You change the difficulty in Star Wars: Galactic Racer at the start of a campaign tour, not in the main settings menu: players report that after you choose your speeder, the loadout screen carries a difficulty prompt that sets it for the next run. Steam reviewers and player guides consistently name four settings, Cadet, Pilot (the default), Ace and Champion, and Champion stays locked until you have finished the campaign once.
That placement is easy to miss, and some players have assumed the game has no difficulty option at all. Below we cover exactly where the setting is, what each level changes, how Champion unlocks, and the other tools that make a tour easier without touching the difficulty. Fuse Games and Secret Mode have not published a breakdown of the settings, so the level-by-level details here come from player reports and trophy guides, and we say so wherever that is the case.
Where the Difficulty Setting Is
The Steam store page lists “Adjustable Difficulty” among the game’s features, but the option does not live in Settings. Players describe it this way:
- Start the campaign from the main menu.
- Choose your speeder for the tour.
- Look at the loadout screen that follows. This is where the difficulty prompt sits, alongside the option to change Shade’s appearance. One player on a controller reports that a shoulder button (RB on Xbox) cycles the setting.
- Pick your level and start the tour. The setting applies to that whole run.
You do not need to delete your save or start a new campaign to change it. One Steam reviewer spent an hour trying to wipe their save to restart on a lower setting before finding the prompt, and another calls the menu flow for changing difficulty “super confusing”, so it is worth knowing in advance that it only appears between runs.
The Four Difficulty Settings
| Setting | What players report | When it is available |
|---|---|---|
| Cadet | The easiest setting, where players describe the AI as far less of a threat. Trophy guides recommend it for achievements that ask for clean wins | From the start |
| Pilot | The default, and what most reviewers mean by “normal” | From the start |
| Ace | Described by players as the hard setting, with faster, more aggressive rivals. One says rivals on Ace and above run boosted vehicles | From the start |
| Champion | The hardest. Trophy guides say your crash allowance no longer resets every race and only refreshes when you reach a new planet, and rivals race at their most aggressive | After you finish the campaign once |
Player feedback on where the difficulty curve sits is mixed. Some Steam reviewers who finished on Ace call it the right challenge, one called it “a bit too easy”, and others say even Cadet pushed them hard. Several players who struggled recommend starting on Cadet or Pilot, building up permanent upgrades, and moving up later, which suits the way the campaign is designed.
What Difficulty Actually Changes
The biggest stakes in Galactic Racer are crashes. Fuse Games creative director Kieran Crimmins explained on Xbox Wire that “you have a certain number of crashes that you’re allowed to do in any race”, that not every event has a limit but most do, and that using them all means you “wreck out” and lose your League Token. Lose the token, or fail a high-stakes event, and you go back to the start of the tour.
Difficulty works on top of that system. From player reports, it changes how fast and how aggressive the AI racers are and, at the top end, how forgiving the crash rules are. Your permanent progress carries over whichever setting you pick. Some players also report rubber-banding, with rivals catching up late in a race, and say it happens even on the easier settings, so a lower difficulty will not remove every close finish.
Other Ways to Make a Tour Easier
If you would rather keep your current setting, the game gives you several other levers. These carry over between runs, according to Fuse:
- Tuning Points. Kieran Crimmins says you also get permanent progression “that you can put into one of your vehicle types,” stats that “stay there for the rest of your enjoyment of the game.” Players know these as Tuning Points, and even a failed run adds to them.
- Favors. Beating a tour unlocks Favors, which Fuse says “further modify the rules for the next run.” Players point to Favors that add extra crash allowance or other safety nets.
- Racer Style upgrades. Racer Styles can be upgraded permanently, which opens new ways to play.
Players also point to settings worth changing in the menus:
- Simple Pre-Race Checks (Settings, Accessibility, Gameplay) makes the starting sequence easier to complete.
- Boost Mode (Settings, Accessibility, Controls) means you no longer have to hold the Ramjet button down.
- Takedown Cutaway Cameras (Settings, Accessibility, Camera) can be turned off so a takedown does not pull your eyes off the track.
In a tour itself, the Autopilot ability takes the wheel for a short stretch, and players say it can also complete the ability part of the pre-race start sequence for you. A Shield ability is the other common recommendation for anyone who keeps getting knocked into walls. Arcade and Scenario events are good places to learn the tracks with less at stake.
Champion Difficulty and the Achievement Tied to It
Champion is the one setting you have to earn. Trophy guides say it unlocks after your first campaign completion, and that you can then replay Act 3 on Champion without restarting the whole campaign. The achievement for winning the championship on Champion, Racer of Legend, was held by just 0.2% of Steam players as of October 13, 2026, according to Steam’s global achievement stats. Trophy guides list it as the only achievement that requires a specific difficulty.
Players who have cleared Champion lean on defensive tools. In the game’s Steam forum, one player says they used a Shield with a ramming part and a scrubber ability to deal with the aggressive AI, and the trophy guides suggest a Ramjet build with plenty of cooling.
If you have not bought the game yet, our guide to which Galactic Racer edition to buy covers what the Deluxe content adds, and our release time and where to play guide tracks the launch patches. Every guide we have for the game is collected on our Star Wars Galactic Racer hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you change the difficulty in the middle of a tour? Players report that you cannot. The setting is chosen on the loadout screen before a tour starts and applies to that whole run, so a change takes effect on your next tour.
What is the default difficulty in Star Wars Galactic Racer? Pilot, according to players. It sits second of the four settings, above Cadet and below Ace and Champion.
How do you unlock Champion difficulty? Trophy guides and players say Champion unlocks after you finish the campaign once. You can then replay Act 3 on Champion.
Does the difficulty affect achievements or trophies? Trophy guides list only one achievement that needs a specific setting: Racer of Legend, for winning the championship on Champion. The rest can be earned on any difficulty.
Does lowering the difficulty reset my progress? No. Your permanent progression, including Tuning Points, unlocked parts, Favors and Racer Style upgrades, sits outside any single tour, so changing the setting for your next run keeps all of it.
Is there an easy mode for multiplayer? The difficulty setting is part of the campaign’s tour setup. Online races are against other players, and we have found no separate difficulty option for them.