those games emphasize infinite replayability, risk‑reward decision making, and a sense of consequence that persists across runs.
Webster explains that *Galactic Racer* adopts a similar loop: crashing isn’t just a momentary setback; too many crashes send you back to the start, though you retain some meta‑progression that makes the next attempt slightly stronger. This creates tension: “When you’re on your last crash and the system’s critical, you actually feel the risk,” he says. Such design choices represent a bold departure from the hand‑holding typical of many AAA titles, but Webster believes the risk is necessary in a crowded market.
*Galactic Racer* is slated for release on October 6, a comfortable gap from the anticipated launch of *GTA 6* on November 19, yet close enough to the September 24 releases of *Control: Resonance* and *Silent Hill: Townfall* to test its mettle. Webster notes that crowded pre‑holiday windows are nothing new; “I remember hearing about ‘Murderer’s Row’ in the past, when October was jam‑packed with releases.” He says Fuse approaches the competition with “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 reflects on his own long tenure. He recalls a similar downsizing period fifteen years ago and observes that great teams make great games, and great games find audiences.
He warns that the current climate shows an “aversion to risk,” which paradoxically opens opportunities for studios willing to take calculated bets. “If you’re not willing to risk, you limit yourself and miss chances,” he says. Funding, however, has not been a free ride.
Starting a new studio in 2023, Webster says, felt “brave” to many investors. After thirty‑two years at EA, he was stepping out of a bubble into an uncertain independent landscape. His guiding principles—building a strong team, honing a clear creative vision, and staying disciplined while remaining adaptable—proved essential. He emphasizes that an engaged, motivated team can achieve extraordinary results, even with limited resources.
Fuse’s core team is deliberately small, roughly 75 people, which is modest for a title of AAA ambition. Rather than expanding and contracting staff—a pattern Webster describes as the “grow, shrink, grow, shrink” cycle—Fuse relies heavily on external partners to fill skill gaps. This hybrid model blends transactional outsourcing (pure asset creation) with true co‑development, where partner studios attend Fuse’s stand‑ups, join their Slack channels, and contribute directly to the codebase. Webster highlights the UK’s mature development ecosystem as a key advantage: “Companies now hire people who want to work across different teams, keeping talent fresh and excited.” From his perspective, this approach demonstrates that a AAA‑scale game—measured by scope, visual fidelity, and production values—can be delivered on a sustainable budget when a lean core team is augmented by trusted collaborators who share the same values.
The rapid development timeline of *Galactic Racer* underscores this point. Fuse launched in January 2023; three and a half years later they have a finished product built on Unreal Engine 5, a technology none of the founders initially mastered.
Webster calls this “an achievement” achieved in a “healthy, sustainable way.” The studio’s talent mix also reflects a generational shift. While the founding members bring veteran experience, many of the developers on *Galactic Racer* are younger, and at least one producer had never worked in games before joining Fuse. Webster praises this fresh perspective: “They are smarter and more effective in many ways than I was at that age.” He observes that seasoned developers often prefer senior colleagues who need little guidance, which can stifle mentorship. By deliberately nurturing younger talent, Fuse believes it creates a more dynamic and motivated environment.
Looking ahead, Webster hopes to formalize an internship program to further cultivate 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 costs involved in developing new talent, but remains optimistic about the long‑term payoff. Reflecting on the industry’s previous era of abundant funding, Webster notes that many teams received capital simply because they were attached to a hit game, only to discover that running a studio is far tougher than expected.
He criticizes the lingering myth of the “single creative visionary” as “fucking bullshit,” arguing that games are inherently collaborative endeavors. The success of a title, he says, stems from the collective effort of many individuals rather than a lone auteur. As for Fuse’s future beyond *Galactic Racer*, Webster admits the roadmap is still forming.
The launch is just the beginning, and the studio remains open to new opportunities and ideas. He stresses that independent developers must stay flexible and adaptable in today’s fast‑changing market. In his words, “Good games will find a way, and we’re hoping ours does too.”