Lucasfilm Games, developer Fuse Games, and publisher Secret Mode have released Star Wars: Galactic Racer, a high-speed vehicle combat and racing game set in the Outer Rim's lawless Galactic League. Available in a Standard edition for $59.99 (£49.99 / €59.99) and a Deluxe edition for $79.99 (£64.99 / €79.99), the title incorporates cross-platform multiplayer and Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM. Early testing reported by GamingOnLinux shows that while higher-end Linux desktop configurations achieve fluid performance, portable handheld hardware faces noticeable fidelity and rendering constraints.
Desktop and SteamOS Performance Results
Testing on a Linux desktop running Fedora KDE 44 with Proton 11 on an AMD Ryzen 5800x and Radeon 6800XT demonstrated a near-consistent 60 FPS at 2560×1440 resolution using the High quality graphics preset and AMD FSR Native AA. The report noted minor shader compilation stutter and texture pop-in during initial track runs before smoothing out. Similar performance was observed on a Steam Machine system running SteamOS 3.9.2 using Temporal Super Resolution at 2560×1440. However, opening the Steam Overlay or performance metrics monitor triggered severe frame rate drops that required disabling those system features to prevent stability issues.
Handheld Trade-Offs on Steam Deck
Performance on portable devices like the Steam Deck OLED running SteamOS 3.9.2 requires significant compromises. Achieving a stable 30 FPS requires lowering all graphical settings to their minimum levels and setting AMD FSR upscaling to Balanced mode. While functional for quick arcade trials and online matches, the upscaled visuals sacrifice image clarity, and battery life ranges between two to three hours per charge.
Modes and Cross-Platform Multiplayer Features
Star Wars: Galactic Racer features a solo story campaign, standalone arcade challenges, and online playlists covering several vehicle types including landspeeders, speeder bikes, and podracers. Multiplayer relies on Epic Online Services for cross-play across platforms, featuring drop-in quick races. A known compatibility issue under Proton 11 and Proton Experimental prevents the in-game social overlay from displaying correctly, though players can dismiss the unresponsive window using standard controller inputs.
AI-generated editorial illustration; not a documentary photograph.
Source: Star Wars: Galactic Racer is out now – running quite nicely on SteamOS / Linux
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