Despite low expectations for Star Wars fans heading into The Game Awards this year, the event delivered some of the most thrilling game announcements from the franchise in years, with the 2026 release of Star Wars: Galactic Racer being one of the more unique titles. Even if Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic might have overshadowed the new project, GalacticRacer is still generating excitement for all the right reasons.
As a spiritual successor to Star Episode I: Racer from 1999, Galactic Racer is finally addressing the underutilized high-octane racing potential that the franchise has to offer once more. With a development team experienced in creating outstanding racing games like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Burnout, there’s only one concern left after the announcement trailer for Galactic Racer.
Galactic Racer Trailer Features Jakku
Galactic Racer is set in the sequel era of the Star Wars timeline, well after the fall of the Empire, and many of the primary locations featured in the announcement trailer were quickly recognizable as being from the sequel trilogy. Even if the gameplay of Galactic Racer was easily the highlight, its choice to focus on recently familiar planets like Jakku was somewhat disappointing for long-time fans of the series.
This isn’t to say that post-war planets like Jakku can’t serve as great settings for a racing game with players navigating through graveyards of fallen ships and other battlefields. However, too much of one good thing isn’t ideal for a franchise with so many creatively unique planets to choose from.
Fortunately, additional details revealed that Galactic Racer will include several new planets alongside their more familiar pre-existing ones, but the ratio of what we’ve seen so far still seems to lean towards the sequel era of the series. Even more noticeable was the surprising absence of podracers in the trailer, despite the unexpected cameo from The Phantom Menace‘s Sebulba.
Disney Shouldn’t Depend Too Heavily on Its Sequel Era
Even though the sequel trilogy and its place in the overall Star Wars timeline still offer plenty for fans despite its controversies, highlighting it within the trailer and marketing materials raises concerns about repeating Disney’s biggest issues with this beloved IP.
While a few creative projects, like the Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi shows, managed to diverge from this trend, most Star Wars content over recent years has focused heavily on sequels to the original series rather than exploring all it still has to offer. Thankfully, the upcoming release of FOTOR is helping correct this by delving into one of the most underrated eras of the series, but it doesn’t have to stand alone.
While visiting planets like Alderaan isn’t feasible within the timeline of Galactic Racer, there are still many unique and fan-favorite locales to explore. A few well-placed racetracks could take full advantage of the massive scale that this franchise has to offer.
Galactic Racer Needs More Variety
Star Wars: Galactic Racer has plenty of material to draw inspiration from, with its predecessor, Star Wars Episode I: Racer, serving as an excellent starting point.
The original Nintendo 64 game allowed players to race through various environments with a limited selection of podracers, but each environment provided some standout offerings. While Tatooine was an obvious choice due to its origins in gaming history, other planets featured in that original podracing game never made it to film. Each environment was rich with personality and unique visual flair.
Apart from environments, Galactic Racer will feature customizable ships with unique physics and playstyles based on player choices.
Aiming to capture the creativity of its predecessors, Galactic Racer also has an opportunity to revive some iconic maps from its previous podracing sensation. The years between games could lead to significant changes in both environments and racetracks.
Since the initial trailer for Galactic Racer was merely a teaser for what is yet to come, there’s still potential for more maps featuring unique settings to explore—whether it’s racing between buildings in Cloud City, navigating through trash heaps on Lotho Minor, or racing underwater on Naboo.
The higher fidelity and a seemingly expanded pool of racers make it difficult to predict how many locales Star Wars Galactic Racer will offer upon release. However, relying too heavily on Disney’s sequel trilogy would be a major disappointment.
