One of the best aspect of Star Wars is its “Glup Shitto” characters, obscure additions to films that have little screen time but have unique designs that forge a connection with fans. Fuse Games’ upcoming Burnout spiritual successor Star Wars Galactic Racer isn’t just a fantastic looking aracde racing game, but it’s going all in on Star Wars’ obscure roster.
In the two trailers Fuse Games have released, Galactic Racer has highlighted the return of two of the universe’s most iconic pod racers: the conniving Sebulba, and the beautiful rhombus-faced Ben Quadinaros, who sadly didn’t even get to compete in The Phantom Menace’s Boonta Eve Classic.
Alongside a host of new characters that will hopefully be referenced by fans for years to come, Star Wars Galactic Racer creative director Kieran Crimmins teased that additional obscure characters will be present in the game, but the team is hoping to have a balance of new and returning racers in the game.
“There’s going to be a good mix of familiar faces and new characters,” Crimmins told IGN in a recent interview. “Obviously we want to get that mix right, so no matter what kind of Star Wars media you’ve engaged with, whether it be a movie or game, there’s a bunch of familiarity in there when it comes to the space. Otherwise it wouldn’t feel like an authentic Star Wars experience.
While we won’t see Ratts Tyerell on account of him being horrifically killed in the aforementioned Boonta Eve Classic—by the way, Tyerell’s death did lead to a galactic ban in pod racing on the core worlds—we may see other characters pop up. Unfortunately, Crimmins did not reveal what other characters we’ll be able to see.
As the game is set after the events of Return of the Jedi, we could see a number of characters from outside the Episode 1 Pod Racing scene, although we absolutely need to see Gasgano and Ebe E. Endecott join the fray. However, as a game that offers far more than just pod-racing, there are other characters that deserve a shot.
“We’ve seen racing as an activity and as a sport in Star Wars has been around in many forms, right?” Fuse Games founder and CEO Matt Webster told the outlet. “Episode 1’s podracing we all know and love, Bad Batch’s riot racing in Season 2 was just awesome. Star Wars Resistance has got the Aces and low-altitude starfighter racing.”
Star Wars Galactic Racer launches later in 2026 on Xbox Series, PS5 and PC. There is currently no concrete release date at the time of publication.
