As Star Wars turns 50 in 2027, the galaxy-spanning franchise’s reputation feels like it’s been on a seesaw. It has scored a handful of wins, particularly with Andor’s Emmy success and the positive reception of Disney’s latest animated offering, Maul: Shadow Lord. But for all the highs Star Wars has delivered, its lows have been so pronounced that it’s hard to imagine expectations sinking any lower.
Worse still, the future of Star Wars doesn’t look particularly exciting, at least if you’re a fan only interested in what Disney and Lucasfilm have in store for Star Wars TV and film projects. Half of them seem to be on ice, and the other half plan on retreading old ground like the Skywalkers. Barely worth talking about.
However, there is hope for Star Wars — and it rests entirely on the shoulders of Lucasfilm Games and its open-minded vision for a galaxy far, far away. In 2013, Lucasfilm Games and Disney signed a 10-year exclusive licensing agreement that let EA publish Star Wars games, leading to standout titles like DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront series and Respawn’s Jedi games starring Cal Kestis (Cameron Monaghan). That exclusivity ran out in 2023, allowing Lucasfilm Games to be far less restrictive with the Star Wars franchise.
In an interview with The Game Business Show, Lucasfilm Games executive Douglas Reilly discussed the success of Star Wars video games and how that success came from being “more flexible” about who Lucasfilm Games is willing to take pitches from. In 2026 alone, Star Wars fans have received two very different Star Wars games. The first, Star Wars: Zero Company, is a phenomenal turn-based tactics game set during the waning days of The Clone Wars.
More recently, Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a run-based arcade racer with roguelike elements that puts players in the cockpit of their own speeder as they pursue the title of Galactic League champion. Both games have massively exceeded expectations for Star Wars fans, who are notoriously hard to please. Notably, Reilly confirms more projects are on the way from both large and small partners, and he believes they will “continue to surprise folks.” Since nobody saw a Star Wars racing game coming, we can expect more for gamers and Star Wars fans alike.
For example: anyone fancy a Star Wars fighting game? Lucasfilm Games’ willingness to consider a wider range of pitches ultimately works in its favor. While both Galactic Racer and Zero Company draw on events and ideas already established elsewhere — such as The Clone Wars and the prequel film The Phantom Menace — they never lean so heavily on nostalgia that Star Wars fans feel they're retreading the same ground.
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