Star Wars Episode 1 Racer delayed hours before its release date

Switch remaster was due out today

The remaster of classic Star Wars game Episode 1 Racer has been delayed hours before it was due to release.

The Nintendo Switch remaster was due to release digitally today, but late on Monday night developer Aspyr announced the game had been delayed for an undefined period due to disruption caused by remote working.

“We are so excited to share Star Wars Episode l: Racer with you soon! Unfortunately, due to the ongoing work from home requirements across the industry, the game will be further delayed on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. We’ll be back with an update as soon as possible.”

The PS4 version of Episode 1 Racer was previously delayed until May 26.

Originally developed and published by LucasArts in 1999, Episode 1 Racer is based on the podracing sequence featured in Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, which released in cinemas the same year.

The game has been updated for modern consoles by Aspyr, which also handled the recent Switch and PS4 port of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.

Star Wars Episode 1 Racer’s release date was confirmed on the official Star Wars website last month, alongside an interview with producer James Vicari. Among other features, he discussed the modernised controls developed for the game.

“Racer originally came out in an interesting time for controllers,” Vicari said. “We were really starting to see interesting things — rumble, multiple analog sticks. Even the shape of the N64 controller. So it’s sort of fitting that when you look at controls today, we’re seeing the same thing.

“Like the Switch Joy-Cons. You really want to make sure that the game plays well and embraces as much of the variations as possible for them. So we’ve done a lot of work to make sure that the game feels comfortable in all configurations, including playing with each individual Joy-Con.

“The team here is a big believer that the best control scheme is the one you don’t ever think about and that philosophy really permeates everything we’ve done with the controls.”