Sebulba only has a few minutes of screentime in the entire Star Wars prequel trilogy, but the villainous Dug made a big impact. The racer was the antagonist of little Ani (aka Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader) when he was but a mere Force-fueled lad on the podracing scene. But if you ask the developers behind Star Wars Galactic Racer, he got a bad rap.
At Gamescom, GameSpot asked the developers about Sebulba in regards to cheating, but Fuse Games CEO Matt Webster took exception to the characterization in defense of poor Sebulba.
“I think he would probably take issue with ‘cheating,'” Webster said. “It’s, you know–“
Narrative director Nat Daw chimed in, “So long as you don’t get caught, it’s gamesmanship.”
“That’s right, it’s gamesmanship, yeah,” Webster said. “Yeah, he’s doing what he can to win.”
It’s a strong (tongue-in-cheek) defense for a character whose main claim to fame is cutting the brakes on a vehicle piloted by a 9-year-old. But then, Anakin won anyway thanks to his quick thinking and plot armor, so clearly Sebulba needed every advantage he could get.
Webster went on to explain how the multiplayer actually allows you to place some creative bets, including on yourself, which is pretty frowned upon in actual competitive sports. In Galactic Racer, smart betting can net you rewards that help you stay competitive, even if you aren’t finishing in first place.
“Speeder tours are 12 players, podracing tours are eight, but the the tours follow the same structure, which is six events. The first five events are a build chase, so your finishing position determined what rewards you get and what parts are available to you. But importantly, you bet on your finishing position, so before every event, you’re like, ‘Where am I going to finish here?’ You know, okay, maybe if I’m confident, I’m going to go all in, I’m going to say I’m going to come I’m going to place in the top three. If I achieve that, I get an epic reward. If I don’t get there, I don’t get as good a reward.
“Or you might say, ‘Top nine, I’ll hedge my bets a little bit here.’ If you achieve that, you get a you get a decent part drop. So, every time, there’s a decent opportunity for you to progress, and that solves a great challenge that we have in the past where if you didn’t come first in a in a series of races online, you’re kind of like, ‘Well, I’m done. I’ll just try my bet somewhere else.’ Now, everybody has a chance–and I’m serious, where we’ve seen this–everyone has a chance to claw that victory because the first first five events are about building the best vehicle you can for the showdown event. The very last event is one where you put it all on the line, and there you’re betting on who’s going to win.”
Galactic Racer sounds like it has some new ideas of its own, which is important to Fuse, because the studio says it wants to shake up the racing game formula. Star Wars Galactic Racer is releasing on October 6 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
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