Ex-Need for Speed devs trade tyres for hyperdrives in Star Wars Galactic Racer

The Game Awards treated us to two Star Wars games during the show, including a look at the brand-new racing game, Star Wars Galactic Racer. This reinvention of Star Wars podracing is set to exhilarate and excite ahead of its planned release in 2026. 

The first trailer depicts a character named Shade, a lone racer with dreams of glory and revenge. You’ll play as them in the single-player campaign, competing in an unsanctioned racing league across multiple planets.

Now this is podracing

Fuse Games, a new AAA development studio composed of former Criterion Games developers, is developing the project alongside Star Wars staple Lucasfilm.

Fuse games co-founder Matt Webster outlined his vision for the game. “Our races are high-stakes competitions where racers do everything they can to get to the front in the solo campaign and in our awesome multiplayer gameplay.”

Galactic Racer’s aim to emphasize high-risk, high-reward action could pay out significantly for racing fans, sci-fi fans, and those whose brain chemistry was altered by Star Wars The Phantom Menace as children. It promises a thrilling, competitive experience complete with high-stakes races, plenty of ship customisation, and fulfilling multiplayer and single-player offerings. 

A return to podracing has, until this point, been a wild fantasy for Star Wars fans. Fans will remember 1999’s Star Wars Racer, which took the podracing fantasy onto our screens for the first time.

This combination of bold Need for Speed-style gameplay and iconic Star Wars action suggests a promising future ahead for this interstellar racer. We are extremely excited to get our hands on it when it releases in 2026.