Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
After a tumultuous start to EA’s rebooted Star Wars Battlefront series, in 2021 Lucasfilm and Disney decided to open up the development of new Star Wars games by bringing in different publishers and studios under the Lucasfilm Games banner. Now, over five years on, we can confidently say we’re entering a new golden era of amazing Star Wars games.
With LucasArts’ successor calling the shots and coordinating a multitude of projects set in a galaxy far, far away, even EA’s latest efforts like Squadrons and the Jedi series have taken bigger and bolder swings. Now, in 2026, the full potential of the Star Wars universe has become clearer with specific releases squarely aimed at niche audiences.
It’s become clear that future Star Wars games needn’t be expensive endeavors full of familiar faces or concepts. Star Wars Zero Company and Galactic Racer‘s restrained scope and confidence have been infectious, and, as it turns out, they’re already recognized by all the parties involved as double-A success stories.
Now this is podracing!
A Burnout-inspired Star Wars racer (created by a bunch of ex-Burnout devs) is a fantastic pitch if you know your video games, but looking at EA’s recent and current direction, it’s easy to see why it didn’t happen under their reign. The original Burnout studio, Criterion, would have been an excellent candidate, but instead they were sent to work in the Battlefield mines. Still, someone was interested in the idea, and the end result is glorious.
Fast and furious, Star Wars: Galactic Racer ignores recent racing game trends and bets big on arcade-y vibes, uncomplicated controls, and a high skill ceiling that challenges you with extremely high speeds, tight turns, and unexpected interruptions as other drivers try to ruin your day.
The not-so-secret sauce, however, was its runs-based structure, which injects the flexibility and replay value of roguelite games into the more traditional arcade racing structure that older gamers are familiar with.
Fully confident in its central gameplay idea and devoid of modern live-service baggage, Fuse Games’ debut title makes the most of the Star Wars setting within the restrictions of simply making a fun and engaging Star Wars racer.
It’s almost the same approach we felt in Zero Company, a turn-based tactical strategy-RPG that comes from the minds of another team of ex-triple-A developers. “Star Wars but XCOM” should’ve happened earlier, but we’re glad it did this year, and, unsurprisingly, it’s a banger.
The correct read of their success should be obvious (and so far, it appears the powers that be are seeing it): Let seasoned and fresh developers cook games they’re excited about.
Big, medium, or small, players will react positively to experiences that really feel genuine and aren’t brought down by tacked-on systems or monetization. Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment also got it right with Star Wars Outlaws, but that ambitious open-world title — hardly a fresh pitch nowadays — also faced high sales expectations due to an inevitably gigantic production budget.
Do or do not. There is no try.
Allowing Star Wars to get weirder and more specific could also help the movie and TV side of things. We know Star Wars has finally locked in clearer big-screen plans for the coming years, and with Disney Plus TV series being seemingly scaled down and targeting more distinct stories better suited for a non-theatrical medium, the crowds’ responses to Lucasfilm Games’ wins shouldn’t be overlooked.
You can’t manufacture a viral character like Biddy Blas, arguably Star Wars’ most popular new character since Grogu’s debut in 2019. It just happens. And it happens naturally if Star Wars is allowed to explore the weird corners of a galaxy.
Devoid of ties to the larger canon and set away from the Imperial era, Galactic Racer makes the post-war period richer by going smaller. It’s a reminder of much of the promise introduced by The Mandalorian’s first season, before it became distractingly “relevant” to the larger saga.
Even the Clone Wars-set Zero Company keeps things relatively low-profile. Yes, major characters like Anakin Skywalker make cameos, but they don’t rob the A-Team and Suicide Squad-inspired tale of camaraderie and subterfuge of its valuable independence. Sure, hits like Andor and Rogue One were obvious inspirations for its tone, but the story stands alone, allowing even Star Wars newcomers to jump in and enjoy it with minimal context.
At a time when giant decades-old franchises often struggle to recruit new fans, the last two Star Wars games reinforce the property’s new direction in a medium that can reach more potential Padawans than any other.
The good trick? Just allowing Star Wars to be fresh and smaller — and with no homework required — from time to time. In turn, the larger stories on the horizon will be stronger with the Force.
