When The Phantom Menace introduced podracing and the Boonta Eve Classic on Tatooine, it instantly became one of Star Wars’ most memorable pieces of worldbuilding. Loud and all kinds of dangerous, it's no wonder that podracing became a focal point for more than a few Star Wars video games. That said, podracing vanished from the films after Anakin’s legendary win on Tatooine.
While podracing can be found here and there across the Star Wars timeline, this was mainly due to decisions made about the sport and its evolution within the universe itself. With a brand-new Star Wars racing game on the way, here's a brief history of podracing and how it will likely affect Star Wars: Galactic Racer in 2026.
What Happened To Podracing After The Phantom Menace? (The Rise of the Empire)
Following The Phantom Menace, we know that podracing continued into the Clone Wars era, remaining popular on lawless Outer Rim worlds. Like we saw in the first prequel movie, the sport thrives where Republic oversight was weakest, and gambling run by crime syndicates was strongest.
Following Anakin's victory at the Boonta Eve Classic, the fiercest rivalry on the circuit was between Sebulba and Ben Quadinaros. However, things changed with the rise of the Empire and its overall galactic oppression.
The Imperial Era forced podracing to go even further underground, where it was primarily run by various crime syndicates, including on worlds like Batuu.
By the dawn of the New Republic Era, podracing would continue to be officially banned. That said, various spin-offs of the sport were created in the years since the Clone Wars, like the far more violent Riot Racing, as well as Battle-Racing (ships using live ammo) which Sebulba himself took part during the New Republic Era.
Galactic Racer: How Racing Continued Into The New Republic Era
During the New Republic Era, we know that there were more official avenues for racing, both on the surface of various worlds and in space. After all, running races like The Five Sabers championship was how Han Solo largely passed the time while his wife Leia Organa helped run the New Republic government as a senator.
That said, the newly revealed game Star Wars: Galactic Racer releasing in 2026 is already hinting at how racing evolved under the continued control of the syndicates with "The Galactic League", featuring high-speed races on worlds like Jakku, and what looks like the snow planet of Hoth.
Featuring speeders, bikes, and new variants of podracers, illegal racing looks to be alive and well in the Star Wars galaxy, the next evolution of what we first saw in The Phantom Menace.
Even Sebulba himself will be involved, as we saw at the end of the reveal trailer (we also heard his iconic podracer engines from Episode I). As such, it's going to be very exciting to see what Galactic Racer has in store for the Star Wars galaxy when it releases next year.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer is expected to release in 2026.
