Star Wars: Galactic Racer is steering clear of a season pass, and plenty of racing games should be taking notes.

The reveal of Star Wars: Galactic Racer at The Game Awards was a welcome surprise for anyone who’s been missing proper Star Wars racers. The last time the franchise went down that road was Star Wars: Racer Revenge, which launched in February 2002 on PlayStation 2. Earlier this month, developers at Fuse Games even confirmed that podracing will be in the mix alongside other vehicle types. Then, last week, a fresh and promising gameplay clip surfaced during the State of Play broadcast. In an interview with IGN, Fuse Games founder and CEO Matt Webster and creative director Kieran Crimmins shared more about how they approached Lucasfilm to build the game, and they also confirmed there are currently no plans for a season pass. Webster said he instinctively links season passes to free-to-play titles, while Star Wars: Galactic Racer is being positioned as a premium, paid product.

“No. This is a premium release. We have our campaign, arcade mode, and multiplayer. It’s self-contained. But we also recognize that the Star Wars landscape evolves and changes over time, as do games. We see an opportunity to tap into more or new Star Wars content over time. However, we don’t envision what post-launch content will look like. The only reason I say a blind no to it is that, in my head, a season pass is connected to free-to-play games, and that’s not what we’re making,” said Webster.

“Our mindset right now is to create a premium release and provide an amazing experience right out of the box. Obviously, we wouldn’t close the door to doing something later, but that isn’t what we’re thinking about right now. We just want it to be the best game possible, and we want it to be complete when it comes out,” Crimmins added.

That said, DLC could still be on the table. The developers also outlined a distinctive boost system they hope will push the racing into more tactical territory. Star Wars: Galactic Racer uses a two-stage boost setup. The second stage is the ramjet, which delivers extreme speed but builds heat fast. If the player isn’t careful, the vehicle can literally explode, and track conditions matter too: racing over lava spikes the heat even further.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is slated to launch sometime this year on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC.

Source: WCCFTech, IGN