In Short
- Star Wars: Galactic Racer launched on October 6 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam and Epic). On Steam it unlocked at 17:00 UTC, which was 10:30 PM IST.
- You can’t rebind keys or buttons at launch. There is only an alternate controller preset, and keyboard players are the ones complaining most on Steam.
- Xbox and PlayStation controllers work natively on PC. Fuse Games hasn’t released a patch yet or said when rebinding will arrive.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer is out, and PC players who want to race on a keyboard should know one thing before they buy: the controls are fixed. Prima Games’ controls guide confirms there is no option to rebind keys or buttons, on any input. That makes a gamepad the easiest way to play the $59.99 launch from Fuse Games, the studio founded in 2023 by former Criterion (Burnout) developers.
Keyboard players are the main source of Steam complaints
The game sits at Mostly Positive on Steam, but the most-voted reviews tell a different story. HappyGamer looked at the 20 most-helpful reviews and found 11 negative and 9 positive. The top one is a thumbs-down over the missing rebind menu, and the second, a positive review, raises the same problem along with the price and how few tracks there are.
Critics landed higher, but the split by platform matches what players are saying. According to Gagadget’s look at Metacritic, the PS5 version has an 88, Xbox an 86 and PC an 83, with reviewers calling the PC controls floaty. Interest hasn’t dropped off, though. SteamPeaks tracked a launch-day peak of 15,415 concurrent players on Steam.
Play free while you wait
Still deciding whether to spend $60? Get a quick racing fix in your browser, no download needed:
- Bike Racing 3: short stunt tracks you can finish in a minute
- Snow Rider 3D: downhill sledding that rewards quick reflexes
A controller fixes the problem today
Galactic Racer supports Xbox and PlayStation controllers on PC out of the box, Prima Games says, with DualSense adaptive triggers and the right button prompts for each pad. You don’t need to turn off Steam Input. If you own a controller, plug it in before your first race and the rebind issue mostly goes away.
There is no fix coming this week as far as anyone can tell. The game’s official patch notes page still says no patch has been released, and Fuse Games hasn’t given a timeline for keyboard changes. The one post-launch plan on record is for multiplayer. The official Galactic Racer account said on October 5 that the team is working to raise the online party limit from three players to six, with an update planned within the first few weeks after launch.
What to do before you buy
- On console or PC with a controller: you’re fine. The rebind gap doesn’t really affect you.
- Keyboard-only on PC: waiting for a patch is the safer choice. Steam’s refund window still applies if the default layout doesn’t work for you.
- Just curious: Amazon Prime members in the UK and US can reportedly play the single-player campaign on Amazon Luna at no extra cost, according to Gagadget.
The official Steam FAQ also says the solo campaign, Arcade events and Scenarios work offline. The PC version needs to be online the first time you launch it, for authentication. The standard edition is $59.99 (£49.99), and the Deluxe Edition is $79.99.
