| Question | Answer on 8 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Is it out? | Yes. Released Tuesday 6 October 2026 at 09:00 UTC on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam, Epic) |
| Price | $59.99 Standard · $79.99 Deluxe · $19.99 Deluxe Upgrade · $159.99 Collector’s (physical) |
| Launch discount? | None on Steam, the US PlayStation Store or the US Xbox store |
| Critic scores | Metacritic 88 (PS5, 65 critics) · OpenCritic 87 Top Critic Average, 95% recommend (82 reviews) |
| Steam user reviews | Mostly Positive on the store page; 81% positive across all languages in Steam’s review data |
| Download size | 39.7 GB on Xbox Series X|S; 50 GB SSD space required on PC |
| Game Pass / PS Plus? | No. Paid launch on every platform |
| Patches so far | One Steam hotfix on 8 October (driver check, DLSS stability) |
Star Wars: Galactic Racer reviews: what critics and players say
Players are a little cooler than critics, mainly on PC. Steam’s review data showed 2,045 positive reviews out of 2,512 across all languages, which is 81%, Steam’s “Very Positive” band. But the store page itself, which counts reviews a little differently, read “Mostly Positive (1,728)” when we took the screenshot below. On the PS Store, the game held a 4.64 out of 5 average from 1,200 ratings.
“Has successfully lit the afterburners on a long-dormant slice of the Star Wars universe.”
— Luke Reilly, IGN review, 8/10, via OpenCritic
What reviewers did not like
The complaints are consistent and fairly minor. IGN found it “a little repetitive” because the campaign keeps sending you back to the same small set of planets. PC Gamer’s 76 was the lowest top-critic score we saw. It praised the runs-based structure as a better way to shake up a racer than an open world, but it was less taken with the game overall than most outlets. On PC, the only fix so far is about graphics drivers and DLSS (see the hotfix below).
Launch: what shipped vs what was promised
The 8 October hotfix
Star Wars: Galactic Racer editions and price
| Edition | USD | GBP | EUR | Format | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $59.99 | £49.99 | €59.99 | Digital; physical on PS5/Xbox | Base game (campaign + online multiplayer) and the pre-order livery and player banner |
| Deluxe | $79.99 | £64.99 | €79.99 | Digital; physical on PS5/Xbox with a steel case | Everything in Standard + 3 Kor Sarun vehicles, 3 Arcade events, Naboo N-1-inspired livery, Deluxe player banner, digital art book |
| Deluxe Upgrade | $19.99 | — | — | Digital add-on | The Deluxe content for Standard owners |
| Collector’s | $159.99 | £139.99 | €159.99 | Physical only (PS5, Xbox, PC with a Steam code) | All Deluxe content + metal Darc X landspeeder model, Kestar’s banner, two pilot patches, physical art book, collector’s box |
Is the Star Wars: Galactic Racer Deluxe Edition worth it?
Standard Edition — $59.99
You get the full game, the campaign, Arcade and 12-player online. Nothing in Deluxe is a vehicle class or mode you are locked out of. Since launch, the $19.99 Deluxe Upgrade means you lose nothing by starting with Standard: Standard plus the upgrade costs $79.98, one cent less than buying Deluxe outright.
- Full campaign, Arcade and 12-player online
- Upgrade later for $19.99 with no penalty
- No Kor Sarun vehicles or the three Deluxe Arcade events
- Digital art book not included
Deluxe Edition — $79.99
The extra $20 buys three Kor Sarun vehicles (a speeder bike, a landspeeder and a skim speeder), three Arcade events built around them, a livery, a banner and an art book. There was never any early access, and there is no season pass inside it. Now that reviews are in and the upgrade is on sale, there is no reason to commit up front.
- Three exclusive vehicles and three Arcade events
- Digital art book with development artwork
- Physical Deluxe comes with a steel case
- No early access
- Mostly cosmetic value
- Same price as Standard + Upgrade
The Collector’s Edition
The $159.99 Collector’s Edition is physical only and sold for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Its PC box contains a Steam code, not an Epic one. On top of all the Deluxe digital content, it adds a metal model of the Kor Sarun: Darc X landspeeder (177.88 × 33.3 × 87.3 mm), a 10 × 30 inch banner of the rival Kestar, two pilot patches and a 73-page hardcover art book, according to the developer’s FAQ. Stock varies by country, and Secret Mode points buyers to the official site to check where it is still available.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer FAQs
Is Star Wars: Galactic Racer out now?
Is Star Wars: Galactic Racer good?
How much is Star Wars: Galactic Racer?
How big is the Star Wars: Galactic Racer download?
Is Star Wars: Galactic Racer on Game Pass?
Does Star Wars: Galactic Racer have Denuvo?
Star Wars: Galactic Racer PC requirements
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 | Windows 10 |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 | Intel Core i7-10700 / AMD Ryzen 7 3700X |
| RAM | 12 GB | 16 GB |
| GPU | Nvidia RTX 2060 / Intel Arc A580 / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB | Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti / Intel Arc B580 / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT |
| Storage | 50 GB, SSD required | 50 GB, SSD required |
| Input | Full controller support (gamepad recommended) | Keyboard and mouse supported |
Two things stand out. The minimum graphics card is an RTX 2060-class GPU, higher than many racers ask for, which reflects the Unreal Engine 5 visuals. And 12 GB of RAM is an unusual floor: an 8 GB machine is below spec. Steam lists Windows only, with no Mac or Linux version. The developer’s FAQ also rules out racing-wheel, HOTAS and VR support for now. Since the 8 October hotfix, the game also checks your graphics driver version every time it starts.
Denuvo, the activation limit and Epic Online Services
“Star Wars: Galactic Racer will use Denuvo anti-tamper software on PC. This does not impact game performance.”
— Secret Mode (developer account), Official Star Wars: Galactic Racer FAQ on Steam
Since launch, the Steam page has added a detail the FAQ left out: a limit of 5 machine activations. That matters if you swap PCs or reinstall Windows often. Cross-play and cross-platform friends run through Epic Online Services, so on Steam the game asks you to install the EOS redistributable on first launch if you don’t already have the Epic Games Store. You can’t opt out of that on Steam, and you need it for cross-play. You only need to sign in to an Epic account to manage friends who are not on Steam.
Does Star Wars: Galactic Racer work on Steam Deck?
Yes. When we opened the Steam page on 8 October, its compatibility panel rated the game Verified for Steam Deck, Valve’s top rating. The page also lists 49 Steam achievements, Steam Cloud saves and Family Sharing support.
Is Star Wars: Galactic Racer on Game Pass or PS Plus?
No. It is a paid launch on every platform. When we checked Microsoft’s US store catalogue on 8 October, the game listed at $59.99 and Deluxe at $79.99, with no Game Pass entitlement. You will still need a subscription for online play on console: the PlayStation Store listing says “PS Plus required for online play” and supports up to 12 online players. The solo campaign, scenarios and Arcade events all work offline, so the subscription is only needed for multiplayer.
Paying with a Steam or Xbox gift card
Star Wars: Galactic Racer release time: when it unlocked in your time zone
The game unlocked at one fixed moment worldwide, 09:00 UTC on 6 October, rather than at local midnight. Before launch, when we opened the PlayStation Store page from our office in Poland on 27 September, it read “10/6/2026 11:00 AM GMT+2”, and Microsoft’s store catalogue listed the same 09:00 UTC. That is when it went live. So players in Asia and Oceania got it in the evening of 6 October, and players in the Americas got it in the small hours.
| Region | Local unlock time | Date |
|---|---|---|
| US Pacific (PDT) | 2:00 AM | Tuesday 6 October |
| US Eastern (EDT) | 5:00 AM | Tuesday 6 October |
| Brazil (BRT) | 6:00 AM | Tuesday 6 October |
| UK (BST) | 10:00 AM | Tuesday 6 October |
| Central Europe (CEST) | 11:00 AM | Tuesday 6 October |
| Saudi Arabia (AST) | 12:00 PM | Tuesday 6 October |
| UAE (GST) | 1:00 PM | Tuesday 6 October |
| India (IST) | 2:30 PM | Tuesday 6 October |
| Japan (JST) | 6:00 PM | Tuesday 6 October |
| Sydney (AEDT) | 8:00 PM | Tuesday 6 October |
What kind of racer Star Wars: Galactic Racer is
It is an arcade combat racer from Fuse Games, a Guildford studio founded by former Criterion (Burnout, Need for Speed) developers. It is set after the fall of the Empire, in an unsanctioned Outer Rim circuit called the Galactic League. The single-player campaign follows a racer called Shade, whose rival is Kestar, and it is “runs-based”: a roguelite structure where each run builds your standing. You race four vehicle classes, each with its own handling: landspeeders, speeder bikes, skim speeders and podracers. Takedowns are part of the game. Online races take up to 12 players on speeders and up to 8 in podracers, and podracers cannot be customised. Leaderboards are friends-only, not public.
- Decided between Standard ($59.99) and Deluxe ($79.99)? Remember the $19.99 upgrade lets you choose later
- On PC: 50 GB free on an SSD, at least 12 GB RAM and an RTX 2060-class GPU, and an up-to-date graphics driver
- On Xbox: 39.7 GB free; on console, Game Pass or PS Plus if you want to race online
- Paying with a gift card: redeem it first, on an account in the same country as the card
- Playing on Steam: allow the Epic Online Services install on first launch if you want cross-play
Rayyan covers console and PC gaming wallets for Virtwave, with deep specialism in PlayStation Network, Xbox, Razer Gold and Steam. He has been writing about digital gaming commerce since 2020.
Sources & how we checked this
- Official site: Star Wars: Galactic Racer is Out Now! (launch post, 6 October 2026): what is in the game at launch and the edition contents.
- Steam: Star Wars: Galactic Racer Hotfix Notes (8 October 2026): the driver check and DLSS fixes.
- Official patch notes page: still listed no patch on 8 October.
- Metacritic: Star Wars: Galactic Racer and OpenCritic: Star Wars: Galactic Racer: critic and user scores, read 8 October.
- Secret Mode: Star Wars: Galactic Racer launches across the galaxy on October 6th: the date, platforms, prices in USD, GBP and EUR, and edition contents.
- Official Star Wars: Galactic Racer FAQ on Steam (developer post): player counts, offline play, Collector’s Edition details, Epic Online Services and Denuvo.
- Steam: Star Wars: Galactic Racer: prices, the Deluxe Upgrade, minimum and recommended specs, the Denuvo activation limit and the Steam Deck rating.
- PlayStation Store: Star Wars: Galactic Racer: release time, prices, the PS Plus online requirement and the user rating.
- xbox.com: Star Wars: Galactic Racer: Xbox listing. We read prices, the release time and the 39.7 GB package size from Microsoft’s public store catalogue entries for the same products.
- Wikipedia: Star Wars: Galactic Racer: developer background and engine.
Method: on 8 October 2026 we opened each page above, read Steam’s review totals and current player count from Steam’s public APIs, and took the Steam screenshot in this post. We searched our own catalogue again and confirmed we still don’t stock the game, and we checked that every gift card linked above was live. Review scores change daily, so treat them as a snapshot. Our standards are set out in our editorial policy.
Want another racer on PC right now? We stock WRC Generations Fully Loaded Edition. Gears of War: E-Day launched the same day, and Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse follows on 15 October. If you are wondering how long a 40–50 GB download will take, our game download time calculator works it out for your connection.
