Star Wars: Galactic Racer launches, with a PS5 store glitch and online parties to double in size

[Freya]

Star Wars: Galactic Racer launched on Tuesday on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and Amazon Luna, Last Word on Gaming reports. It is the debut release from Fuse Games, published by Secret Mode with Lucasfilm Games. Launch day was not entirely smooth. Fuse said it was aware of an issue stopping some PS5 players from buying the game and was working with PlayStation on a fix "as a matter of urgency"

The game itself has been well received, averaging 88 on Metacritic. It is set in the early New Republic era, with players racing as Shade through Darius Pax's underground Galactic League. Tracks include Jakku's Graveyard of Giants, Ando Prime and Sentinel I, and Sebulba makes an appearance. Modes include the roguelike campaign, Arcade, Scenarios and a player versus player Multiplayer Tours mode. Prime members can play the single player campaign through Luna at no extra cost

The biggest criticism so far has been online multiplayer, as Push Square reports. Online parties are capped at three players, with bots or random players filling the rest of the grid, and there is no way to set up a private lobby. Fuse Games responded quickly. "We're planning to increase the party size from 3 players to 6 players and are aiming to get the update out within the first few weeks of launch," the studio said. On private lobbies, the team says it is "listening and looking at how people want to play"

Fuse co-founder and chief executive Matt Webster reflected on the studio's journey: "Three and a half years ago, Fuse Games was a handful of people, a pitch, and no shipped game to our name." The studio added that launch is only the beginning for the team. Quick responses to player feedback are a good sign for a new studio. Racing games live or die by their online communities, so getting multiplayer right in the first few weeks matters

Has anyone picked up Galactic Racer yet, and what do you think? And is a three player party limit a dealbreaker for an online racer?

Star Wars: Galactic Racerwww.pushsquare.com