Two new Star Wars titles—Star Wars: Zero Company and Star Wars: Galactic Racer—have earned critical acclaim and arrived well-timed for The Game Awards in December, giving the franchise its strongest awards case since 2003. Yet both face entrenched biases that have historically kept licensed games—and strategy and racing titles specifically—from competing for Game of the Year.
The two games arrive in genres new or underexplored for the franchise: Zero Company tells a Clone Wars-era story through squad tactics, while Galactic Racer channels the series’ roguish, hot-rod vehicular culture as a standout racing game. Both have been received warmly by critics, with Galactic Racer singled out for its innovation.
Star Wars nonetheless carries a checkered history at The Game Awards and gaming awards more broadly. In the medium’s early days, licensed games were often cordoned off into their own categories—at the Spike Video Game Awards, the predecessor to The Game Awards, Star Wars titles most frequently competed in “Best Game Based on a Movie,” which Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy won in 2006.
That category no longer exists at The Game Awards, but licensed games are still often siloed. With the exception of Insomniac’s Spider-Man titles, they tend to be nominated in genre categories rather than craft awards or Game of the Year. During The Game Awards era, this has been the fate of Star Wars games: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order received only a Player’s Voice nomination in 2019; Star Wars Jedi: Survivor earned one category nod and one performance nomination in 2023; and Star Wars Outlaws followed the same pattern the next year.
The franchise is now far from the “halcyon days” of 2003, when at the inaugural Spike VGAs both Star Wars Galaxies and Knights of the Old Republic were nominated for Game of the Year, with Rogue Squadron 3 also receiving recognition. Between them, Zero Company and Galactic Racer form the best field of Star Wars games since that year—and this year is described as slightly soft, which could increase their chances.
A genre disadvantage beyond snobbery about licenses
The writer argues these two titles expose a different kind of prejudice: both belong to genres—strategy and racing—that historically never break through in Game of the Year. For whatever reason, the jury tends not to consider such games as existing on the same creative plane as role-playing games or action-adventures.
Zero Company and Galactic Racer are expected to be nominated in their respective genre categories—Best Sim/Strategy Game and Best Sports/Racing Game. Both face strong competition, from Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and Forza Horizon 6, respectively.
The writer believes Galactic Racer might win its category—Forza Horizon 6 is “excellent but formulaic,” whereas the Star Wars game has novelty value and is genuinely innovative—but considers Game of the Year a very long shot overall.
Zero Company is seen as a plausible dark horse, especially as more players finish its campaign. It risks deepening interest in “a certain corner of Star Wars lore,” but it faces an extremely crowded field competing for just one or two nomination slots and carries that genre disadvantage.
A more realistic—if still exciting—outcome would be Zero Company breaking through in Best Narrative, and Galactic Racer earning recognition in Best Game Direction or Best Audio Design. The writer says both games deserve the recognition, adding that Star Wars fans “could use a break.”
video games have made 2026 a less shitty time to be a fan of Star Wars
Star Wars: Zero Company
Star Wars: Galactic Racer
deepens a certain corner of Star Wars lore
extremely crowded field of games
1 comment