A roguelite structure is not what comes to mind when someone says Star Wars racing game, but that has been the pitch for Star Wars: Galactic Racer since it first turned up at The Game Awards 2025. Developer Fuse Games used Summer Game Fest 2026 to share a deeper look at that runs-based reinvention of racing, and the new story trailer leans almost entirely on the rivalry at the center of the campaign.
The Galactic League itself was founded by racing enthusiast Darius Pax, an underground circuit born in the lawless Outer Rim. Its reigning champion, Kestar Bool, is as well-connected as he is underhanded, and he has no intention of loosening his grip on the title. With nowhere else to turn, Pax recruits Shade, a lone racer carrying a personal grudge against the Bool family, to enter the League and end Kestar’s reign before his corruption digs in any deeper.
The runs-based hook is where Galactic Racer earns that reinvention label, and it lives entirely in the single-player campaign. Players carve their own path through the League by choosing between events, with fresh unlocks and new challenges waiting at each fork, and there is no backing out once an event is locked in. Crash too many times and you wreck out of the tour for good. Back to square one. Only certain perks and unlocks carry into the next run. Roguelite progression has been creeping into genres that never asked for it lately, and a Star Wars racer might be the most unexpected place it has shown up yet.
Kestar and Shade headline the story, but the trailer makes a point of showing the other pilots gunning for the same title. Between races, Shade can wander the paddock, the social hub where racers swap stories, throw down challenges, and occasionally lend a hand. Each planet’s paddock also houses a mechanic named Hibi, whose workshop lets you fit new parts, either earned on the track or bought from her directly, for stat boosts and abilities tuned to your racing style.
The bigger reveal is Derven Acos, a custom-built arena that Fuse Games is positioning as the ultimate test of the Galactic League. Rather than standing in for a single planet, Derven Acos stacks every planetary condition a racer meets across the tour into one gauntlet, the kind of showpiece event that rewards a well-tuned build and steady nerves more than raw speed.
Podracing is the other piece fans finally got to see, this time tearing across planets well beyond the Mos Espa Circuit. Outside of its role in the single-player story, podracing is available right out of the gate through an Arcade mode, and Fuse Games is promising podracer-focused online multiplayer events as part of the package too.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer launches October 6, 2026 for PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, and PC, with Standard and Deluxe editions available both physically and digitally and a physical-only Collector’s Edition for the truly devoted while stocks last. Preorders for every edition are open now through the official site. With Star Wars Zero Company turning up the same day, Lucasfilm Games clearly came to Summer Game Fest with more than one entry on the grid.
