Sebulba Makes a Comeback in Star Wars: Galactic Racer Trailer, Outliving Darth Vader as Anakin’s Original Rival

My first reaction to the trailer for Star Wars: Galactic Racer at the Game Awards 2025 was pure excitement—finally, a new podracing game! But then I quickly realized, “Wait, where are all the podracers?” In the midst of the award show chaos, I initially overlooked the unmistakable sound of Sebulba’s iconic podracer engine. However, there’s an even more intriguing detail that slipped past me: the Dug has truly outlasted Anakin Skywalker.

To clarify, the older, bearded Dug featured at the end of the trailer is indeed Sebulba, as confirmed in an interview. “There’s so much love for Sebulba on the team and across the Star Wars community,” said a co-founder of the game’s development team. “There are specific reasons for his presence in our trailer, along with a detail in this shot that may raise even more questions… but those answers will have to wait!”

The Galactic Racer trailer primarily showcases a race set on Jakku, featuring the haunting wreckage of Star Destroyers reminiscent of The Force Awakens. These ship remnants are a result of the Battle of Jakku, which signifies the Empire’s official defeat a year after the events of Return of the Jedi in the Star Wars timeline.

This means we’re seeing Sebulba in the trailer sometime after Darth Vader’s demise aboard the second Death Star. Following his humiliating loss to Anakin in the Boonta Eve race from The Phantom Menace, it seems Sebulba has managed to outlive his former rival. While Anakin went through a dramatic fall and redemption arc, the Dug has simply continued his role as a racetrack villain. In the end, survival can often be the greatest victory.

Interestingly, this isn’t Sebulba’s only recent appearance in gaming; he also features in the mixed reality game Star Wars: Beyond Victory, which launched earlier this year. However, that game is set during the Empire’s peak, meaning an evil Anakin was still lurking around. Who knows—perhaps they would have found some common ground back then.